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where, till the trees were come into bearing, a red beetle was never seen, but no 
sooner was the land cleared and the trees trimmed than it made its appearance 
and became very destructive. On one property the trimming system had been 
carried on for years, till, indeed, more than one-third of the original plants 
perished, before the estate was 10 years old, and they were going at the rate of 
three trees weekly. The work of trimming was stopped for the reasons offered 
above; the loss of the trees continued for some time afterwards, but at the end 
of six months it had entirely ceased. On another property beetle men had been 
employed for ten years, and trees were being constantly lost; from the day that 
the beetlers were discontinued two trees perished within a montle and not another 
was lost in the subsequent seven years.’ And W. B. L. writes in the Tropical 
Agriculturist to the same effect: ‘The red beetle (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) 
can not penetrate the leaf imbrication, and, when the older ones decay in the 
course of nature, the stem has become too hard for its operations. A tree here 
and there may be lost from an accidental wound or from some defect in the 
fitting of the leaf sheaths, but it is only where the good taste of the planter has 
impelled him to trim the leaves that any serious damage has been done to a 
field. All the leaves should be left on the tree till nature disposes of them at 
her own time and in her own way. Nothing that can be done to a coconut tree 
above ground can be anything but injurious.’ 
“All wounds, whether made by accident or by insects, on the soft part of the 
stem, leaf sheaths, or spike should be at once dressed with a dab of tar mixed 
with fine sand. Holes should be probed with a “beetle spear” or hooked wire to 
extract insects which may have caused them and then plugged with a tuft of 
fiber or dry grass dipped in tar.” 
Obviously, no tree should be condemned until a careful and thorough 
ae makes it certain that it is beyond hope of recovery and that it 
‘an bear no more fruit. It has been suggested by certain writers that a 
oea plan is to cut such felled trees open, leaving them on the ground to 
attract beetles which would otherwise fly to the healthy trees; but I am 
of the opinion that the less material of this kind there is in the orchard 
the less is the liability of attack incurred by the bearing individuals. If 
there are no wounds or vulnerable spots in the trees themselves, and if 
nothing remains on the premises to attract this beetle and others, the 
less will be the danger. The dead leaves should be allowed to fall in the 
natural course of growth and care should be taken not to mutilate the 
trees. However, in most instances the beetles already have invaded the 
plantations and the serious problem is how to rid these places of them 
and to prevent their reéntrance. Of course, frequent inspections are neces- 
sary, so as to detect invasions at the earliest possible moment, because, 
as the coconut beetles hide in their burrows during the day, it is com- 
paratively easy to destroy them if they are noticed in time. When they 
are discovered, a long, hooked steel wire can be thrust into the burrow, 
given a half turn to engage the insect upon its point, and then drawn 
out. This operation requires some practice, as the beetle is well armored 
with a smooth coat and has few projections upon the body. Dr, Konings- 
berger suggests crushing the insect and leaving it in the burrow as an 
obstacle to the entrance of others; but this is not to be recommended in 
