THE RED SPRUCE. 27 
this type of fungous growth which prey upon the spruce, but those 
enumerated are the most common and most destructive. 
It is obviously impossible to introduce intensive protective measures 
in our wild and uncultivated forests. However, it is possible, and 
in the long run it will be profitable, to adopt such measures as will 
certainly aid in prolonging their health and usefulness. In the 
process of lumbering, particularly where the selection system is 
being employed, a careful scrutiny should be made of all trees which 
are to be left, Merchantable trees in a defective condition, whatever 
their size, should be removed in order to get the present value of 
their sound portions and at the same time prevent so far as possible 
their becoming a menace to the healthy trees remaining. This 
would include the cutting of standing dead and down timber when 
marketable. In similar manner, areas upon which the timber has 
been killed by fire, windfall, or serious insect attacks, should be 
lumbered immediately upon the discovery of the damage. If such 
timber is cut immediately, its value will be only slightly, if at all 
impaired, and it will yield as good lumber as before its death. This 
logging will, in certain instances, entail a somewhat greater expense. 
The disposal of slash by burning after lumbering, using suitable 
safeguards, is another precaution which will be found desirable. If 
slash is allowed to remain on the ground, it constitutes a center of 
infection for fungous diseases and insect pests, thus jeopardizing the 
health of the remaining timber. 
INSECTS.i 
Spruce has many insect enemies which prey upon its bark, wood, 
twigs, and foliage. Those known as bark and wood miners cause 
the greatest damage. They attack the old and valuable timber and 
are either primary or secondary causes of its death. Young trees 
are subject to injury by the white-pine weevil (Pissodes strobi Peck) 
and the spruce gall louse (CJtermes sp.). The latter affects the young 
twigs and the former the terminal shoots. As a result of their work 
the trees become deformed or stunted in growth. 
Among the bark miners the southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus 
frontalis Zimm.) and the eastern spruce beetle (Dendroctonus pice- 
aperda Hopk.) are considered the most serious pests. To the former 
has been attributed the destruction of a vast amount of spruce timber 
in West Virginia and the adjacent region, while the eastern spruce 
beetle is accounted responsible for the ravages of past years in 
Maine and New Hampshire. The attacks of the southern pine 
beetle are disastrous to both pine and spruce in areas south of Penn- 
1 Those desiring detailed information concerning forest insect pests and methods of combating them 
should communicate with the Division of Forest Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 
