— 
PRE AGE. 
The report submitted herewith, entitled The ‘* Bluing” and the 
‘*Red Rot” of the Western Yellow Pine, with Special Reference to the 
Black Hills Forest Reserve, covers in part an investigation under- 
taken by the Bureau of Plant Industry in cooperation with the Bureau 
of Forestry in the broad field of the diseases of forest trees and the 
means of controlling them, as well as the causes of and methods of 
preventing the decay of all kinds of timber, especially that valuable 
for construction purposes. At the present time an immense quantity 
of dead and dying timber of the bull pine is standing in the Black 
Hills Forest Reserve, South Dakota. The amount has been variously 
estimated, but will probably approach 600,000,000 feet. The death of 
the trees was caused by the pine-destroying beetle of the Black Hills, 
as shown by investigations conducted by the Division of Entomology 
of the United States Department of Agriculture.” Following attack 
by the beetles the wood of the tree is invaded by various fungi, one of 
which causes the blue coloration of the wood. Dr. von Schrenk has 
demonstrated, however, that the fungus which causes the bluing does 
not injure the strength of the wood. 
The rapid decay or ‘‘red rot” of the timber is caused by another 
fungus, and its ravages can be forestalled by a proper use of the 
wood. A series of recommendations is made, which, if followed, will 
result in the saving of a very large part of the dead wood. 
ALBERT F. Woops, 
Pathologist and Physiologist. 
OFFICE OF THE PATHOLOGIST AND PHYSIOLOGIST, 
Washington, D. C., December 23, 1902. 
4 Bull. 32, n. s., Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1902. 
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