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' _-U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOG Y— BULLETIN No. 87.

L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau.

REPORT ON THE FIELD WORK AGAINST
THE GIPSY MOTH AND THE
BROWN-TAIL MOTH.

BY
D.. M. ROGERS,
Special Field Agent,
AND

A. F. BURGESS,
Expert in Charge of Breeding Experiments.

Issuep Avueusr 13, 1910.

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WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
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Bul. 87, Bureau

of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

PLATE |.

THE GipSY MOTH (PORTHETRIA DISPAR).

Fig. 1.—Male moth. Fig. 2.—Female moth. Fig. 3.—Male pupa.

Egg cluster.

Fig. 4.—Female pupa. Fig. 5.—

Fig. 6.—Caterpillars; the largest are less than half grown. (Original.)

Ves PEP AmeMeN | OP AGRICULTURE,
BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY— BULLETIN No. 87.

L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau.

REPORT ON THE FIELD WORK AGAINST
THE GIPSY MOTH AND THE
BROWN-TAIL MOTH.

BY
D. M. ROGERS,
Special Field Agent,

AND

A. T.. BURGESS,
Expert in Charge of Breeding Experiments.

IssuED Auaust 13, 1910.

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WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1910.

BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY.

L. O. Howarp, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau.
C. L. Maruart, Assistant Entomologist and Acting Chief in Absence of Chief.
R. 8S. Currron, Executive Assistant.
W. F. Tastet, Chief Clerk.

F. H. CarrrenpDeEn, in charge of truck crop and stored product insect investigations.
A. D. Hopxtins, in charge of forest insect investigations.

W. D. Hunter,-in charge of southern field crop insect investigations.

F. M. WessteEr, in charge of cereal and forage insect investigations.

A. L. QuAINTANCE, in charge of deciduous fruit insect investigations.

E. F. Purwurrs, in charge of bee culture.

D. M. Rocerrs, in charge of preventing spread of moths, field work.

Rouia P. Currie, in charge of editorial work.

MaBeEL CoucorD, librarian.

PREVENTING SPREAD OF MOTHS.
PARASITE LABORATORY.

W. F. Fiske, in charge; A. F. Burcess, H. 8S. Smita, W. R. THompson, C. W. Cor-
tins, P. H. TimBerLaKeE, R. WooLpDRIDGE, assistants.

FIELD WORK.

D. M. Roaers, in charge; H. B. Darron, THomas W. Bowmar, H. W. Vinton,
D. G. Murpuy, I. L. Barry, H. L. McIntyre, assistants.

2

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
BurREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY,
Washington, D. C., April 5, 1910.

Str: The only accounts so far published by the Department
of the large-scale work which is being carried on under congressional
appropriations in the effort to limit the farther spread of the gipsy
moth and the brown-tail moth in New England have been brief
statements in the annual reports of the Chief of the Bureau of Ento-
mology. The work has now reached such a stage that a comprehen-
sive account of the work accomplished, the methods of work, and
present conditions, is demanded. I therefore have the honor to
submit for publication the accompanying manuscript, which includes
a report on the field work for preventing the spread of the gipsy moth
and the brown-tail moth, and which has been prepared by Messrs.
D. M. Rogers and A. F. Burgess, of this Bureau. This report does
not include a-consideration of the efforts made to import and accli-
matize the European and Japanese parasites of the gipsy moth and
the brown-tail moth. That matter will be described in another
bulletin. I recommend that the accompanying manuscript be pub-
lished as Bulletin No. 87 of this Bureau.

Respectfully,
L. O. Howarp,
Entomologist and Chief of Bureau.
Hon. JAMES WILSON,
Secretary of Agriculture.

Lo)

CONTENTS.

TO Seat SR gael at ge Re ee ei ee i ee rer"
Importance of the gipsy moth as an insect pest in this country ........-----.
State work against the gipsy moth in Massachusetts, 1890-1900..-..........--
ecord er ane Pipeyanoul in Me Hative Home... .5--. 2.22. 52- 655-2 sees ee
Pict meelbe ais SIN oe oe eh. lye ee be ata Slee ee

SLE Es ag oe a re eee SS ae eee
neni emer eet = eae i ee me kee fue gaa de ee SEE

i eee a NOMI ee Seve Si EES ie tn 2 nl eg ER SS ae eye ae em
pscovery of the brown-tall moth in America... 2.2... ..422..:~..-...-.2-2.12.-
Huropeat history, ot the brown-tail moth... ......:....---.--2---25.2--.-4.5-%
Life history of the brown-tail moth

Pires: -. oc us SE a eee Seen ere Cee ete ee S aNA Se Wace wes
Per mene DEOWMntsa! MIEN. eo a I et ene
Natural enemies of the gipsy and brown-tail moths native to America
Progress of the state work in Massachusetts, 1890-1900
Discontinuance of the state work in Massachusetts...............2......--.---
Conditions in the infested territory at the close of the state work
Funds expended by the State during the progress of the work
Results of discontinuance of the work
nie Work Fesumien in Massmehimetis. 2. co cc0. ccc Uo cle cece eden cen
Beginning of work by the National Government.................2............
Work by the State of Massachusetts
momD CG, Duke Gl MAING. 7 [och iwc ciaiewa cence kaka atic seve kau oe asl
Work in the State of New Hampshire
Work in the State of Rhode Island
ees Ghertate of Conmectiont. ¢i.< 2 diss. cin Weck coms aol eck chetwekct
Inspection of lumber and forest products
Danger of introducing the gipsy moth and brown-tail moth from foreign coun-

6 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

Methods now used an fichtime the sipsy mothpa=ce ss oe eee eee

Cost of methods:employedy : 22) = “52 E se eee ee ees
Value of natural enemies in controlling gipsy and broww-tail moths.........-.
The introduction of parasites and natural enemies of the gipsy and brown-tail

Value of the work of suppression to the farmer and fruit grower.............--
Suggestions to the owners of private property in the infested districts........-
The outlooks: occ cas ec See ee aie ee ree at re
The more important American publications on the gipsy and brown-tail moths.
1G 0% t:> ee MMC a rc mins Ai Ge OO C ON Ce mae icel Sine Seon els

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATES.
Page.
Puate. I. The gipsy moth (Porthetria dispar). Fig. 1.—Male moth. Fig. 2.—
Female moth. Fig.3.—Male pupa. Fig.4.—Female pupa. Fig.
5.—Egg cluster. Fig. 6.—Caterpillars............--- “... Frontispiece.
II. Woodland area in Massachusetts defoliated by the gipsy moth..... 9
III. Fig. 1.—Egg clusters of the gipsy moth on trunk of apple tree,
Wallingford, Conn., December, 1909. Fig. 2.—Egg clusters of the
GPA y MaOiit ONL Mie WAM O20 fl a8 Soa ons ene we ee rises ek 12
IV. The brown-tail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhea). Fig. 1.—Cocoon.
Fig. 2.—Male moth. Fig. 3.—Female moth. Fig. 4.—Egg clus-
ter on leaf. Fig. 5.—Caterpillars feeding on leaf.............-.-- p9:
V. Woodland at Lexington, Mass., completely defoliated by the gipsy
BRU Ne ner a A OO COS oe ie eee 38
VI. Same woodland at Lexington, Mass., as that shown in Plate V, the
following year, illustrating beneficial effects of control work... 38
VII. View of woodland near roadway at Weston, Mass., showing effect of
control measures against the gipsy moth......................-.- 44
VIII. Lumber piles at York, Me., infested with egg clusters of the gipsy
a ST hE OS aS RES ee ae et ae ere 60
IX. Fig. 1.—Pine grove killed by the gipsy moth. Fig. 2.—Pine trees
that have been protected from the attacks of the gipsy moth.... 62
X. One of the ten high-power spraying outfits used in the gipsy moth
wore oF the Bureau or Entomolosy......2-.:...----..<0.28-.--. 66
XI. High-power spraying outfit in use in treating roadside trees........ 66
XII. View showing contrast between trees protected from the gipsy and
brown-tail moths and those unprotected.....................--.- 72
XIII. Map showing dispersion and present distribution of the gipsy
moth in New England, and limits of area infested by the brown-
BURN PEL SIMU NN NE ei SE a er od pee oe tS ee 74

TEXT FIGURES.

