WORSE THAN BURGLARS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 398, 6 January 1909, Page 8

WORSE THAN BURGLARS.

THE HOUSE BORER

HIS UNCOUTH ANTICS 'DESCRIBED.

[Br Dry Rot.']

: Burglars will steal;your'goods and your cash, and the . garrotters your Tolled-gold; watch; but the: borer "steals, your whole house. While; you 'sleep.helgnaws.) Stealthily, relentlessly, irresistibly, he'burrows into the very vitals of your property.;. him is sound timber; behind juim is ruin. Likea cruel .army, he, devastates-.; wherever. he goes; And there is- no pure,;! ; \. ; - Is your house built of kauri'?.';,; Set no store by that fact. Kauri.is ; not borerproof.-. Or is-it, perchance,-pornposed of the solid; durable,,- totaraP.^No,matter.. Kauri, totara, red pine,.;white..- pine—all — go down into sawdust before, the .little.devastator;. There are degrees ;of immunity, it is true: but there, is no sure absolute salvation for the,ordinary building.timbers. At least,. not unless the" little friend deferred to in the-tailof this article should.prove to be effective. -...-.•■.' .' ; 'v'''.,'' ; , Skilled Worker.; :V-7 •/*"', • There are many borers.■ Sketch! to this article is an ..enlarged outline, iofvfhe .borer, shown.in sketches 2. It is.the.size.at which he appears at dead of night.',ih 'dreanis yto the unhappy- man who. has discovered ■:. that'; his newly-bought house is- infestecKwith: them.; Look at'the. singular shield-like ;.porj;lou.over the head. -~ It'.,is his chest^T-iis.thorax, as. well as his too! chest. A singular., place to carry one's thorax! It'isjmoreaike the shield of; an .'ancient swordsman:'-.-' 'And, .perhaps, -it;- really does some > pushing ;in the general-scheme of, excavation..'; The actual

\ Sketches? 3 "and 4 represent-.'another of the, enlarged. and- -the'. other in its natural size.W*:This rattan ; -But there^are-several-'others. -They, bornb-.from; all: sorts -of • • sources (and ■ all '_ sorts of countries.-:' We .have. c b.ur..,:own;particular; New/Zealand species,.:.which-infests,-the/dead .trees; of .'the forestsj andvwb : ;li&ye\now other species ..''made in . Japan. or : America; Which of,, these, is/.it: tbatihas riddled'/those -chests-, of •',-drawers;..that-'.you bought;,second-hand at •thb.fsalerooms? Yet; newly-made, goods are not "safe either.' In a small wooden'. horse, ■ " made :in Germany," of dead -wood,: borers haVe-'bebn, found in abundance,; a ..Japanese 1 - caryed^/t'ablo:.; was. -/riddled jWitb ■ them,- an -.American-., wooden-, framed clock,:was : also infested/ ;' Danger in seasoned Timbw.?;/!' ; j|! ':,.'-/. . .Among,the New ! Zealand timbers;th"e,borer has -a. strong : preference •/•for -■;,white, vpihe , (katikatea),, and'., black..;; pine-: '. (rnatai);.-';.... It. begins -to enter these at the.sawmill-yards while the timber,is awaiting orders.' '~-Sear soned timber--at'"the "sawmills' vis;;'a'prolific' source of danger from'-.bprer'si'Vv. /'vY.'-'''' .';•'. ■. : When*' the .timber. is: first: xut ■ it: is' ■ free from borerj because; a borer, tha.t will inyade' . growing' live'' timber :i3 not of ..-.the. same variety''.as - those 'which :inhabit : .-il-.'.-when'-:dead. The. native ..dead-wood ''■borer's -probably abound;in the: forests,: flights around'-the'-sawmills:they/deposit./eggs on the-.rough edges:of -the/sawivtimbtfr, or" in tongiied and':.grooved 'boards:,- -Eyerj, <pldned timber possesses plenty■ .of minute:irregularities' ■of ;the Surface: to- suit;egg/4ayih.g. - The little, grubs-which : hatch r fromithe;;fggs 'be-' comb the.vborers.pf. the; f utureYhousp.. ■~.;

