2 
trees may perish within a single year after the first effects are no¬ 
ticed; and sometimes, on the other hand, it is greatly lengthened, 
extending thru five or six years, and, in mild cases, even ending in 
recovery. Altho there may be no definite sign of insect injury 
anywhere, it is most commonly the case that a thoro search of the 
trunk and larger branches will show patches of dead bark under 
which there are two or more kinds of burrowing insect larvae, or 
borers. The roots of these trees are often affected somewhat as 
the branches are; that is, the smaller, terminal, so-called feeding 
roots die and dry up progressively, the process extending to the 
larger roots and the base of the trunk. 
A Typical Case 
The condition of the roots of trees so affected is well shown by 
the report of Mr. Lindley M. Smith, my field assistant for south¬ 
ern Illinois, who visited Du Quoin, Perry county, in July of the 
current year for an examination of elms reported to be dead or 
dying. This visit was in pursuance of a letter addressed to me 
by Mr. E. E. Jacobs, mayor of the town, who says, under date of 
July 8: “At the time the city of Du Quoin was laid out, some fifty 
years ago, our streets were lined with elm trees. These trees have 
gotten along nicely up to the present summer, but now there are 
probably a hundred and fifty trees dead or dying.” Mr. Smith 
reports, July 14: “The elms are in very bad condition, and there 
are many dead or dying ones all over town. The round-headed 
borers [Fig. 1] are very thick under the bark on these dying trees, 
and the people in general seem to suppose that the borers are the 
cause of all of the damage. I dug out some of the main roots on 
seven large trees, and while many of the roots were still green for 
a few feet from the base, I invariably found that the little feeding 
roots were dead. In some cases the smaller roots had apparently 
been dead for several days, or perhaps weeks, as they were all dis¬ 
colored and some were almost rotten. We dug one tree out so that 
all of the roots could be examined. The outer ends of all the roots 
on this tree were dead, tho some of the main roots were still alive, 
and the leaves were not yet quite all dead. The tree had no tap¬ 
root, all the roots spread out from the base of the tree, and none 
of them were very far beneath the surface. I found no sign of in¬ 
sect work on the roots, but most of the latter simply looked as if 
they had dried up. The ground was very dry, as there has been 
no rain that would wet down to the tree roots since some time in 
April.” Similar conditions were found by Mr. Smith at Carbon- 
dale, where one tree was dug up, together with a number of roots 