Fie. 1. Roadside view in Massachusetts, showing oak and ash trees, the former

2. Pine trees killed by the gipsy moth

killed by the gipsy moth (Porthetria dispar) and the latter prac-
tically uninjured

SCS ave ese Ren eanteecbaeeweweeBnaBusrancudce elanunc ee

3. Trunk of pine tree, showing tanglefoot band and egg clusters that

have been treated with creosote
4. Winter webs of the brown-tail moth (ELuproctis chrysorrhea)

5. Oak tree in winter, showing webs of the brown-tail moth at tips of the

POO So col c et ce ee

6. Brown-tail moths on electric light pole, Somerville, Mass., July 2, 1908.

—

i

PGs 7:

16.

ie

. Roadsides badly infested by the gipsy moth
. Same road shown in figure 13, after the completion of thinning opera-

FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

Hairs of the caterpillar of the brown-tail moth, highly magnified

. Equipment for roadside work against the gipsy moth, used by em-

ployees of the Bureau of Entomology] 322322 eee eee

. Roadside where thinning operations are being carried on, showing

tools and equipment used in the work

. Employees of the Bureau of Entomology treating egg clusters of the

gipsy moth with creosote, using an ordinary paint brush and a brush
attached to.a long pole: 2 Sasa a samen ses bene oo eee

. Roadside which has been cleared of brush and the trees banded with

burlap and tanglefoot

. Gipsy-moth scout’s outfit, consisting of climbing irons, mirror, clean-

ing: knife, can ‘of ereosoue;amd= brush ses se a a4 oe

tions against the gipsy moth

. Map showing roads in Massachusetts where the brush has been cut, the

trees thinned, and those remaining treated by employees of the
Bureau of Entomology to prevent the spread of gipsy-moth larve on
vehicles. :. 92:2. oe ts ee ee
Pile of 120,000 webs of the brown-tail moth, gathered and destroyed
at York, Mescseieene dS ee ee
Roadside area, showing how the grass has been induced to grow by
thinning out the trees and clearing away the underbrush in gipsy-
moth control work

. Spraying a roadside, using a combination tower and hand nozzle, so as

to throw EwO RiREARISSS ace cs sec cee ee ere Cee arene ee ree

. Map of New England, showing the present area infested with the gipsy

moth and the brown-tail moth

. Neglected apple orchard in which the trees have been killed by the

gipsy moth 20205 ee ae eta es eh ape oe

. View of a hill where all the timber was cut to prevent its destruction

by the gipsy moth; pile of logs in the foreground..................--

. Map of New England, showing areas infested by the brown-tail moth

from: 1897 ‘ti LOO ee ee ce oe eee el ie a

PLATE Il.

Bul. 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

WOODLAND AREA IN MASSACHUSETTS DEFOLIATED BY THE GIPSY MOTH.

(ORIGINAL. )

REPORT ON THE FIELD WORK AGAINST THE GIPSY MOTH AND
THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH.

4

INTRODUCTION.

For nearly two decades eastern Massachusetts has suffered enor-
mous loss to its forest, orchard, and shade trees, as well as to orna-
mental plantings which beautify many of the large country estates,
by reason of the depredations of the gipsy moth (Porthetria dispar L.)
(see Pl. II), and for the latter half of this period by the combined
injury caused by this insect and the brown-tail moth (/uproctis
chrysorrhea l.). Both of these insects were introduced from Europe.
During the past few years the situation became so serious, owing to
the spread of these insects into Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, and Connecticut, that appropriations from the National
Government were urged by the States affected, and, owing to the
ereat danger that these pests would become disseminated over
the entire country, funds have been appropriated by Congress to
assist in securing their control and of preventing further spread.
The purpose of this report is to sketch briefly the life histories of the
insects concerned, their habits since their introduction into this
country, a statement of the injury caused by them here and in their
native homes, and to discuss the methods used for their control, in
order that this work may become better understood and the danger
of the presence of the pests more thoroughly appreciated in sections
which are not now infested. Free use has been made of the reports
already published by the State of Massachusetts and other New
England States, where warfare against these insects has been car-
ried on in the past.

Acknowledgment and thanks are due to Dr. W. E. Britton, state
entomologist of Connecticut, for the use of Plate III, figure 1, and
to Prof. E. F. Hitchings, state entomologist of Maine, for the use of
Plate VIII and text figure 16.

IMPORTANCE OF THE GIPSY MOTH AS AN INSECT PEST IN THIS
COUNTRY.

During the summer of 1889 great injury was caused to the foliage
of the street trees and of those on private estates in Medford, Mass.,
9

10 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

a city about 5 miles north of Boston, by caterpillars which appeared
in enormous swarms. In many cases the trees were completely
defoliated, and the insects crawled into the houses and upon the
fences and walks, so as to become a public nuisance in the neighbor-
hood. Specimens were sent to the office of the Massachusetts state
board of agriculture at Boston, and were transmitted to Prof. C. H.
Fernald, at Amherst, and, in his absence, were determined by Mrs.
Fernald as the gipsy moth of Europe. An investigation in the neigh-
borhood showed that this insect had been quite abundant and had
caused considerable damage for a number of years, but, owing to the
belief of most of the residents that it was one of the common native
caterpillars, no action had been taken in the matter. As a result of
persistent inquiry among the inhabitants of the infested section it was
determined that some of these insects were introduced from Europe,
probably in the egg stage, by Prof. Leopold Trouvelot, a French
naturalist, about the year 1869. At that time this gentleman was
conducting experiments with silkworms, and also with some of the
American species of silk-spinning caterpillars. The evidence seems
to show that some of the egg clusters, or young éaterpillars, which
he secured from Europe, escaped from his house where the experi-
ments were being conducted, and, as he was aware of the dan-
gerous nature of the insect in its native home, he destroyed all the
caterpillars that could be found in the neighborhood and made public
the fact that 1t had escaped. At that time the section in which he
resided adjoined a large area of waste land, which was overgrown
with sprouts and brush, and here the species became established.
Its slow development as a serious pest was undoubtedly due to the
fact that this area was burned over periodically by brush fires which
destroyed large numbers of the insects, and also to the prevalence
at that time of many insectivorous birds, which doubtless accom-
plished much in preventing the rapid increase of the species.

So thoroughly were the trees defoliated by the caterpillars that
in many cases during the summer of 1889 and 1890 swarms of
them practically covered the sides of many houses. Real estate
in the neighborhood rapidly depreciated in value and many tenants
moved to more congenial quarters of the city. The recorded state-
ments of eye-witnesses of the conditions that prevailed seem almost
incredible to one who has had no opportunity to observe the serious
damage which this insect causes. Many trees and orchards died
as the result of repeated defoliation, and during the winter of 1890,
on petition of the city of Medford and the surrounding cities and
towns, the matter was brought to the attention of the legislature, and
the sum of $25,000 appropriated for abating the nuisance.

RECORD OF THE GIPSY MOTH IN ITS NATIVE HOME. il

STATE WORK AGAINST THE GIPSY MOTH IN MASSACHUSETTS,
1890-1900.

The work against the gipsy moth was placed in charge of a paid
commission of three men, appointed by the governor. At the time
the work was begun it was thought that only a small area was infested,
but on May 9, 1890, the commission reported to the governor that
the infested area was ‘‘some sixteen times as large as at first repre-
sented,’’and requested an additional appropriation of $25,000, which
was granted.

Early in 1891 the commission was abolished by the governor and an
unsalaried one appointed which carried on the work for a few months,
until a law was enacted by the legislature giving the state board of
agriculture authority to use ‘‘all reasonable measures to prevent the
spreading and to secure the extermination of the Ocneria dispar or
gypsy moth in this Commonwealth.”

The board placed the work under the immediate direction of a
committee, later known as the ‘‘Committee on gypsy moth, insects,
and birds,’ which was made up of five of its members, who served
without pay. Mr. E. H. Forbush, of Worcester, Mass., was appointed
director of the field work, and Prof. C. H. Fernald, entomologist to
the Massachusetts agricultural experiment station at Amherst, was
given supervision of the experimental and scientific work, and ener-
getic measures were at once begun to exterminate the pest, and were
continued until February 1, 1900.

RECORD OF THE GIPSY MOTH IN ITS NATIVE HOME.

A perusal of the European literature concerning this insect, which
was thoroughly examined and the results presented in the report
on the gipsy moth by Forbush and Fernald, published by the Massa-
chusetts board of agriculture in 1896, indicates that it was a pest
in nearly all European countries at the time the first entomological
writings were published, and there is good reason to suppose that
even before that time much serious devastation to trees and forests
resulted from it, although it was probably referred to as ‘‘the plague,”’
and was believed by the inhabitants to be a scourge sent by the
Almighty as a penalty for their wrongdoings. Many cases are on
record where this insect became abundant and defoliated thousands
of acres of forests, as well as the fruit and shade trees and shrubs
in the populated regions. The literature indicates that this moth
is abundant periodically and causes enormous loss throughout con-
_tinental Europe, western Asia, and Northern Africa. It has been
found as far north as Stockholm and is known to occur in Algeria.
Slight, though not serious, infestations have been reported in Eng-
land, and this or a closely allied species occurs in Japan, and is said
to be present in sections of China. During the year 1909, Prof.

12 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

Trevor Kincaid, who was engaged by the Bureau of Entomology,
in cooperation with the State of Massachusetts, for the purpose of
collecting parasites of this insect in Russia, found during his explo-
rations that thousands of acres of forests were completely denuded,
and in other localities trees were dying over large areas as a result
of previous defoliations. Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau
of Entomology, while visiting, in 1909, the corps of European agents
engaged in collecting parasites of the gipsy moth in Europe, found
a large forest area near Nantes, France, which was completely
stripped by this pest. In fact, the whole European history of this
moth is a continuous record of periodical outbreaks of greater or
less severity, which have caused enormous damage to trees from
the time of the earliest writings on entomology down to the present
time. The situation in Japan is not as serious as in Europe, owing
to the efficient work of certain parasites which tend to keep the
insect under control.

LIFE HISTORY OF THE GIPSY MOTH.
THE EGGS.
(Pl. I, fig. 5.)

