POWDER-POST DAMAGE BY LYCTUS BEETLES. 7 



EXTENT OF LOSSES AND THOSE UPON WHOM THEY FALL. 



Powder-post causes a loss which falls alike on the dealer, the manu- 

 facturer or owner, and the consumer of finished products. The pro- 

 ducer of the unseasoned or crude product is not affected, because it 

 is onl}^ after the wood is seasoned a year or more that it is attacked 

 and damaged b}^ these insects. Second-growth sapwood of the best 



-Powder-posted hickory pickax handles, showing exit holes of adult beetles ; 

 work of Lyctus linearis. (Original.) 



quality is particularly liable to attack and serious injur}^, especially 

 Avhen it has been stored or piled in one place for two or three years 

 or more. 



The loss to seasoned hardwood products ranges from 1 to 50 per 

 cent, sometimes representing thousands of dollars to a single manu- 

 facturer or dealer who neglects to adopt the proper preventive meas- 

 ures. The affected articles are not only reduced in value, but fre- 

 quently are rendered worthless for the purposes for which they are 

 intended. In the aggregate the direct financial loss that has been 



