FIGHTING THE BORER

Evening Star, Issue 21544, 17 October 1933, Page 2

FIGHTING THE BORER

AH AUSTRALIAN TREATMENT * The problem of abating the ravages of the wood borer is one which has confronted practically every home owner at'somc time or another. An announcement that a reliable and economical treatment or preparation was available to exterminate or even abate the pest would be received with enthusiasm, as it would be a great boon to property owners. From the experiences recorded by an Australian linn dealing exclusively with the problem of exterminating timber pests it would seem that such a product is available. A sample of this preparation, which, according to eminent Australian architects and others, has been used effectively in Australia for fifteen years and also for four years in the North Island, has been examined and experiments made with various species of timber-destroying pests. It was found that contact with the preparation used as a spray destroys the pests in a few seconds. Exposure to the fumes without actual contact is fatal in a few minutes. Timber so treated is extremely repugnant to wood borers, white ants, etc., which will die rather than attack it. The mixture has a very penetrating effect on wood, and rapidly spreads along and between the fibres. Owing to the presence jf compounds of low volatility, long-con-tinued immunity is ensured. The preparation is light in colour and does not perceptibly stain the surface to which it is applied. Entomologists declare, after studying the life history of the borer, that the adult beetle bores its way out of the timber during the warmer months of the year. Pairing proceeds immediately the beetle leaves the timber, and in a few days the female deposits her eggs in the pores of the wood. After the deposition of the eggs the parents live but a short time. In a week or two a minute larva or grub hatches out of each egg, and at once begins to feed on the tissue. It is upon the nutriment extracted from the wood that the grub subsists. As it grows the tunnels become larger and larger, and when the grub is fully grown the tunnels measure one-twelfth of an inch in diameter. When the grub is approaching maturity it usually tunnels its way near the surface, where it settles down and changes its form from a grub to a beetle. It then excavates a hole to the exterior for the purpose of mating. From the foregoing abbreviated life history it is apparent that it is the grub which does practically the whole damage to the timber, hut it is the beetle which bores the so-called flight holes seen in the surface. These flight holes appear after the timber has been damaged. It would therefore seem necessary to treat the timber before the flight "holes appear, and this is strongly recommended by the manufacturers of the Australian treatment.