The female gipsy moth deposits her eggs in clusters containing
normally from 400 to 500 eggs, which are covered with hair from her
body; this protects them from the action of the elements and ren-
ders their destruction, even by fire, quite difficult. The clusters
are fully 1 inch in length and about half as wide, and have the general
appearance and color of a small piece of sponge. The number of eggs
varies considerably and depends largely on the food supply and the
vigor of the caterpillar from which the female develops. In colonies
where the food supply has been practically exhausted by the larvee,
egg clusters are often found containing not more than 50 or 75 eggs,
while, on the other hand, a number of cases are on record where sin-
ele clusters contained over 1,000 eggs. The majority of the eggs
are deposited about the middle of July, although there is consider-—
able seasonal and individual variation. Females have been found
depositing egg clusters as early as June 25 and as late as October 7.
Crevices in the bark, holes in trees, stone walls (Pl. III, fig. 2), or
rubbish piles are favorite places for the deposition of eggs, as they
afford shelter for the full-grown caterpillar about to pupate and
protect the pupa and the newly emerged moth. Many clusters are
deposited under steps or porches of houses, in outbuildings near
infested trees, as well as on the trunks (PI. III, fig. 1) and on the under
side of the branches of the trees themselves. Hatching takes place
early in the spring, about the time the trees are coming into leaf. A
few cases are on record where the caterpillars hatched in the fall, but
this is unusual. :

FiG. 1.—EGG CLUSTERS OF THE GiIPSY MOTH ON TRUNK
OF APPLE TREE, WALLINGFORD, CONN., DECEMBER,
1909. (FROM BRITTON.

Fic. 2.—EGG CLUSTERS OF THE GiPSY MOTH ON STONE
WALL. (ORIGINAL.

[This wall has been overturned to expose the egg clusters. ]

LIFE HISTORY OF THE GIPSY MOTH. 13

THE LARVZ.
(Pl. I, fig. 6.)

The newly hatched caterpillars feed upon the small leaves, making
‘pin holes’’ in them. As a rule the caterpillars molt five times, but
quite a number of cases are on record where an additional molt took
place before they entered the pupal stage. The newly hatched cater-
pillars are about one-eighth of an inch in length and covered with long,
slender hairs. During warm weather they feed upon the leaves, but
when the temperature is low, or during rainy or unsettled weather,
such as is common in early spring, they congregate in masses in the
crevices of the bark or on the egg clusters from which they hatched.
As the weather becomes warmer in the early summer, they grow rap-
idly and devour the entire leaves except the woody veins. Until they
are about half grown, the caterpillars are able to suspend themselves
from the twigs or branches of the trees by means of silken threads
spun from their bodies, and in this way they often drop wpon animals,
carriages, or other moving objects, and may be conveyed to localities
where none of the species exists. After the caterpillars have molted
the fourth time, which usually occurs about the middle of June, a con-
siderable change in coloration appears. On the dorsum of each of the
first five segments behind the head is a pair of prominent blue tuber-
cles, while on the following six segments the tubercles are of a dark-
red color. The arrangement and coloration of these tubercles is
characteristic of the species. The feeding habits change somewhat
with the progress in growth of the caterpillars, for after becoming half
grown the caterpillars seem to prefer shelter from the sun and feed
for the most part at night or during cloudy weather. During the
warm part of the day they remain concealed in crevices in the bark,
crawl to the ground, or seek any convenient shelter from the sun.
This habit serves as a protection against their natural enemies, and
although in moderately infested sections it is usually possible to find
caterpillars feeding at midday during sunny weather, still the ma-
jority are either in hiding or are feeding in such situations as to be
largely protected from direct sunlight. The period spent in the cater-
pillar stage extends, on the average, from early in May to July 5, or is
approximately seven weeks. Egg clusters deposited in cool situations
do not hatch as readily as those more favorably located: hence
the entire length of the feeding period varies considerably. Larve
have been found as early as the Ist of April and as late as September
6. In certain areas along the seacoast and on islands which are sur-
rounded by tidewater, the hatching of the eggs is retarded, and pupa-
tion takes place much later than where conditions are normal. The
full-grown caterpillars measure about 2 inches in length, although
there is considerable variation in this respect, due largely to the

14 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

amount of food available. It is a noticeable fact that in bad colonies,
where most of the foliage has been eaten, the caterpillars pupate early
in the season before attaining normal size.

This insect has a varied list of food plants; in fact, it will eat
almost any kind of vegetation, although it seems to prefer the foliage
of oaks (fig. 1), willows, and apple trees. Repeated observations
have shown that the ash (fig. 1), juniper, and red cedar are practically
immune from attack, while the maple is not injured to any great ex-
tent if more desirable food is within easy reach. Grass and garden
crops are sometimes seriously injured when the supply of other food
has been exhausted.

A few years ago a farmer in Lynn, Mass., stated that with the assist-
ance of his men he collected several bushels of the caterpillars that were

Fic. 1.—Roadside view in Massachusetts. showing oak and ash trees, the former killed by the gipsy moth
(Porthetria dispar) and the latter practically uninjured. (Original.)

feeding in his field of sweet corn. The caterpillars had stripped the
trees in a piece of woodland near by, and, after eating all the foliage
from the bushes and low growth, had migrated in countless numbers
across the road and attacked the growing corn.

Most of our native leaf-eating insects confine their diet to a small
number of food plants, and it is unusual for a species to feed on both
deciduous and coniferous trees. The gipsy-moth larve, after becom-
ing half grown, feed with avidity on conifers, especially the white pine,
and many acres of this, as well as other coniferous trees, have been de-
foliated and killed in the infested region of New England (fig. 2).

~

LIFE HISTORY OF THE GIPSY MOTH. 15

The white pine, as well as the spruce and the hemlock, is unable to
survive after one complete defoliation, and when only partially de-
nuded the trees are usually attacked by bark borers and other insects
so that death soon follows. The proper treatment of conifers to pre-
vent injury by the gipsy moth will be described farther on in this
report.

THE PUP,
(23, 3, Hes. 3, 4.)

After the caterpillars have finished feeding they usually select more
or less protected places in which to pupate. Stone walls, rubbish
piles, and open spaces beneath porches or outbuildings furnish excel-
lent places for caterpillars to enter the pupal stage. Of course, a large
number remain on the trees, where they usually pupate on the under
side of the branches, beneath loose bark, or in holes and cavities, or

pa
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wi ee
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SV RILUDE: 89 150"

fi

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Fic. 2.—Pine trees killed by the gipsy moth. (Original).

descend to the base of the trees before transforming. Previous to
pupation the caterpillar spins a few threads of silk in order to attach
itself firmly. The body then shortens considerably and pupation is
accomplished by the integument of the segments behind the head
splitting dorsally and the whole larval skin is forced back to the end
of the body, the pupa remaining beneath the network of silk which
held the caterpillar in place. The pupa is dark reddish-brown, and
the body segments bear yellow hairs, which are arranged in groups
From 7 to 17 days are spent in this stage before the moth emerges.
As arule female pupx are much larger than those of males, but the
sex can always be determined by the structure of the last seement of
the abdomen.

16 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

THE ADULTS.

(PIS, fies es)

‘

The male moths ordinarily emerge from the pup earlier than do
the females. The body of the male is ight brown and the wings are
considerably darker and have prominent black markings. Male
moths are able to fly considerable distances and are especially active
during warm sunny weather. The zigzag motion of the flight of these
moths is characteristic of the species. The body of the female is light
buff. The abdomen, which is very large and almost completely filled
with eggs, is densely covered with short yellow hairs which are used
by the moth to protect the eggs as they are deposited in the cluster.
The wings are white, with prominent black markings, and, although
they are apparently of ample size, the female moth is not able to fly
on account of the weight of the body. The adult insects take no food,
and after mating, which takes place soon after emergence from the
pupa, the female begins depositing eggs. As a rule the egg cluster
will be found near the pupal case from which the female emerged, but
occasionally the moth will crawl a considerable distance, especially if
disturbed. When a search for egg clusters is being made the dis-
covery of a female pupal case is indication that an egg cluster is pres-
ent near by. Sometimes moths which emerge from pupe that are
attached to the branches of trees fall to the ground and deposit their
egos on the trunks of surrounding trees or on leaves or rubbish. By
the time the egg cluster is completed, the abdomen has shrunken
greatly and in a few hours the moth dies.

METHODS EMPLOYED IN WORK AGAINST THE GIPSY MOTH.
SCOUTING.

As the law enacted by the Massachusetts legislature in 1891 required
the state board of agriculture ‘‘to prevent the spread and secure the
extermination’’ of this insect, a determined effort was made to ascer-
tain the extent of the area infested. Men were trained so that they
were able to recognize the moth in all its stages, and as soon as they
had secured sufficient experience the most expert ones were sent into
the territory not known to be infested to make a thorough inspection.
As a result of this work, it was found that, while the area supposed to
be infested in 1890 covered 9 cities and towns in whole or in part and
embraced about 50 square miles, the pest had become established in
more or less numbers in 30 cities and towns, covering an area of 200
square miles. This spread had undoubtedly been going on for a num-
ber of years, and as the thickly settled sections became badly infested
the small caterpillars were easily conveyed long distances owing to their
habit of spinning down from trees onto vehicles or other moving

METHODS EMPLOYED AGAINST GIPSY MOTH. ig

bodies. Many colonies were discovered on the premises of milkmen
and market gardeners who made regular trips to the infested section
to distribute their products.

SPRAYING.

