Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-12-09

Ihat the DANGER from insect az
tack is at present even more serious
than that from fire, wassbrought out
by II. B. Pierson, State Forest En-
tomologist, in a talk delivered Fri
day evening at the annual meeting
OF the Penobscot Forestry club. at
Bangor I'm Maine alone" said Mr..
P.erson, "the damage from insects
I in the Maine Forestry District dur
ing the last ten years has been over
ten times that caused by fire. Fur
thermore, many fires have resulted
primarily from the vast amount OF
dead wood left by the budworm.
Very often trees injured by fire are
finally killed by insects. The forest
is often left in a much worse con-
ditiOn following an insect outbreak
than following a fire. Reproduction
on areas killed by the budwOrm is
over 20 per cent fir and under the
plies of debris no reproduction oc
ours. In numbering operations con-
siderable attention must be given to
the utilization or the placing in wa
ter of logs before they are attacked
b. wondering insects
Mr. Pierson also brought out the
fact that the dominant factor con-
trolling the intensity of insect cpl
d, mics is the nature Of the forest
crop.
Past methods Of cutting have
CONTINUALLY, iporaaSa1 tho ia @
of balsam in our forests. The pine
was first culled out, probably never
to return, then the large spruce We're
cut Fir was not touched and the
percentage of this has been con-
Stantly increasing. The spruce and
fiji, type and the spruce knoll, spruce
slope, and spruce fiat types are eN-
ceptionally liable to insect damage
as has been shown in this last out
+ break of the budworm, in which over
forty per cent of the merchantablc
/ spruce and fir in the State was de-
stroyed. In the future considerable
. attention must be given to the pro-
lection of these types from insect
eridemics, particularly outbreaks of
the spruce budworm and bark beet
I les.
THE mixed hardwood and soft
! wood type contains trees such as
birch, beech. maple, Eastwood.
spruce. and fin. and is found gener-
ally on the slopes throughout the
northern two-thirds of the State.
'The northern hardwood type is
becoming a dominant factor in the
State and its management depends
4 largely upon the possibilities of har-
vesting and marketing the crop. Ex-
pCriments have been and still are
being tried in driving these woods.
In general hardwOOdS are far less
lis bic to death from insects than the
sCftWoods. Trees such as the maple,
oak. birch. and poplar suffer from
bCrers and there is always some dan
ger of >defoliators, bat in general this
type can be kept in a healthy condi-
ton if not allowed to become over
lnature. There, is great possibility
OF converting much of this type into
the better mixed hardwood -softwood
type.
Tho white pine type is much like
the spruce type in that it is very
subject TO insect injury. Probably
no tree has such an array of serious
insect enemies as the white pine.
The most important of these are the
white grub, which attacks the trees
in seed beds: the Pales Weevil,
which attacks seedlings on cutcver
lands; the white pine weevil, which
destroys the leading shoot on pine:
and finally an array of dcfoliators
and borers. Much has already been
done in the way of management Of
white pine areas.
investigations in forest entomol-
Ogy have proceeded far enough to
prove that there is no further excuse
for wide spread insect outbreaks.
Ourawonderful forests Of the past are
ample proof of this. Future man
aGement Of our forests must take
into consideration the need for en-
ccuraging the mixed hardwood soft
wood type. the short rotation Of
stands containing balsam, the div
ersifying Of forest types, better fire
protection, better logging methods.
including disposal of slash, and
greater activity on the part of State
and Federal governments in bringing