CHAPTER IV 



FUNGOID PESTS OF TIMBER 



As with the insects, so with fungoid pests of 

 timber, we may divide our subjects into artificial 

 groups. In the case of standing timber there 

 are fungi which are directly injurious to the 

 wood — ^these form our first division. Other fungi 

 are indirectly injurious, in that they damage 

 leaves, bark, roots, etc., and thereby impair the 

 growth of the wood. The third class of injurious 

 fungi are those which damage felled timber. 



For the better understanding of the means 

 by which fungi cause injury to their hosts, as 

 the plants upon which they grow are called, we 

 may well explain briefly their nature and mode 

 of life. All fungi are devoid of chlorophyll or 

 green colouring matter, an eloquent fact to the 

 botanist, for he knows that absence of chloro- 

 phyll entails inabiUty to form food material. 

 How then does a fungus live ? Either upon 

 dead or decaying matter when it is known as a 

 saprophyte, or upon living material when it is 

 called a parasite. 



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