It was at first believed that this insect could be successfully con-
trolled, like most other leaf-eating species, by spraying the trees with
Paris green, a remedy which was then in common use. Experiments,
however, showed that it was impossible to kill the caterpillars with this
spray after they became half grown, unless it was used so strong
that it resulted in severe injury to the foliage of the trees. Mr. F.C.
Moulton, who conducted an extensive investigation with insecticides
in the years 1891 and 1892, was able to prepare a new insecticide, arse-
nate of lead, which could be used in sufficient strength to kill the
caterpillars without injuring the foliage. This work was later taken
up by Messrs. A. H. Kirkland, F. J. Smith, and A. F. Burgess, under
the direction of Prof. C. H. Fernald. A large number of experiments
were made, using different formulas, which demonstrated the practical
effectiveness of this poison and the proper method of its preparation.
The poison as used at that time was made by dissolving the proper
amounts of arsenate of soda and acetate of lead salts in separate ves-
sels containing water. These solutions were then brought together
and a precipitate, consisting of arsenate of lead, was formed. Usually
the fresh precipitate was prepared in the field. In recent years, since
this poison has come into general use throughout the country for treat-
ing trees infested witl? leaf-eating insects, it is made by manufacturers
in a similar way, and is put on the market in the form of a paste which
mixes readily with water, thus preventing the delay occasioned by
mixing the raw chemicals and obviating the danger of securing impure
materials, which might cause injury to the foliage or crop treated.

Some improvements were made in spraying machinery, which was
very crude when we consider the equipment used at the present time.
Spraying with the facilities then at hand was a very expensive opera-
tion, and in many cases gave unsatisfactory results, especially when
large trees were treated. Owing to these facts, and because every
effort was being made to secure the extermination of the insect,
spraying was undertaken only in a limited way.

BURLAPPING.

The secretive habits of the caterpillars suggested the provision of
artificial hiding places, and for this purpose burlap bands were placed
about the trunks of the trees. Bolts of burlap were cut into strips
about 8 inches wide, which were rolled for the convenience of the
workmen. <A band was placed around each tree about as high as a

40705°—Bull. 87—10

9
_

18 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

man’s shoulder and fastened in the center with twine, the upper part
being folded down, forming an excellent shelter for the caterpillars.
By examining the burlaps frequently and crushing the larve under-
neath great progress was made in destroying the pest. The free edges
of the burlap should be kept loose from the trees so that the larve
can easily crawl under the folds. This method can not be used
advantageously until the caterpillars are about half grown, as they
do not often seek shelter until that time. The expense entailed is
considerable, but it is one of the most effective measures where exter-
mination of the insect is desired:

STICKY BANDS.

Numerous attempts were made to use a sticky material. such as
printer’s ink, tar, or other substances, applying them to bands of
tarred paper on the trunks of trees to prevent the caterpillars from
ascending. Several tons of a German product, known as ‘“‘raupen-
leim,’’ were tried but none of these preparations proved satisfactory
for wholesale use. Success in using such bands was not attained
until the material known as tanglefoot came into use, about five
years ago. |

CUTTING AND BURNING.

In order to prepare infested territory so that it could be treated
effectively and economically, it was necessary to cut out and burn
the brush and sprout growth, as well as trees that were hollow and
partially decayed. This method reduced to a minimum the number
of trees to be burlapped or otherwise treated, and by removing the
low growth the larve were forced to feed on the trees where they
could be more easily destroyed.

A method employed against the young caterpillars hatched from
egg clusters located in stone walls or rocky areas was to clean out all
brush and undergrowth during the winter. As soon as the larvee
appeared in the spring the ground and walls were burned over by
using a device known as a cyclone burner. This consisted of a 15-
gallon oil tank, on which was mounted a small force pump. The oil
was conducted through a hose to an iron extension rod, at the end
of which a nozzle of the Vermorel type was fitted. The fine mist
of oil forced from the nozzle was ignited and the ground and walls
burned over. To secure best results a large ball of flame should be
maintained which can be forced.into the cracks or cavities in walls or
ledges in order to destroy the larve. Paraffin gas oil or a light grade
of crude petroleum can be used. Two men are required to operate
this outfit satisfactorily. The action of the oil soon destroys the hose,
so that it seldom lasts more than one season.

METHODS EMPLOYED AGAINST GIPSY MOTH, 19
PRUNING.

As the female moths deposit their egg clusters under loose bark
and in holes and cavities in the trees, and also because the larve seek
such hiding places, it became necessary to rid the trees of these
natural shelters. To accomplish this purpose a considerable amount
of pruning and filling of cavities was required. This work had to be
skillfully done, especially when fruit or shade trees in cities or towns
were treated. Many ingenious methods were devised for carrying on
these operations, some of which
have been adopted by profes-
sional foresters and others who
have taken up the business of
caring for trees.

TREATING EGG CLUSTERS.

The insect exists in the egg
stage nearly nine months in the
year and many experiments were
tried to determine the most ef-
fective method of treating egg
clusters. The first method used
was that followed in Europe and
consisted simply in scraping off
the egg masses and burning them.
In removing the eggs many were
scattered, even if the work was
carefully done, and as such eggs
hatched in due time it became
necessary to secure a_ better
method of treatment. It was
found that they could be killed
by saturating the clusters with
crude coal-tar creosote to which
was added a small amount of y6.3.—Trunkor pine tree, showing tangiefoot band
either coal tar or lampblack to and egg clusters that have been treated with creo-
discolor them and enable the “~" SO"
workmen to tell instantly the ones that had been treated. (See
fig. 3.)

It was necessary to make a very thorough search of all objects likely
to harbor egg clusters if satisfactory results were expected, and this
required much climbing of high trees as well as careful ground work.
The pupe and moths were crushed or treated with creosote when
found by the workmen.

It was necessary to apply a combination of methods to secure
satisfactory results and many localities had to receive special treat-

20 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

ment on account of their location and condition of infestation.
Methods which could be readily apphed in wooded areas were entirely
unsuited for use in residential sections.

DISCOVERY OF THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH IN AMERICA.

The work on the gipsy moth resulted in a great reduction of the
numbers of the insect and a steady improvement in the condition of
the infested territory, in spite of the fact that the legislature seldom
granted the appropriations which were deemed absolutely necessary
by the board of agriculture, and the availability of the funds was
often delayed so that many of the trained men were thrown out of
employment for a part of the year, which of course greatly affected
the efficiency of the force. To add to the difficulties of the situation
complaints were received during the summer of 1897 that trees and
shrubs in Somerville, Mass., were being severely injured by an insect
which appeared to i new 2 the region.

An investigation showed that the Groene was caused by the brown-
tail moth (Huproctis chrysorrhea L.), an insect well known and at
times as noxious in Europe as the gipsy moth.

Careful inquiry indicated that this species was probably imported
from Europe a few years before on rose or nursery stock by a local
florist. The attention of the governor was called to the matter by
the state board of agriculture, and, realizing the seriousness of the
pest and the desirability of stamping it out at once, he sent a special
message to the legislature, which was then in session, suggesting that
action be taken yaar: tells

A law was passed requiring property owners to destroy the insects
on their premises, and the opportunity for stamping out the pest
before it could become generally disseminated was lost. As is always
the case, some of the citizens and municipalities made every effort
to destroy the pest, but through the neglect and indifference of
others little permanent good was accomplished.

The following year $10,000 was diverted from the gipsy moth
appropriation to ‘‘prevent the spread of the brown-tail moth,” but
the money did not become available for use until after the cater-
pillars had left their winter webs and begun feeding. Thus the insect
was allowed to spread for two seasons after 1t was discovered, because
the work was not taken up promptly under proper supervision.
When work was begun it was found that the insect had spread over
a large territory and it seemed almost impossible to stamp it out.
A detailed account of this insect was prepared by Fernald and
Kirkland in 1903 and published by the Massachusetts board of.
agriculture.

LIFE HISTORY OF THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH. 91

EUROPEAN HISTORY OF THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH.

The brown-tail moth is one of the oldest known pests in Europe
and is called in many of the earlier writings ‘‘la commune,’ or the
communistic one. It is said to be distributed over central and
southern Europe and to extend to Algiers on the south and the
Himalayas on the east. It has been found in limited numbers in
England and may be present in Japan, although the record from the
latter country is somewhat doubtful. Few, if any, species have
caused more havoc to foliage than has this one, and many accounts
of its destructive work have been recorded. Deciduous forest and
fruit trees are often denuded, and even garden crops sometimes suffer
from the enormous numbers of the caterpillars. Similar conditions
now prevail in some sections of Europe, for during the spring of
1909 thousands of seedling trees, badly infested with the webs of this
insect, were shipped to this country from nurseries in France.

Mr. H. L. Frost, of Arlington, Mass., informed the writers that
while in Germany during the summer of 1909 he found that the
Thiergarten in Berlin, a large park, had been closed to the public
owing to the large numbers of larve of the insect which were defoli-
ating the trees. The action of the officials in closing this park was
in part due to the serious poisoning of people as a result of coming in
contact with caterpillars while visiting the grounds.

Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology of this
Department, states that he observed this insect present in injurious
numbers in certain sections of Europe, particularly in France, during
the summer of 1909.

LIFE HISTORY OF THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH.

THE EGGS.
(Pl. IV, fig. 4.)

The female brown-tail moth deposits her eggs in a single elongated
cluster on the underside of a leaf, usually near the end of a twig,
covering it with brown hair from the end of her body. Each cluster
is about two-thirds of an inch long and contains from 200 to 400 eggs
which are nearly globular, and yellow. The eggs are deposited
during the first three weeks in July, and hatching takes place in
from 15 to 20 days.

THE LARV®.
(Pl. IV, fig. 5.)

