DISEASES AND PESTS 83 



If this practice is strictly followed, and a good 

 watch is kept for signs of the beetle, there is a good 

 chance that they can be exterminated in any locality, 

 and this is more than can reasonably be hoped for in 

 the case of most pests. British planters in Ceylon are 

 so convinced of the soundness and necessity of this 

 policy that, besides destroying their own infested trees, 

 the more enterprising also destroy any others in the 

 neighbourhood, if necessary paying damages for them. 



As to methods of destruction of trees, my own con- 

 fidence is all in the prompt and thorough use of fire. 

 Burying, and submerging in water, are sometimes 

 proposed as alternatives to burning. Burning is not 

 easy, and unless there is more rubbish than ought to 

 be at hand, and unless the time is very dry, it usually 

 requires the use of kerosene. All the soft parts of the 

 crown must be burned ; the length of this soft part 

 depends upon the age and vigour of the tree. If the 

 rhinoceros beetle also must be reckoned with, the whole 

 trunk must ultimately be destroyed, but this need not be 

 done so promptly. Burying the trunk may be effective 

 when only the red beetle is concerned, but cannot be 

 relied upon in the case of Oryctes. Submerging will 

 prevent the use of the dead wood as a place to lay eggs, 

 but cannot be trusted to prevent the escape of beetles 

 already mature or nearly so. 



Three other methods of fighting Ehynchophorus are 

 in use : 



1. Extracting the beetles or larvae from their 

 burrows and from places of concealment on the tree. 

 This method is widely used in combating Oryctes, and 

 adult red beetles are sometimes caught with the black 

 ones, both kinds in the same holes. So far as larvae 

 and beetles in the burrows are concerned, it is not as 

 practicable against the red beetle alone as against the 

 black, if used in proper conjunction with other sanitary 

 measures. However, Green says, in commenting on 

 the catches from 1903 to 1907 : " It is noticeable that 

 up to the present year the annual total of captures of 



