young and matured stages in the developing broods, 

 but that normally an average of about 150 beetles 

 to the square foot of bark developed to the adult, or 

 reproductive, stage; which would be 50,000 beetles to 

 the average infested tree, or, say, 39,000 beetles to 

 1,000 board feet of timber. Since it requires an aver- 

 age of about 10 beetles to the square foot to attack 

 ;md kill a vigorous, healthy tree, it will be seen that 

 all the pine timber of the western forests 'would soon 

 be destroyed w r ere it not for natural and artificial 

 control. 



''Experiments to determine the time of year to cut 

 and the methods of handling mesquite for fuel, posts, 

 etc., to avoid destruction by wood-boring insects, have 

 Itrt'ii nearly completed, and the results show that seri- 

 ous loss in the Southwest can be prevented by cutting 

 the trees in the late fall and early winter and piling 

 the wood in loose piles until it is thoroughly dry. 

 Damage to posts can be prevented by cutting them at 

 nny time and laying them on the ground where they 

 will receive the full force of the sun, turning them 

 occasionally so that the young stages of the borers 

 will be killed by the heat. 



"Studies of damage to lead telephone cables in 

 California by a wood-boring beetle have been con- 

 tinued, and the results so far show that the beetle is 

 able to penetrate alloyed substances that are con- 

 siderably harder than lead. The problem is still 

 unsolved, and it will be difficult to find a practical 

 means of controlling this pest, which is able to put 

 hundreds of telephones out of commission by boring 

 holes in the cables, through which the water enters, 



19 



