278 



THE RUBBER TREE BOOK 



to clean out quite an extensive acreage of seedlings. All means 

 used to deal with them were ineffective. Such visitations are 

 rare, and are only to be dreaded in the case of newly-planted 

 areas. 



Boring beetles (Xyloborus, etc.) sometimes cause annoy- 



FIG. 81. Tree attacked by Boring Beetles (Xyloborus), showing 



excavated Wood Dust on Stem. 

 (Pholo by Mr Richards, Mycologist, Caledonia Estate, Straits Settlements.) 



ance, but although one cannot afford to neglect them, cases are 

 not very numerous as a general rule. There have, however, 

 been a few instances in which large numbers of them have ap- 

 peared on a plantation and done sufficiently serious damage. 

 One such case occurred in Java a few years ago. Disinfectants, 

 excision of bark, and smearing with tar were found to be useless. 



