﻿Q7 
  

  

  The 
  President 
  has 
  asked 
  me 
  to 
  talk 
  just 
  a 
  little 
  on 
  the 
  hickory 
  

   bark 
  borer. 
  While 
  in 
  ^Mississippi, 
  I 
  first 
  came 
  into 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  

   hickory 
  bark 
  borer 
  by 
  its 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  hickories 
  on 
  the 
  lawn 
  in 
  front 
  of 
  

   my 
  house 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  Campus. 
  It 
  began 
  killing 
  the 
  trees. 
  I 
  had 
  ten 
  ar 
  

   a 
  dt)zen 
  trees 
  on 
  the 
  lawn 
  that 
  were 
  from 
  six 
  to 
  eight 
  inches 
  through, 
  

   and 
  they 
  had 
  made 
  a 
  fine 
  growth 
  but 
  they 
  began 
  suddenly 
  to 
  die. 
  First, 
  

   I 
  noticed 
  the 
  leaves 
  falling 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  time, 
  then 
  later 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  

   the 
  branches 
  began 
  to 
  die 
  at 
  the 
  top. 
  On 
  investigation, 
  I 
  found 
  that 
  it 
  

   was 
  this 
  little 
  hickory 
  bark 
  borer. 
  We 
  carried 
  out. 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  that 
  

   investigation, 
  a 
  few 
  experiments, 
  and 
  extended 
  them 
  over 
  the 
  Campus, 
  

   following 
  the 
  recommendations 
  of 
  Doctor 
  Hopkins 
  of 
  the 
  Department 
  

   of 
  Agriculture, 
  Washington. 
  The 
  results 
  were 
  pretty 
  gratifying. 
  I 
  

   was 
  able 
  to 
  save 
  those 
  trees 
  on 
  the 
  lawn, 
  and 
  during 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  years 
  

   succeeding 
  the 
  time 
  we 
  got 
  these 
  experiments 
  into 
  practice, 
  no 
  more 
  

   had 
  died, 
  and 
  they 
  had 
  kept 
  on 
  making 
  a 
  good 
  growth 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  believe 
  

   the 
  ravages 
  of 
  the 
  beetle 
  had 
  been 
  checked. 
  

  

  The 
  little 
  beetle 
  belongs 
  to 
  a 
  family 
  called 
  the 
  ^colijtidae 
  — 
  very 
  

   small 
  beetles 
  that 
  burrow 
  through 
  the 
  bark 
  of 
  trees, 
  and 
  between 
  the 
  

   bark 
  and 
  the 
  wood, 
  partly 
  in 
  the 
  bark 
  and 
  partly 
  in 
  the 
  wood. 
  These 
  

   beetles 
  are 
  interesting 
  in 
  their 
  life 
  history. 
  The 
  female 
  bores 
  through 
  

   the 
  bark, 
  and 
  then 
  she 
  builds 
  a 
  channel 
  partly 
  in 
  the 
  wood 
  and 
  partly 
  

   in 
  the 
  bark. 
  She 
  goes 
  along 
  and 
  digs 
  out 
  little 
  niches 
  all 
  along, 
  and 
  in 
  

   each 
  one 
  of 
  these, 
  deposits 
  a 
  tiny 
  white 
  egg. 
  That 
  soon 
  hatches 
  into 
  the 
  

   small 
  grub, 
  and 
  the 
  grub 
  begins 
  to 
  burrow 
  out 
  to 
  get 
  his 
  food, 
  and 
  you 
  

   will 
  find 
  these 
  little 
  burrows 
  running 
  out 
  from 
  the 
  main 
  burrow 
  of 
  the 
  

   mother 
  beetle. 
  When 
  these 
  grubs 
  reach 
  their 
  growth, 
  each 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  

   comes 
  out 
  and 
  bores 
  a 
  little 
  shot-hole-like 
  round 
  hole 
  through 
  the 
  bark, 
  

   so 
  that 
  a 
  tree 
  that 
  is 
  pestered 
  with 
  it 
  will 
  finally 
  have 
  the 
  bark 
  full 
  of 
  

   these 
  little 
  round 
  holes. 
  You 
  have 
  probably 
  seen 
  a 
  similar 
  thing 
  in 
  

   peach, 
  plum, 
  and 
  cherry 
  trees. 
  

  

  The 
  hickory 
  bark 
  borer 
  is 
  found 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  eastern 
  United 
  States, 
  

   from 
  Canada 
  to 
  the 
  Gulf, 
  and 
  as 
  far 
  west 
  as 
  Nebraska. 
  It 
  attacks 
  

   hickory 
  trees 
  and 
  walnut 
  trees, 
  and 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  can 
  find, 
  the 
  authorities 
  

   say 
  probably 
  the 
  pecan. 
  I 
  never 
  found 
  it 
  on 
  the 
  pecan 
  in 
  the 
  South. 
  

   If 
  it 
  does 
  ever 
  come 
  to 
  attack 
  it 
  in 
  any 
  numbers, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  a 
  serious 
  

   pest 
  from 
  the 
  nut 
  grower's 
  point 
  of 
  view. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  state, 
  it 
  was 
  first 
  noticed 
  by 
  its 
  work 
  on 
  hickory 
  trees 
  in 
  the 
  

   vicinity 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  City, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  killing 
  a 
  good 
  many 
  of 
  them. 
  To 
  

   show 
  its 
  dangerousness 
  — 
  on 
  th(^ 
  estate 
  of 
  i\Ir. 
  Wadsworth 
  at 
  Geneseo 
  

   in 
  1900 
  and 
  1901 
  over 
  an 
  area 
  of 
  two 
  hundred 
  acres, 
  it 
  destroyed 
  ninety 
  

   to 
  ninety-five 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  hickories. 
  It 
  really 
  becomes 
  a 
  most 
  in- 
  

   jurious 
  pest. 
  These 
  little 
  fellows 
  running 
  under 
  the 
  bark 
  cut 
  off 
  the 
  

   cambium 
  layer 
  and 
  girdle 
  it, 
  and 
  kill 
  the 
  tree 
  as 
  etfectually 
  as 
  if 
  we 
  

  

  