Creen Timber ; It is safest^; therefore,'jtojjjpiainijfrbm the' sawmills; or -.timber" yardsf.-greeSv'tiiiiperthat has. just ..been-, cutj ■'■ and -to 'rStacfc; ii v . up for . seasoning, oni.the -site ofi.thejpropo'sed.building, or- to, obtain timber that.has .been'sea-' sone.d.in'the>inter. "For. the';bedtles|are 'only: on'.the .wing'for,egg-layihg-ppßrstions,in- ; the summer; : This" plan,- of c'o.urse£i£ n'o.t:always. convenient.'.'.; The' borer. ddes',, ; his"-'work of infection so. invisibly: that' ;there'vhas arisen 7 a ' saying that if/y'ou get.a:piece;;6fihejr-timber, plane it. all round, cut off both, ends/.and sear it up:in .'a bottle,- a borer will develop in; it/ : There can, ■■'of/course, be : without' an - egg, and no egg without* a.mcther'to' lay'it; so! that, the saying ; is, only true/to the : extent that it. emphasises- the incipient 'way. in whicir :the infection takes, place.:-, Nobody j has ever yet proved an , instance 'of spontaneous: generation.' ••;'•■■■."'. ■-.%;>"••■ '•'..': A Charmed Life."■■'. /^j.-.^ ■:•..:-; [~: : / : i 'i The borer, of course,; like , Other ; beetles, passes through ' various . changes.,;.of form.: First, there is the egg, then the.-larva (representing the grub stage)/: th'e'hjr'jfche.Chrysalis, (oiv sleeping stage), and^finally : ithe'-mature winged.beetle'. .Most'.insects/;wien-«in.-vtheir' winged stage,: make for/the-.bperi' air, to.: fly ' and breed. But some of the' borers'- dp not do' this. They remain ;from", generation to generation.inside'';the;burr6ws,' ; and.thus live a charmed life of ..security, from,, outside dangers. : If -they all left 'at some stage there would' be better>hop'e .of, curing the borer- trouble.. ■ But ; with..their■ wooden channels connecting with each .other, 'with their habits of mating and egg-laying; without coming into the open,' and. with the,tortuous forms of'architecture adopted' in the; making, of .these the. hopelessrie'ss-b'f{tKe;-n'a'r : against the borer becomes'gainfully; ojjpres-' sive. Even that' tool of many./ uses,.; the lady's hairpin/is powerless against 'th'is.little enemy.-,;; ; -; ; ,;- ; , ,'■ '..'.;; '. j/'./'/■;:,.:;;/■' ;''-.; V/ 'A:,Good.Test./. /; '' r Here is an actual fact' that is' almost as wonderful'as, the ; sppntaneou's.generation l dnd bottle story'..lt concerns a';piece ! ,'6f American pressed picture frame.'. This was made from a piece of'.timber/that.:bad, : ,beeri-cut'in an . American forest, rolled, dragged,, or floated, to the mill, sawn'.up,' dried and squeezed uti- : der enormous sold ; . to ■ wholesale house's/, exporte'd to • New .'Zealand, and'.finally sold in a retail 'sh'o*£.:'Yet when the picture framed cut it. off ;to. ;jhake' v r.a frame,; out rolled;a;live,fly,' It ; was- a',,delicate fly of : a .specie's,that-, enters only growing' timber. It must have,gone through the /whole. business, uninjured.;'. What, the,ref6reVv.;could ( - not. a powerful,'',';though.', .'small,/beetle'.. : endureP, Oregon"''.pinesis not' always"free'rlrom. borer'.: In a houso condemned at Geraldme, the borer

was found in kauri, .totara, matai, red pine, white pine, and bluegum. Th? only wood-in the building that was not : > ectedfwas ■"-> jpiece of New; Zealand pokaka. ■ •'■■:•;-.'.

An Insect that Kills the Borer, V .': If will be pleasant to find one taste of honey , in this story .of. destruction. The honey consists of a friendly-beetle" (Sketch 6); which chases the borer along his tunnels and devours him.; This little.prize was discovered lately in; a house at Mataura doing excellent work in exterminating the borer. If the Go-', vernment, or'some other- institution were -to. take the friendly beetle in hand and breed up supplies for'distribution ~to borer-haunted house owners, it might prove to, be a valuable asset to the country—a. Jack the Giant'. Killer.: The work,would be on the lines of ,tho breeding of .the codlin moth's enemy, and the' syrphus fly, the lacewing fly, the lady-, birds, and-;other'friendly .insects r.which are ~ being bred, for distribution: to suppress thei pests of farms and orchards. ~Possibly some : interested, propertyi owners.will; -press; this ;, view. Is the little avenger of pulverised'pro-': perty':too small to'..-'catch-the Prime"Minis-; ter's.eye?.: He is not quite so big as the Dpminion debt, certainly, but he_is usefulness. , In actual bodily size he .is twice. as long as the .borer,"'.black and bronze coloured, and is furnished'with peculiar hairs that stick out' along his sides. He .is ,cer< - tainly not prepossessing, but .''beneath'; fair rough exterior," ■'. as' the'-. story ; books ;.say ; ., "there beats\ an; honest,, valiant heart.".; ~;'"