After hatching the young larve begin feeding on the epidermis of

the leaf on which the egg cluster was deposited and later attack others

near by. They are gregarious and usually feed on the terminal
leaves of the twigs, which are drawn together and held in position

22 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

by silk spun by the caterpillars. As the season advances more
leaves are drawn into the web, and this is lined with silk and serves
during the winter as a hibernaculum for the larve. The caterpillars
do not remain in a single large cell. The web is divided by cross
partitions into small pockets in each of which one or more of the
larve remain during the winter. The webs (fig. 4) are very con-
spicuous on the trees during the winter, as they are usually located
at the tips of the branches. (See fig. 5.) During the first warm
days of spring the caterpillars come forth from the webs and begin
feeding on the bursting buds. In cases where the trees are badly
infested the tiny leaves are devoured as fast as they develop. The
caterpillars feed until about the 20th of June before becoming full
grown. They molt four or five times in the spring, and when ready

Fig. 4.—Winter webs of the brown-tail moth ( Lu proctis chrysorrhea). (Original.)

to spin their cocoons are about an inch and a half in length. The
body is nearly black and covered with rows of yellow spines and
barbed hairs which arise in tufts on the back and sides. There is
also a row of nearly white tufts on the full-grown larve, which arise
along each side of the dorsal abdominal segments. The next to the
last two segments each bear a small coral-red tubercle on the dorsal
part. As soon as the caterpillars are full-fed they seek shelter and
spin up loose cocoons, within which they pupate.

THE PUP.

The cocoons (PI. IV, fig. 1) may often be found in leaves which
have been webbed together by the larve, in crevices in the bark,

Bul. 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE IV.

THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH (EUPROCTIS CHRYSORRHCEA).

Fig. 1.—Cocoon. Fig. 2.—Male moth. Fig. 3.—Female moth. Fig. 4.—Egg cluster on leaf,
Fig. 5.—Caterpillars on leaf. (Original. )

LIFE HISTORY OF THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH. 23

under burlaps, beneath the clapboards or under the eaves of
houses, or in any situation which affords reasonable shelter. As a
rule the cocoons will be found in masses, and, as the silk with which
they are constructed is interwoven with hairs from the bodies of the
caterpillars, severe poisoning may result in removing them from
their resting places. The pupal stage lasts about 20 days, most of
the moths emerging during the first 10 days in July. Weather con-
ditions during the spring serve to accelerate or retard the growth of
the caterpillars, so that the time of pupation and emergence of the
moths varies considerably.

THE ADULTS.
(Pl. IV, figs. 2, 3.)

Both males and females
are white and bear a tuft of
yellowish-brown hairs at the
end of the abdomen, from
which the name“ brown-tail
moth” isderived. Although
the abdomen of the female
is much larger than that of
the male, the female of the
brown-tail moth, unlike that
of the gipsy moth, is capable
of strong flight, and the
spread of the species is there-
fore not handicapped as in
the case of the latter species.
Both sexes fly more fre-
quently at night than in the
daytime, although most of
the eggs are deposited dur-
ing the day. The mothsare
attracted to strong light,
especially electric are lights Fic. 5.—Oak tree in winter, showing webs of the brown-tail
: “le moth at tipsofbranches. (Original.

In cities and towns, and

during the nights when the moths are most abundant the areas
around these lights sometimes have the general appearance of a
heavy snowfall, due to the great number of flying insects. Stores
and houses in the neighborhood are often invaded by the moths,
and several cases are on record where merchants have been obliged
to close their stores during the height of a moth flight in order
to prevent annoyance and trouble caused by the enormous num-

94 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

bers of these insects. The morning following a flight, the houses,
telephone poles, and trees in the immediate vicinity of the are lights
are usually well covered with small white moths (see fig. 6); and it is
no uncommon thing for lamp trimmers to collect one or two quarts
of dead moths inside the globe surrounding a light. The hairs from
the abdomens of the moths are poisonous, as well as those from the
caterpillars, and a great many persons have been caused severe incon-
venience by coming in contact with the adult insects.

The moths’ habit of flying to hghts serves
to increase their distribution, especially in
the more thickly populated regions.

Large numbers of the insects are killed,
however, by coming in contact with the
light and many of the survivors are de-
stroyed by birds the morning following
the flight. The English sparrow has been
observed by Mr. Kirkland to kill large
numbers of the moths which remained
about the lamps by pulling off the wings
and devouring the bodies.

POISONING EFFECT OF BROWN-TAIL
HAIRS.

From the time this insect was first found
in Somerville numerous reports were re-
ceived that the caterpillars were poisonous
to human beings. Many people were
severely affected with what was termed
“the brown-tail rash,’ and much com-
plaint arose on that account.

The best explanation of the trouble was
that the barbed hairs of the caterpillars
(fig. 7), when they came in contact with
human skin, caused severe irritation. The

Fig. 6.—-Brown-tail moths on elec-
tric light pole, Somerville, Mass., scratching to relieve this itching forced

July 2,1908. (From Kirkland.) . : : 2
the hairs farther into the tissue, which

resulted in a slight swelling and an intense burning and stinging
sensation.

When the housewife swept the caterpillars from the porch or
brushed down the cocoons, which are interlaced: with larval hairs,
many were broken, and as a result severe cases of brown-tail rash
followed.

POISONING EFFECT OF BROWN-TAIL HAIRS. 25

The moths are provided with these barbed hairs, but to a less
extent than the larve, and cases of poisoning have been reported
during the flight of moths in the summer.

Broken hairs which float in the air when the caterpillars, webs,
or cocoons are disturbed also cause severe internal irritation and
poisoning if the dust is inhaled or swallowed in any considerable quan-

f
U

Fic. 7.—Hairs of the caterpillar of the brown-tail moth, highly” magnified.
(Adapted from Kirkland.)

tities. The poisoning has caused very serious illness to men engaged
in the work against the moths, in the field, and at the Parasite Labo-
ratory, and each year many are obliged to seek other employment,
and not a few have been under a physician’s care. The death of one
man was due to severe internal poisoning contracted while employed
on the work, particularly while turning burlaps.

°6 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

Underclothes and bedding should not be put out upon the line
during the caterpillar season, as the floating hairs may alight on such
articles, which, when used, may result in serious poisoning.

During the year 1906 a careful study of this dermatitis was made
by Dr. E. E. Tyzzer, of the Harvard Medical School, and a report
was published by him.?¢

He concludes from his investigation that the barbed hairs not only
cause a mechanical irritation but that they contain a poison which
acts directly on the corpuscles of the blood. This results in a break-
ing down of the corpuscles to a certain extent and in their assuming
a jagged outline instead of a circular one.

Such a multitude of people have suffered from this form of poison-
ing that many remedies have been prepared and sold which are
warranted to give relief. During the summer metropolitan news-
papers and many of the smaller papers in New England contain
advertisements of remedies for the brown-tail rash. The trouble is
more serious during hot weather, when persons are perspiring freely,
and the skin at this time seems less resistant to the entrance of the
spines.

Some of the advertised remedies give a certain measure of relief,
but none of the remedies suggested is wholly efficacious. felon
tions which are cooling to the skin, such as witch-hazel or alcohol,
serve. to allay the irritation to some extent and reduce the ecto
caused by the poison.

The internal irritation which is caused by breathing or swallowing
the poisonous hairs is often very serious and 1 no effective remedy has
been found.

NATURAL ENEMIES OF THE GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS
NATIVE TO AMERICA.

Aside from the experimental work on insecticides and a careful,
detailed study of all phases of the life history and habits of the gipsy
and brown-tail moths, considerable time was devoted by the Massa-
chusetts authorities to an investigation of the native natural enemies
which attack them in the field.

Both species are partially controlled in Europe by parasites and
predaceous enemies, and it was desirable to ascertain if the closely
related beneficial species in this country were showing any marked
tendency toward controlling the pests.

Field observations on birds were made by Mr. Forbush, who was
ably assisted in this work by Messrs. J. A. Farley and F. H. Mosher,
the late Charles E. Bailey, and numerous other careful observers.
A large number of native insectivorous birds were found feeding on

a In Second Annual Report of the Superintendent for Suppressing the Gypsy and
the Brown-tail Moths, Boston, 1907, pp. 154-168.

STATE WORK IN MASSACHUSETTS, 1890-1900. rat

the gipsy moth. Many of the observations have been published in
the report by Forbush and Fernald already cited.

Unfortunately, conditions in the territory infested were not very
favorable to the increase of insectivorous birds, and this, of course,
served to limit their activities and usefulness. A few species, among
which may be mentioned the crow, while destroying many of the
larvee, undoubtedly aided the spread of the gipsy moth by dropping
live caterpillars in uninfested sections.

Field observations were made and work in rearing the insect
enemies of these moths was carried on by Messrs. A. H. Kirkland,
A. F. Burgess, F. H. Mosher, and others.

A few species of hymenopterous and dipterous parasites were found
working in the field and small numbers of the adults were reared at
the insectary. Among the predaceous enemies were several species of
beetles (Carabidz) and stink bugs (Pentatomide) which were found
feeding on the larve in the field and were studied in detail in the
laboratory.

Although not an insect, the common toad should be mentioned as
doing valuable work in destroying such specimens of the insects as
came within its reach.

The rapid development and unprecedented injury caused by the
gipsy moth after the state work was abandoned show conclusively
that native natural enemies are entirely unable to cope with the
situation.

PROGRESS OF THE STATE WORK IN MASSACHUSETTS, 1880-1900.

