﻿244 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  tree 
  is 
  attributed 
  to 
  unusual 
  dry 
  weather, 
  to 
  the 
  impervious 
  street 
  pave- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  our 
  cities, 
  to 
  defective 
  gaspipes^ 
  or 
  some 
  other 
  cause^ 
  

   while 
  the 
  true 
  agents 
  of 
  the 
  mischief 
  continue 
  their 
  destructive 
  work 
  

   unknown 
  and 
  undisturbed. 
  Throughout 
  the 
  entire 
  State, 
  and 
  beyond 
  its 
  

   limits, 
  the 
  American 
  elm 
  has 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  been 
  suffering 
  from 
  

   the 
  ravages 
  of 
  this 
  hidden 
  and 
  insidious 
  enemy, 
  the 
  trees 
  dying 
  one 
  by 
  

   one 
  from 
  a 
  cause, 
  not 
  apparent, 
  and 
  known 
  to 
  but 
  a 
  few. 
  

  

  Character 
  and 
  Extent 
  of 
  Injury. 
  

  

  The 
  larvae 
  or 
  grubs 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  inner 
  bark 
  and 
  sap-wood 
  

   of 
  the 
  trunk, 
  — 
  the 
  attack 
  apparently 
  commencing 
  not 
  far 
  above 
  the 
  

   ground 
  and 
  gradually 
  extending 
  upward. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  burrows 
  are 
  in 
  

   the 
  inner 
  bark, 
  although 
  a 
  few 
  occur 
  at 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  or 
  more. 
  

   When 
  the 
  grubs 
  are 
  numerous, 
  their 
  broad 
  flat 
  burrows, 
  varying 
  from 
  one- 
  

   tenth 
  to 
  two-tenths 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  iii 
  width 
  and 
  about 
  one-tenth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  

   deep, 
  so 
  reticulate 
  and 
  run 
  into 
  one 
  another 
  as 
  effectually 
  to 
  girdle 
  trunks 
  

   of 
  trees 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  feet 
  in 
  diameter, 
  when, 
  with 
  the 
  circulation 
  arrested, 
  

   the 
  death 
  of 
  the 
  tree 
  inevitably 
  follows. 
  The 
  bark 
  is 
  frequently 
  so 
  badly 
  

   infested 
  that 
  in 
  old 
  trees 
  it 
  can 
  be 
  detached 
  in 
  large 
  sheets. 
  The 
  work 
  

   of 
  this 
  pest 
  is 
  shown 
  in 
  figures 
  4, 
  5, 
  of 
  plate 
  VII. 
  

  

  As 
  early 
  as 
  1847 
  and 
  1848, 
  Dr. 
  Harris 
  had 
  noticed 
  that 
  this 
  insect 
  was 
  

  

  very 
  injurious 
  to 
  the 
  elms 
  on 
  Boston 
  Common. 
  He 
  wrote 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  trees 
  were 
  found 
  to 
  have 
  suffered 
  terribly 
  from 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  

   these 
  insects. 
  Several 
  of 
  them 
  had 
  already 
  been 
  cut 
  down, 
  as 
  past 
  

   recovery; 
  others 
  were 
  in 
  a 
  dying 
  state, 
  and 
  nearly 
  all 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  more 
  

   or 
  less 
  affected 
  with 
  disease 
  or 
  premature 
  decay. 
  Their 
  bark 
  was 
  per- 
  

   forated, 
  to 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  thirty 
  feet 
  from 
  the 
  ground, 
  with 
  numerous 
  holes 
  

   through 
  which 
  insects 
  had 
  escaped; 
  and 
  large 
  pieces 
  had 
  become 
  so 
  

   loose 
  by 
  the 
  undermining 
  of 
  the 
  grubs 
  as 
  to 
  yield 
  to 
  slight 
  efforts, 
  and 
  

   come 
  off 
  in 
  flakes. 
  The 
  inner 
  bark 
  was 
  filled 
  with 
  the 
  burrows 
  of 
  the 
  

   grubs, 
  great 
  numbers 
  of 
  which, 
  in 
  various 
  stages 
  of 
  growth, 
  together 
  with 
  

   some 
  in 
  the 
  pupa 
  state, 
  were 
  found 
  therein; 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  

   wood, 
  in 
  many 
  cases, 
  was 
  furrowed 
  with 
  their 
  irregular 
  tracks. 
  

  

  Most 
  of 
  the 
  wood 
  and 
  bark 
  borers 
  are 
  partial 
  to 
  diseased 
  and 
  dying 
  

  

  trees, 
  as 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  many. 
  An 
  enfeebled 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  trees 
  

  

  from 
  their 
  age 
  or 
  some 
  other 
  cause, 
  may 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  severity 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  attack 
  noted 
  above. 
  Dr. 
  Fitch, 
  in 
  his 
  Fifth 
  Report, 
  records 
  that 
  the 
  

  

  larvae 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  infested 
  the 
  remaining 
  bark 
  of 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  slippery 
  elms, 
  

  

  Ulmus 
  fulva, 
  in 
  his 
  vicinity, 
  after 
  the 
  best 
  of 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  stripped 
  off 
  for 
  

  

  medicinal 
  purposes. 
  The 
  operations 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  notorious, 
  

  

  for 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  characterized 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Packard 
  as 
  the 
  most 
  destructive 
  

  

  borer 
  in 
  the 
  Northern 
  and 
  Eastern 
  States, 
  often 
  kilHng 
  trees 
  by 
  the 
  

  

  wholesale. 
  In 
  1884, 
  its 
  ravages 
  were 
  so 
  serious 
  that 
  Prof 
  Forbes 
  wrote 
  : 
  

  

  