8 
better condition. This is explained as the result of an increased 
food supply, due to the removal of competitors, to a more rapid 
decomposition of humus, which results from exposure to the air, 
and to increased sunlight. It is only after a considerable period 
that the final effect of deforesting is felt by the trees and perceived 
by man. Such results are not restricted to this country, but are 
known among foresters the world over. 
“I take it we are now witnessing some of these effects in Ken¬ 
tucky, and that our elms feel the change most keenly because of 
their manner of rooting. The debility brought about by unfavor¬ 
able conditions such as those described is taken advantage of by 
the elm tree borer* in some cases, which completes the ruin by 
girdling trees under the rough outer bark.” 
Prospects of Continuance 
There is nothing more characteristic of unusual outbreaks of 
insect injury than their temporary character. Altho it seemed in 
1884 that the elms of central Illinois towns would probably all be 
gone in a few years, their epidemic disease diminished in the fol¬ 
lowing years almost as rapidly as it had developed. Single cases 
were still to be found ten years later, but many of the affected trees 
recovered, and there has been, until lately, only an occasional trace 
of this special trouble in that part of the state since 1895. 
In Kentucky also the heavy loss of elms which was the occasion 
of the bulletin of Professor Garman quoted above has now prac¬ 
tically ceased; and in a letter dated June 3, 1910, he says: “Our 
elms have largely recovered since my bulletin was written, altho 
a good many of them were lost during the excessively dry period 
of which the bulletin treated. During the past three years we have 
had more rainfall than we wanted at times, and the trees every¬ 
where are looking fine." 
The case is therefore not as hopeless as it now looks, for the 
elms of southern Illinois towns, altho the past summer has been a 
peculiarly trying one. If the weather of the next years is normally 
moist, it is quite possible that many of the injured trees favorably 
situated may recover, and that the general condition of the elms 
thruout the country will become greatly improved. If, however, 
weather conditions should continue unfavorable, the injury will go 
on in all probability to still greater extremes. I11 any event meth¬ 
ods of prevention and remedy are important to all who value their 
“*Two other beetles belonging to the same family as the elm borer, were 
reared by me [Garman] some years ago from diseased elms. They are 
Dularius brevilineus and Xylotrechus co/onus 