The administration of any extensive public work almost invariably
arouses more or less antagonism, and the gipsy moth work was no
exception in this respect. In compliance with the provisions of the
law which provided for the extermination of this insect, no effort was
made to introduce its parasites or natural enemies from abroad, as it
would have been necessary to allow extensive colonies of the insect
to remain untreated in order to give introduced parasites an oppor-
tunity to become established. Some criticism was occasioned by
this manner of handling the work and in addition to this many
property owners in sections of the State which were not infested
failed to see the necessity for making large appropriations to destroy
the insect. Active opposition developed in some sections of the
infested territory, which was occasioned by ignorance as to the
methods of carrying on the work.

Realizing that the work was of a different character from any that
had been attempted previously, and that. new methods and devices
must be employed to handle the problem with any degree of success,
great effort was made to test in a practical way any suggestions that

28 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

seemed to have a bearing on reducing the expense of making the
work more effective.

From the time the first state appropriation was made until the
close of the work the gipsy moth committee procured expert opin-
ions from the leading entomologists of the country, and during this
period a large number of prominent scientists visited the territory,
inspected the work, and without exception reported that the exter-
mination of the gipsy moth was not oniy practicable but feasible
and that it could be accomplished provided proper financial support
was given the work. In the winter of 1894-1895 an unsuccessful
attempt was made to secure national aid in exterminating this insect.
A bill, carrying an appropriation for $40,000, was passed by the
United States Senate, but it was defeated in the conference commit-
tee. During the session of Congress, 1896-1897, an appropriation
was made for an investigation of the ravages of the gipsy moth in
this country. Dr.l.O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology,
made several visits to the infested territory and thoroughly examined
the conditions and the work which was being done. Mr. C. L. Marlatt,
first assistant entomologist, also made a visit to the infested district
and investigated the condition of the territory. The report of Doctor
Howard® highly commended the work which had been done and
stated his opinion that the extermination of the gipsy moth could be
accomplished. During the winter of 1897 the Massachusetts Society
for the Promotion of Agriculture secured the services of Dr. John B.
Smith, state entomologist of New Jersey, to investigate the work and
report the conditions found. The report strongly favored contin-
uing the work and expressed the opinion that the insect could be
exterminated if sufficient funds were appropriated, but the society
did not publish the report in full. The condition of the infested
territory continued to improve. The residential sections were in
excellent condition in 1899, although smali numbers of the insect
were present. Many woodland colonies had been entirely extermi-
nated, as evidenced by thefact that none of the insects had been found
for three successive years. The spread of the brown-tail moth,
however, continued each year and little hope was entertained of
being able to exterminate it.

DISCONTINUANCE OF THE STATE WORK IN MASSACHUSETTS.

At the annual session of the legislature in the winter of 1900 a
special committee was appointed to investigate the gipsy-moth work.
After numerous hearings it was reported that the insect need not be
considered a serious pest, and further that “we find no substantial
proof that garden crops or woodlands have suffered serious or lasting

@Bul. 11, n.s., Division of Entomology, U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture.

ined boxe getn

FUNDS EXPENDED BY THE STATE, 1890-1900. 29

injury or are likely, with that precaution or oversight which prudent
owners are disposed to give their own interests, to be subjected to
that devastation which one would have the right to anticipate from
these reports. It appears to us that the fears of the farmers through-
out the State have been unnecessarily and unwarrantably aroused,
evidently for the purpose of securing the effect of those fears upon the
matter of annual appropriations * * * We do not share these
exaggerated fears and the prophesies of the devastation and ruin are
unwarranted and in the most charitable view are but the fallacies
of honest enthusiasts.’”’ As a result of the report of this committee
no further appropriation was made for carrying on the work. The
tools and equipment which had been used were ordered sold, and the
insect was allowed to develop without restriction.

CONDITIONS IN THE INFESTED TERRITORY AT THE CLOSE OF
THE STATE WORK.

As before stated, the area found infested in 1891 included 30 towns
and cities, covering 200 square miles. Between the years 1891 and
1900 isolated colonies were discovered beyond these limits in Brook-
line, Burlington, Danvers, Georgetown, Manchester, Newton, and
Lincoln. These infestations were given special attention and several
of them were practically exterminated before the work was discon-
tiuued. Vigorous measures were enforced over the entire infested
territory and all of the worst colonies, including those in the wood-
lands, had been reduced to such an extent that the extermination of
the insect was practically assured. Several towns had been com-
pletely cleared of the insect, and the residential sections showed no
defoliation, and considerable search was necessary for a nonexpert to
secure specimens of the insect.

FUNDS EXPENDED BY THE STATE DURING THE PROGRESS OF
THE WORK.

During the progress of the work the following amounts were asked
for and received for the suppression of the pest:

Vaor } Amount A mount
asked. appropriated.

ETE NSS Sey fn eh ln an he eg ED EAR Be oe oe ane | $50,000 $50, 000
li 5 0S ee ee Se ae EE ep ORE Se ge LUE ay 3 ele 50, 900 50, 000
near rentenre ony Ue aR! Od one Se RES tt Re | ee oe ee 75, 000 75, 000
oe Sep ete ee ar eee ee a ened Eee ea. PL a el ie Ra 165, 000 100, 000
Ea ee ee eer Berens ea eo RN ee ee 165, 000 100, 000
Re eS eS ae leak a ce ae heck bt ee eee fe 200, 000 150, 000
th See EE ee ee ee ee ee ee es ee) et eee 200, 000 100, 000
tt SS Ao co. caine Seal oY oe MRR ee ate ee 200, 000 150, 000
EEO A de Rha eos fon ee een tee | 200, 000 | 200, 000
Tad toe wo ae he asd Ante ds sie Sgn hap ay SBE Rae SER eon 8 oh ec | 200, 000 200, 000
Meera sso yor fe OURS Race ROE L ee, ee ee eer 2 eae 200, 000

SiO) FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.
RESULTS OF DISCONTINUANCE OF THE WORK.

During the years 1900 and 1901 little notable injury was caused
by the gipsy moth and little attention was paid to it. |

In the winter of 1902 a small pamphlet was issued by the state
board of agriculture setting forth the fact that the moth was increas-
ing to an alarming extent in many of the wooded districts and
predicting that unless all signs failed enormous injury would result.
Mention was also made of the fact that about 4 square miles had
been found infested in Providence, R. I., during the summer of 1901.
This was the first infestation found outside the State of Massachu-
setts, and from its location it was believed that the insects had been
purposely liberated by some malicious person.

At this time the brown-tail moth had spread rapidly in a northeast
direction throughout eastern Massachusetts and into New Hampshire
and Maine. Already many persons were being poisoned severely by
the caterpillars, especially in the sections around Boston, where the
moths were becoming abundant.

During the next two years the gipsy moth increased to such an
extent that thousands of acres of woodland were defoliated. The
caterpillars appeared in such swarms as to denude the orchards and
ornamental trees in most of the sections which were previously
infested. Large areas of pine timber died as a result of the work of
the pest, and real estate values rapidly depreciated in the worst
infested sections.

Valuable shade trees were killed outright or injured to such
an extent that they had to be cut down, owing to their unsightly
appearance. |

The caterpillars swarmed into the houses, covered fences, and spun
down from the trees upon the clothing of pedestrians, so that they
became an unbearable nuisance. Some of them fell upon teams or
automobiles and were carried long distances and served to establish
new colonies. Stories of the immense numbers of caterpillars seem
almost incredible. On several occasions trolley cars were prevented
from running until the tracks were cleared of the crushed and swarm-
ing insects. The following spring it was necessary for many of the
motormen to wear veils to keep their eyes and faces free from the
caterpillars which swarmed from the trees. Acres of forest died as
the result of the ravages of the caterpillars, the injury including both
hardwood trees and -conifers. In fact, the conditions which existed
in Medford in 1890 were very mild compared with those in the area
infested in 1904. To make matters worse, the brown-tail moth
appeared at this time in alarming numbers. Thousands of persons
were poisoned by the hairs of this insect, and young children espe-
cially suffered severely. Physicians reported many cases of this

STATE WORK RESUMED IN MASSACHUSETTS. 81

kind, and general appeal was made that something be done to abate
the nuisance.

During the summer of 1904, Mr. C. L. Marlatt, first assistant ento-
mologist of this Bureau, visited the infested territory and strongly
urged that the matter be given immediate attention. In his report
on the conditions existing, which has been published in Circular 58,
Bureau of Entomology, he stated that at the time his observations
were made the property owners in the badly infested section were at
a conservative estimate spending more than $200,000 annually in
fighting the gipsy moth, and that the results were far from satisfactory
owing to the fact that the work was not carried on in a systematic
manner. The amount cited represents the largest annual appropria-
tion which had been made by the State before the work was discon-
tinued. .

All these factors led to the formation of many local associations
which had for their object the destruction of the moths. Many of
the infested towns and cities appropriated funds which were used to
protect the trees, and the citizens, after becoming thoroughly aroused,
fought the pests vigorously as a matter of self-protection. The work,
however, was far from effective because it was not properly organized
and undertaken in a systematic manner, and while many owners had
their premises well taken care of, their efforts were largely nullified by
the negligence of careless neighbors or nonresident property owners.
This was particularly true on estates adjoining wooded areas which
had a small market value.

The brown-tail moth, which had confined most of its energies up to
the present time to feeding on fruit and ornamental trees, was now
found widely scattered throughout the woodlands, and the trees,
especially oaks, in many regions were thoroughly infested with webs
of the pest.

STATE WORK RESUMED IN MASSACHUSETTS.

