WOOD BORERS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19178, 8 December 1927, Page 4

WOOD BORERS.

PROTECTION OF FURNITURE. (By "W.ir/W.) We are oftou aslced as to the best method of preventing the ravages of wood borer (Anobium Domesticum) in its attacks on furniture. It happens very often that circumstances make it necessary for some of us to bo forced to live in an old house that is literally riddled with borer. Very often, also, we may have good and valuable furniture which we wish to save from the attentions of our energetic little housemate and enemy. The furniture beetle favours soft or medium soft woods, notably white pine, sappy black pine, and oak, and is very persistent, reproducing and repeatedly attacking the wood, and spreading readily to adjacent pine wood and furniture. The eggs are laid in poros of the surface, within old bores, and at the rough ends of boards. Paint, varnish, or oil deters them from re-depositing eggs. The grubs do the boring damage, and though they may emerge through a painted, polished, or oiled surface, they are deterred from, again laying eggs except by re-entering the emergence holes to do so. Hence oiling, repaintng, or revarnishing about November is valuable protection, and treatment of adjacent unpainted or untreated woodwork liable to infestation is advised.

When the first emergence holes begin to appear in-pianos or valuable furniture, it pays to inject by moans of a fine-pointed glass syringe turpentine or benzino or creosote oil into those initial holes.

Commence immediately the damage is discovered, and repeat daily for a week or two to arrest the outbreak. Varnish, naint, or oil all hidden internal woodwork', backs, etc., of wardrobes, shelves, drawers, or other furniture showing infestation or likely to bp infested. Finally, where the articles are small enough, or infested panels can be removed for treatment, these may be placed in an oven and treated. Woodwork an inch thick, if loft in a temperaturo of 175 deg. Fall, for threequarters of an hour, will have the eggs, grubs, and adults killed outright. Longer periods of exposure to heat arc necessary with thicker wood. Care must always bo taken with new timber when treating with creosote, as it stain? the wood considerably.

COLOURING WOOD IN LIVING TREE. According to a writer in the "American Forestry Journal," the practicability of obtaining wood coloured to taste by dyeing the wood of the living tree, has recently been the subject of successful experiments in the United States. These experiments confirmed those made in Germany by the original inventor of the process, a Gannon scientist named Fritz von Bohr, and were conducted under his personal supervision. The process—a rather intricate oneconsists of introducing a water-soluble dye, the composition of which is a secret, into a tree at that time in tire spring when the sap is rising, and is only practicable during th&t short period of the year. The transportation system of the tree carries the colouring materials from a reservoir formed in tho trunk about four feet from the ground by cross-boring of auger holes, to all parts of the tree, and oolours tho wood in so permanent a fashion that the only finishing process necessary is to polish the surface, On the third day after, impregnation, the leawes assume the colour of the dye, and by cutting away a small piece'of bark the coloured wood can be distinguished. One might perceive trees with red, blue, green, violet, or yellow foliage, in walking through an area where trees were being treated. Any colour can be used satisfactorily; in fact, two colours can he used at one injection, One example of this is an ivory-coloured wood, obtained as a result of using more than one colour.. It takes about ■five days to colour a large tree completely. About two weeks after the treatment the leaves fall to the ground The inventor of the process insists, however, that the tree is not dead, _ but will leaf again next year. This is of no economic importance, as the trees were coloured to be used for timber and not to be left in the woods for posterity. The coloured trees have lately been cut and sawn into boards, which are i now being carefully seasoned, and will soon be made into attractive novelties and furniture. As regards use for ftm niture, an important point is that the colour does not destroy the rays, but brings them out clearly. It is claimed that heeqh and yellow birch can I>g dyed W resemble rosewood and mahogany respectively. As said, the wood is ' fast-coloured; boiling and the use of acids has no apparent effect on the stability of the colour. The dye even seems to make the wood harder, and instead of fading with age, the colour seems to deepen. Many charming novelties are made from these coloured woods, such as umbrella-handles, door-knobs, papercutters, drawer-handles, inlaid jewel; lery-boxes, cigarette cases, brushbacks, buttons, candlesticks, and powderboxes.