INSECT DEPREDATIONS IN NORTH AMERICAN FORESTS. 91 



•rivoH out to tl'.c public is not only the best available but that it is 

 limited to the ran<;e of expert knowiedjze of the suljject possessed by 

 the instructt)!- or i n vest i«j:a tor. 



Elkmentakv and Tiaii.NK ai. Knowlkuok or Fokest Entomoukjy for 'riii: 



Forester. 



While it may be desirable that every professional forester should 

 have an expert kno\vle(l<;e of forest entomologjy, it is rarely possii)le, 

 even under exceptionally favorable conditicms, for him to acquire 

 more than the necessary elementary knowledge, and even this has not 

 been possible under the conditions which have necessarily prevailed 

 in the forest schools, and in the i^ractice of forestry, in this country. 

 Little or no time has been available for acquiring the necessary in- 

 fornuition from subsecpient study and practical exi)erience. There- 

 fore this feature in the education of the American forester has been 

 practically neglected. 



PRESENT REQUIREMENTS OF INSTRUCTION. 



As long as expert forest entomologists and authentic text-books 

 l)ased on American insects and ccmditions are not available for giving 

 a complete course in technical and applied forest entomology the 

 requirements of such a course should be limited to instruction in ele- 

 mentary entomology, and in elementary principles of ai)plied forest 

 entomology, which will give the necessary foundation for intelligent 

 observations and utilization of available information as required in 

 future pi-actice. 



CONCLUSION. 



There is conclusive evidence that insects have been in the past, and 

 are now, important factors in the waste and reduction of timber 

 -upplies, and will continue to be such in the future (pp. oT-oS). 



They attack jierfectly healthy trees of all ages and kill them 

 (p. 58). 



They have at times killed a large percentage of the best timber over 

 thousands of square miles of heavily forested lands (pp. 58-60). 



They reduce the value of living timber and that of crude and 

 finished jiroducts (pp. OO-Of)). 



The accumulated evidence through many years of investigation and 

 <»bservation in the i)rincipal forest areas of the entire country by the 

 writer and the Held assistants in fore.st insect investigations furni.shes 

 (he basis for the following summarized statements and estimates: 



A large percentage of |)ine and s|)iMice liml>er was killed by the 

 southern pine beetle in 18t)()-lSJ)i.' over an area of 75,000 .s(|uare miles 

 in West Virginia, Maryland. Pennsylvania. Virginia, and North 

 Carolina (p. 58). 