So serious was the situation and so urgent were the appeals for
assistance that the Massachusetts legislature took action in the mat-
ter in 1905. The law was amended in 1906 and is given in full, as it
has formed the basis for similar laws in other States.

[Chap. 381, acts of 1905, as amended by chap. 268, acts of 1906.]
AN ACT To provide for suppressing the gypsy and brown tail moths.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

Section 1. For the purposes of this act the pupa, nests, eggs, and caterpillars of the
gypsy and brown tail moths and said moths are hereby declared public nuisances,
and their suppression is authorized and required; but no owner or occupant of an
estate infested by such nuisance shall by reason thereof be liable to an action, civil
or criminal, except to the extent and in the manner and form herein set forth.

Sec. 2. The governor, by and with the consent of the council, shall appoint a super-
intendent for suppressing the gypsy and brown tail moths and shall determine his

2 FIELD: WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

salary. The governor may, with the consent of the council, remove said superintend-
ent at any time for such cause as he shall deem sufficient. In case of the death,
removal, or resignation of the superintendent the governor shall forthwith appoint a
successor. On or before the third Wednesday in January in each year the superin-
tendent shall make a report of his proceedings to the general court, which shall be a
public document and shall be printed. Said report shall separate so far as is practi-
cable the expenditures on work against the gypsy moth from those on work against
the brown tail moth in each city and town.

Sec. 3. [As amended by section 1, chapter 268, acts of 1906.] The said superin-
tendent shall act for the Commonwealth in suppressing said moths as public nuisances,
in accordance with the provisions of this act. For this purpose he shall establish an
office and keep a record of his doings and of-his receipts and expenditures, and may,
subject to the approval of the governor, make rules and regulations governing all
operations by cities, towns or individuals under this act. He may employ such
clerks, assistants and agents, including expert advisers and inspectors, as he may
deem necessary and as shall be approved by the governor. He may make contracts
on behalf of the Commonwealth; may act in cooperation with any person, persons,
corporation, or corporations, including other States, the United States, or foreign gov-
ernments; may conduct investigations and accumulate and distribute information
concerning said moths; may devise, use and require all other lawful means of sup-
pressing or preventing said moths; may lease real estate when he deems it necessary,
and, with the approval of the board in charge, may use any real or personal property
of the Commonwealth; may at all times enter upon the land of the Commonwealth —
or of a municipality, corporation, or other owner or owners, and may use all reasonable
means in carrying out the purposes of this act; and, in the undertakings aforesaid, may,
in accordance with the provisions of this act, expend the funds appropriated or donated
therefor; but no expenditure shall be made or liability incurred in excess of such
appropriations and donations.

Sec. 4. [As amended by section 2, chapter 268, acts of 1906.] Cities and towns by
such public officer or board as they shall designate or appoint, shall, under the advice
and general direction of said superintendent, destroy the eggs, caterpillars, pupz,
and nests of the gypsy and brown tail moths within their limits, except in parks and
other property under the control of the Commonwealth, and except in private prop-
erty, save as otherwise provided herein. When any city or town shall have expended
within its limits city or town funds to an amount in excess of five thousand dollars in
any one calendar year, in suppressing gypsy or brown tail moths, the Commonwealth
shall reimburse such city or town to the extent of fifty per cent of such excess above
said five thousand dollars.

Cities or towns, where one twenty-fifth of one per cent of the assessed valuation of
real and personal property is less than five thousand dollars, and where the assessed
valuation of real and personal property is greater than six million dollars, shall be
reimbursed by the Commonwealth to the extent of eighty per cent of the amount
expended by such cities or towns of city or town funds in suppressing the gypsy and
brown tail moths in any one calendar year, in excess of said one twenty-fifth of one
per cent.

In the case of towns where the assessed valuation of real and personal property is
less than six million dollars, after they have expended in any one calendar year town
funds toan amount equal to one twenty-fifth of one per cent of their assessed valuation
of real and personal property, the Commonwealth shall expend within the limits of such
towns, for the purpose of suppressing the gypsy and brown tail moths, such an amount
in addition as the superintendent with the advice and consent of the governor shall
recommend. Disbursements made by said last named towns in excess of said one
twenty-fifth of one per cent shall be reimbursed by the Commonwealth every sixty

STATE WORK RESUMED IN MASSACHUSETTS. oo

days; but in the case of all others the Commonwealth shall reimburse cities and
towns annually according to the provisions of this act.

No city or town shall be entitled to any reimbursement from the Commonwealth
until it has submitted to the auditor of the Commonwealth itemized accounts and
vouchers showing the definite amount expended by it for the purpose of this act;
nor shall any money be paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth to cities or
towns, pursuant to the provisions of this act, until said vouchers and accounts have
been approved by the superintendent and the auditor of the Commonwealth.

For the purposes of this section the years nineteen hundred and five and nineteen
hundred and seven shall be considered half years, and the valuation for the year
nineteen hundred and four shall be taken as a basis.

Sec. 5. [As amended by section 3, chapter 268, acts of 1906.] | When, in the opinion
of the superintendent, any city or town is not expending a sufficient amount for the
abatement of said nuisance, or is not conducting the necessary work in a proper man-
ner, then the superintendent shall, with the advice and consent of the governor, order
such city or town to expend such an amount as the superintendent shall deem neces-
sary, and in accordance with such methods as the superintendent, with the consent
of the governor, shall prescribe: Provided, That no city or town where the assessed
valuation of real and personal property exceeds six million dollars shall be required
to expend, exclusive of any reimbursement received from the Commonwealth, during
any one full year more than one fifteenth of one per cent of such valuation, and that
no town where the assessed valuation of real and personal property is less than six
million dollars shall be required to expend, exclusive of any reimbursement received
from the Commonwealth, during any one full year more than one twenty-fifth of one
per cent of such valuation. For the purposes of this section the valuation of the year
nineteen hundred and four shall be used.

Any city or town failing to comply with the directions of the said superintendent
in the performance of said work within the date specified by him shall pay a fine of
one hundred dollars a day for failure so to do; said fine to be collected by information
brought by the attorney-general in the supreme judicial court for Suffolk County.

Sec. 6. [As amended by section 4, chapter 268, acts. of 1906.] The mayor of every
city and the selectmen of every town shall, on or before the first day of November in
each year, and at such other times as he or they shall see fit, or as the state superin-
tendent may order, cause a notice to be sent to the owner or owners, so far as can be
ascertained, of every parcel of land therein which is infested with said moths; or, if
such notification appears to be impracticable, then by posting such notice on said
parcels of land, requiring that the eggs, caterpillars, pupze and nests of said moths shall
be destroyed within a time specified in the notice.

When, in the opinion of the mayor or selectmen, the cost of destroying such eggs,
caterpillars, pupz, and nests on lands contiguous and held under one ownership in a
city or town shall exceed one half of one per cent of the assessed value of said lands,
then a part of said premises on which said eggs, caterpillars, pupz or nests shall be
destroyed may be designated in such notice, and such requirement shall not apply to
the remainder of said premises. The mayor or selectmen may designate the manner
in which such work shall be done, but all work done under this section shall be subject
to the approval of the state superintendent.

If the owner or owners shall fail to destroy such eggs, caterpillars, pupz or nests
in accordance with the requirements of the said notice, then the city or town, acting
by the public officer or board of such city or town designated or appointed as aforesaid,
shall, subject to the approval of the said superintendent, destroy the same, and the
amount actually expended thereon, not exceeding one half of one per cent of the
assessed valuation of said lands, as heretofore specified in this section, shall be assessed

40705°—Bull. 87—10——3

34 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

upon the said lands; and such an amount in addition as shall be required shall be
apportioned between the city or town and the Commonwealth in accordance with the
provisions of section four of thisact. The amounts to be assessed upon private estates
as herein provided shall be assessed and collected, and shall be a lien on said estates,
in the same manner and with the same effect as is provided in the case of assessments
for street watering.

Sec. 7. [As amended by section 5, chapter 268, acts of 1906.] If, in the opinion of
the assessors of a city or town, any land therein has received, by reason of the abate-
ment of said nuisances thereon by said superintendent or by said city or town, a special
benefit beyond the general advantage to all land in the city or town, then the said
assessors shall determine the value of such special benefit and shall assess the amount
thereof upon said land: Provided, That no such assessment on lands contiguous and
held under one ownership shall exceed one half of one per cent of the assessed valuation
of said lands; and Provided, That the owner or owners shall have deducted from such
assessment the amount paid and expended by them during the twelve months last
preceding the date of such assessment toward abating the said nuisances on said lands,
if, in the opinion of the assessors, such amount has been expended in good faith. Such
assessment shall be a lien upon the land for three years from the first day of January
next after the assessment has been made, and shall be collected under a warrant of the
- assessors to the collector of taxes of such city or town, in the manner and upon the
terms and conditions and in the exercise of the powers and duties, so far as they may
be applicable, prescribed by chapter thirteen of the Revised Laws relative to the
collection of taxes.

Real estate sold hereunder may be redeemed within the time, in the manner, and
under the provisions of law, so far as they may be applicable, set forth in chapter
thirteen of the Revised Laws for the redemption of land sold for taxes.

A person aggrieved by such assessment may appeal to the superior court for the
county in which the land hes, by entering a complaint in said court within thirty days
after he has had actual notice of the assessment, which complaint shall be determined
as other causes by the court without a jury. The complaint shall be heard at the first
sitting of said court for trials without a jury after its entry; but the court may allow
further time, or may advance the case for speedy trial, or may appoint an auditor as in
other cases. The court may revise the assessment, may allow the recovery back of an
amount wrongfully assessed which has been paid, may set aside, in a suit begun
within three years from the date thereof, a collector’s sale made under an erroneous
assessment, may award costs to either party and may render such judgment as justice
and equity require.

