31 



Thus far the insect has been confined to the cities, and while oc- 

 casionally in the outskirts specimens are found in trees, it is the ex- 

 ception rather than the rule, and practically no injury is done in 

 orchards or to the trees of smaller towns and villages. The larger the 

 city the greater the injury, and the reason for that seems to be that 

 in such places no birds, except English sparrows, ai-e able to main- 

 tain themselves. Wherever this sparrow is not completely in posses- 

 sion the insect is no longer to he. feared. In Xew Brunswick it is 

 only in the very heart of the city that any injury is done, and even 

 there it is slight compared; with the trouble in Newark, Jersey City 

 and Hoboken. Newark, whose population is most dense, also suffers 



most 



Remedial Measares, 



Active measures are possible in one direction only. Every badly 

 infested tree should be cut down and burnt, as its death is a mere 

 matter of time at the best. Trees infested toward the tips only 

 should be cut back in winter and the cuttings should be burnt. The 

 openings to the burrows made by the larvoe are easily seen by the 

 trained eye, especially during early summer, when the larva forces 

 great strings of partly digested wood through the opening by which it 

 entered. Where these burrows are in the trunks of valuable trees 

 or shrubs, or in branches that cannot be easily spared, a few drops of 

 bisulphide of carbon may be injected by means of an oil can or a 

 small syringe, and the opening closed with a lump of putty. The 

 vapor of the bisulphide will penetrate the full length of the tunnel 

 and kill the larva, wherever it may be, without injury to the tree. 

 Most of this work can be done during the winter. During the 

 summer the trees should be kept under constant supervision, and 

 wherever signs of borers are noticed the infested wood should be cut 

 out, or the borer should be destroyed by means of the bisulphide 

 of carbon. 



There are undoubtedjly natural enemies other than birds that 

 tend to keep this borer in check. If the work of these natural enemies 

 is supplemented by systematic work on the part of those in charge of 

 the trees, a great lessening of injury will result. If in the public 

 parks and squares in the cities other birds than sparrows could be 

 introduced and protected, the work would be much simplified. 



