184 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in the shortest thue. It is important to have wind-blown, 

 sickly trees and green branches removed from the woods so far 

 as the former do not interfere with the canopy, for this is a 

 means of obviating danger from weevils and arboreal insects 

 generally, since the majority of the insects injurious to forest 

 trees prefer such half-dead wood for breeding purposes. 



The annual fellings on this property are now done by the 

 " Pan " method — a process which may be described here. 

 All the strong lateral roots are cut about 4 feet from the stem 

 of the tree, to which a steel rope is made fast at about 18 or 

 20 feet from the ground. This rope passes through a block 

 which is fixed at a predetermined point, and which answers the 

 dual purpose of giving the falling tree the desired direction, and 

 of helping the rope to wind regularly on the barrel of a winch, 

 from which the necessary power is obtained. The winch is 

 lashed to a tree and forms the centre of a circle having the 

 length of the rope (which in this case is about 40 yards) as 

 its radius. The trees felled by this method are Scots pine of 

 about 90 years of age. The roots are subsequently blasted 

 with powder and burned, thus giving the beetle no chance 

 whatever to breed in them. With the same object in view, the 

 various plantations and woods were gone over, and trees likely 

 to attract the pests were removed. A strict watch should be 

 maintained after the passing of a weevil infestation, as the pest 

 is liable to return. On the 6th of October, while we were 

 engaged in " beating-up " one of the infested plantations, thirteen 

 weevils were collected from a part which had hitherto been 

 immune from their attack. Apparently, from their light colour, 

 these insects were members of a generation which had issued 

 from some old neighbouring stools, and had been enticed, by the 

 warm sun then shining, to feed and probably to copulate. 



As the damage done by the weevil to coniferous woods in 

 Scotland alone means the loss of thousands of pounds annually, 

 perhaps in the near future, in the event of the State acquiring 

 land for afforestation, legislative measures will be forthcoming 

 compelling the owners of coniferous woodlands to do their 

 utmost to exterminate the pest! In the meantime, the subject of 

 its attack should be closely studied by all foresters and others 

 interested in woods, as it is only by combined efforts that our 

 woodlands can be effectually cleared of this, perhaps, the most 

 destructive of forest pests. 



