36 THE SCOLYTID BEETLES. 



In 1905 the Black Hills beetle was killing patches of timber in the 

 vicinity of Colorado Springs and Palmer Lake, Colorado, as it did 

 in the beginning of the attack in the Black Hills of South Dakota, in 

 1897, but through the efforts of the late Gen. William J. Palmer and 

 others, sufficient numbers of infested trees were felled and barked on 

 private land and in the adjoining National Forest during 1905 and 

 1906 to destroy a large percentage of the beetles in the entire vicinity. 

 Careful inspection during the fall and winter of 1906 and 1907 indi- 

 cates that the pest is now under complete control within a radius of 

 some hundreds of square miles. 



The successful control of another serious outbreak of the Black 

 Hills beetle in 1906 on an extensive private estate in southern Colo- 

 rado was effected through the efforts of the owners in having some 

 500 infested trees felled and barked within the necessary period to 

 destroy the broods. A large percentage, but not all, of the infested 

 timber was thus treated. This was so successful that not a single 

 infested and dying tree could be found when the area was inspected in 

 1908. In this, as in the other case, considerable unnecessary expense 

 was involved in the burning of the bark and tops, but the utilizable 

 timber was more than enough to pay all expenses. It is evident that 

 in this case a destructive invasion was prevented, and that more than 

 a million dollars' worth of timber was protected. 



The most striking example of success in control of the Black 

 Hills beetle was reported in time for mention in this connection. 

 Mr. W. D. Edmonston, a forest ranger, detailed from the Forest 

 Service to the Bureau of Entomology to work under the instruc- 

 tions of the writer in the location and reporting of evidences of 

 beetle infestation in the National Forests of Colorado and adjoining 

 States, reported in May, 1907, that the pine timber was dying on a 

 large estate not far from Idaho Springs, Colorado, and the adjoining 

 National Forest. He was instructed to make more detailed examina- 

 tions, after which he reported that some 65,000 feet of timber on the 

 estate were foimd to be infested by the Black Hills beetle, and that 

 unless the ravages were checked at once the timber not only on this 

 estate but on the adjoining estates and National Forest would be killed. 

 The owner of the property was advised by this bureau to take radical 

 action according to a special recommendation and detailed instruc- 

 tions relating to a necessary control policy. No action was taken, 

 however, before the first of the following July, and therefore not in 

 time to prevent the beetles from swarming from the infested trees 

 and extending their ravages. In December, 1907, Mr. Edmonston 

 was instructed to make another examination of the timber, when he 

 foimd that his prediction was being fulfilled. He reported that in- 

 stead of 65,000 feet of infested timber, there was nearly four times 

 as much timber involved in the new infestation, or over 250,000 feet. 



