Some Problems of Re-afforestation. 13 



on the windward side, for it is evident that these provide the 

 best counterpoise to the pressure of the wind, and as long as 

 they remain standing the rest of the wood is fairly secure. 

 And yet one sometimes sees such marginal trees severely 

 pruned in an attempt to produce " clean " boles, the fact being 

 overlooked that it is their very roughness which gives them 

 their special value. 



I.V|>lanting with conifers a cleared area of this class of tree 

 is often disappointing on account of damage by insects, 

 especially the Pine Weevil (Hylobius abietis). This beetle 

 breeds abundantly in the stools of recently felled pines, and in 

 stems and strong branches that may be left for a year or two 

 on or near the denuded area. From these breeding places it 

 emerges to feed upon the bark of young conifers, and in the 

 case of a severe infestation hardly a plant will escape. Much 

 can be done to combat it by stripping the bark from the stools 

 and exposed roots, and by timely removal or destruction of all 

 top and lop. The insect may also be trapped by laying out 

 inverted pieces of fresh coniferous bark, at least a foot square, 

 from which the insects are collected and placed in wide- 

 mouthed bottles, to be afterwards destroyed. When the 

 weevils are most abundant, usually in May and the first half of 

 June, the traps must be visited daily. Thereafter inspection 

 every two or three days will suffice. The attractiveness of the 

 lures is improved by placing some fresh sawdust underneath, 

 and both the slabs and the sawdust should be renewed every 

 fortnight or so. Twenty such traps per acre will account for 

 large numbers of weevils. But concurrently with trapping the 

 insects should be hand-picked from the stems and herbage, an 

 eradicative method more effective even than trapping. A few 

 pine stems left lying in a wood will also attract the insect for 

 breeding purposes, and when the eggs have been laid, but 

 before the weevils have emerged, these stems may be removed 

 and sawn up for firewood or, if large enough, used for other 

 purposes. 



Until comparatively recently almost the only method of 

 combating the pine weevil was to defer replanting for five or six 

 years after a wood had been felled, during which time the old 

 stools passed into a condition unsuitable for the breeding of the 

 insect. But when the loss of growth during this period is con- 

 sidered, and also in view of the fact that rank weeds will have 

 established themselves on the area, considerable expenditure on 

 trapping and hand-picking, by making immediate re-stocking 

 possible, is thoroughly justified. 



W. SOMBRVILLE. 



School of Rural Economy, 

 Oxford. 



