Word: elm
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Dates: during 1910-1919
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Those who are familiar with the Yard--as all of the students and alumni are--know that it can be divided into two parts, an east and west part, the dividing line being Thayer, University and Weld Halls. The magnificent old elms stand on the west section, while the eastern part, being newer, has a greater variety of trees, namely: elm, ash, maple and oak, which are younger and in much better condition, than the former ones...
...trees of the Yard have been practically free from insect pests in past years and it is only during the last few years that there has been any trouble at all. The first troublesome insect was the elm-leaf beetle. It is a small beetle which feeds on the leaves of the elms, in its larval stage, appearing in such numbers as to strip the trees entirely of their foliage, thereby killing them. The trees in the west part of the Yard were attacked by this pest and considerable damage was done before they were overcome...
...These elm-leaf beetles undoubtedly weakened the elms to a very great extent and it may be that this paved the way for other destructive insects which have followed...
While cutting the leopard moth larvae from the limbs of the elms last fall, a small beetle was found, which has since been identified as the European elm bark-borer--scolytus multistriatus-marsh. In Germany it is known as the "splint kafer" and it is one of their most injurious pests. It enters the bark and the newly hatched larvae work in the splint of the live wood causing the bark to loosen and eventually fall off. Scores of trees in the Yard and about Cambridge have been examined and without exception all of them are infected...
...completely girdle large limbs, and frequently even girdle the trunk, finally cutting a cell close to the bark and there turning into pupas. When these develop they push out through the bark and become moths, which in turn lay their eggs in the bark of the twigs. The elm beetle works in a similar manner, through it does not cut across the wood, but burrows mostly in the inner bark of the tree, so that the outer bark may become completely detached from the trunk. It will thus be seen that the borers are at no time exposed...