If, in the opinion of the assessors, the owner of an estate upon which an assessment
as aforesaid has been made is, by reason of age, infirmity or poverty unable to pay the
assessment, they may upon application abate the same. Every city or town in ren-
dering an account to the state auditor as provided for in section four of this act shall
deduct from such amount as it has expended the total amount it has received for work
performed under section six of this act during the term covered by the account: Pro-
vided, Such work was performed under such conditions as require reimbursement in
whole or in part by the state.

Sec. 8. To meet the expenses incurred under authority of this act, there shall be
allowed and paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth, during the period up to
and including May first, nineteen hundred and seven, the sum of three hundred thou-
sand dollars. Of this amount seventy-five thousand dollars may be expended during
the calendar year nineteen hundred and five; one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
and any unexpended balance of the previous year, may be expended during the cal-
endar year nineteen hundred and six; and seventy-five thousand dollars, and any unex-
pended balance of the previous years, may be expended during the calendar year
nineteen hundred and seven, up to and including May first.

STATE WORK RESUMED IN MASSACHUSETTS. 85

Sec. 9. An additional sum of ten thousand dollars in each of the years nineteen
hundred and five, nineteen hundred and six and nineteen hundred and seven may,
in the discretion of the state superintendent, be expended by him for experimenting
with parasites or natural enemies for destroying said moths, and any unexpended
balance of any year may be expended in the subsequent years.

Src. 10. Chapter two hundred and ten of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and
ninety-one and sections one and two of chapter five hundred and forty-four of the acts
of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight and section two of chapter fifty-seven
of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and two, are hereby repealed.

Sec. 11. [As amended by section 6, chapter 268, acts of 1906.] A person who will-
fully resists or obstructs the superintendent or an official of a city or town, or a servant
or agent duly employed by said superintendent or by any of said officials, while law-
fully engaged in the execution of the purposes of this act, or who knowingly fails to
comply with any of the rules or regulations issued by said superintendent, shall forfeit
a sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars for each offence.

Sec. 12. Valuations of real and personal property of the year nineteen hundred and
four shall govern the provisions of this act.

Sec. 13. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

Approved May 8, 1905.

This law is now in force, with a few minor administrative amend-
ments. In the spring of 1909, following the resignation of the state
superintendent, an amendment was enacted placing the work in charge
of the state forester.

The law provides a cooperative plan for fighting the gipsy moth
and brown-tail moth by which each infested city or town is required
to appoint a local superintendent and to expend annually a certain
amount, based on its valuation, and, after this has been done, sub-
ject to the approval of the state forester, reimbursement is allowed
by the State in amounts graduated according to assessed valuation.
Thus the large cities are required to expend a larger amount before
receiving any reimbursement from the State, and then receive a
smaller percentage than the towns with small valuations and large
areas of woodland, which are very expensive to treat.

Cities and towns with an assessed valuation on real and personal
property of $12,500,000 or more shall, after expending $5,000 in
any one year, be reimbursed 50 per cent of all further expenditures.

Cities and towns where the assessed valuation ranges between
$6,000,000 and $12,500,000, after expending one twenty-fifth of 1 per
cent of the walantion, are reimbursed 80 per cent of all further
expenditures.

Cities and towns where the assessed valuation falls below $6,000,000
are required to expend one twenty-fifth of 1 per cent and are reim-
bursed in full for all further expenditures.

The property owner is required to clear his premises of the insects
and to expend therefor not more than one-half of 1 per cent, or $5 per
$1,000, of the assessed valuation. In case of failure to do this work
after proper notice has been served, the premises may be treated by

86 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

the town officials and the cost, not to exceed the above amount,
may be levied and collected in taxes.

The whole purport of the law is to divide the burden between the
property owner, the infested municipalities, and the State, and to
place the entire work under state supervision in order to secure
uniformity of methods and economy of expenditure.

The law provided for an appropriation of $75,000 for the year
1905, $150,000 for 1906, and $75,000 for 1907. An appropriation of
$10,000 a year was also made for a period of three years to provide
for the expense of introducing the parasites and natural enemies of
these insects from abroad and for their propagation and dissemina-
tion in the infested district. The latter work was organized in co-
operation with the United States Bureau of Entomology under the
direction of Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau.

On May 15, 1905, Mr. A. H. Kirkland was appointed state super-
intendent by Hon. W. L. Douglas, then governor of the State. The
wisdom of this appointment was soon apparent in the results secured
in organizing a most difficult piece of work and in training a skilled
force of men for efficient service, and the State was very fortunate in
being able to procure the services of a well-trained entomologist,
who brought to the work a thorough knowledge of the conditions to
be met, high scientific attainments, and rare executive ability—a
combination seldom secured.

The work during the year 1905 consisted in organizing the moth
forces in towns in the infested territory and sending the most
expert men that could be employed by the central office into the out-
side districts to determine if the gipsy moth was present. As a result
of a hurried inspection it was determined that 124 towns, covering
an area of 2,224 square miles, were more or less infested, against 34
towns, covering an area of 359 square miles, in which the moth was
known to exist in 1900, when the state work was discontinued. The
gipsy moth was also found in several towns north of the Massachu-
setts line in New Hampshire, to and including Portsmouth, while
the colony at Providence, R. I., had increased to a considerable extent.
Practically the same methods were used as those adopted when the
old work was in progress, although, owing to the increased area
infested and the extremely bad condition of the central district, it
was necessary to abandon the idea of extermination and use all
possible methods to control the insect and to prevent its further
spread. The scouting operations which were carried on in the out-
side infested towns were, of course, done in a rather hurried manner
on account of the great pressure of other work and the necessity
for immediately taking active measures to destroy the moths in the
badly infested towns and cities. Much effort was necessary in
order to organize the work and secure a trained force of local men.

BEGINNING OF WORK BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 37

This large area, which included thousands of acres of badly infested
woodland, was in a much worse condition than in 1904 and it soon
became evident that heroic measures must be taken and an enor-
mous amount of work done if any appreciable progress was to be

made in preventing widespread injury.
A single case will serve as an illustration of the loss to owners of

timber caused by the gipsy moth. <A tract of woodland near the
Bedford and Billerica town line, belonging to the Hosmer estate,
was sought by a portable saw mill operator in 1907, who offered
$6,000 for the wood and timber, but, as the owners wanted $6,500,
the trade was dropped. The following winter, owing to the presence
of the moths in large numbers, the lot was sold for about $3,000, and
immediately cut, resulting in loss to the owners of at least 50 per cent
in one year. At the time the state work ceased in 1900 this prop-
erty was 4 miles outside of the infested area.

In 1906 the Massachusetts legislature added $150,000 to the appro-
priation already made for that year and united with the other New
England States in an appeal to Congress to furnish aid.

The brown-tail moth was found to be present, in 1905, as far west
as central Massachusetts. It also occurred in the southern counties
in New Hampshire and along the coast, specimens having been
reported from Eastport, Me., and St. John, New Brunswick. A
single insect was found at Providence, R. I., during the year.

BEGINNING OF WORK BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.

The spread of the gipsy and brown-tail moths caused much alarm
in the New England States, and in the fall of 1905 an appeal was
made to Congress to assist in the work of controlling these pests.
The movement was supported by delegations from Maine, where
the work of the year had shown that an area of approximately 4,000
square miles was infested with the brown-tail moth and where ener-
getic measures were being taken to control the insect; by New Hamp-
shire, which was seriously infested with both pests; by Massachusetts,
where heroic measures were being taken to control the situation;
and by Rhode Island, where a serious infestation of the gipsy moth
existed.

On December 4, 1905, a bill was introduced by Representative
Ernest W. Roberts, of Massachusetts, providing for an appropriation
of $250,000, to a in preventing the spread and securing the con-
trol of fies pests. The urgent necessity for action was forcibly
brought out by a ee from Dr. W. E. Britton, state entomolo-
gist of Connecticut, in March, 1906, that a few egg clusters of the gipsy
moth had been found in Stonington, in that State.

Owing to the fact that approximately 300 square miles was thickly
infested i in eastern Massachusetts, ample opportunity was offered for

88 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

the larve to be carried many miles during the early summer, and thus
the whole country was in danger of becoming infested.

Later in the season $82,500 was appropriated by Congress. The
work was put under the direction of Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of
the Bureau of Entomology, and Mr. D. M. Rogers, then first assistant
to state superintendent Kirkland, was appointed special field agent
of the Bureau in charge of the field work in New England. This
appropriation became available July 1, 1906, and after a conference
between the Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, the superintendent
of the moth work in Massachusetts, and the special field agent of
the Bureau it was decided that the most valuable results could
be secured with this appropriation by at once clearing as many
roadsides as possible in the thickly infested and much traveled
section of Massachusetts. Arrangements were also made to prevent
dissemination of the gipsy moth in the outside territory as far as the
limited appropriation would allow. A force of 22 men which had been
working in the infested district in Rhode Island was carried on the
pay roll from July 23,1906, to May 15, 1907, although the number
at the latter date had been reduced to 9 men, so that work in that
State could be continued until the state funds were available.

Later in the season scouting parties were organized and a limited
amount of work done in the southern parts of New Hampshire and
Maine. A more detailed account of this work will be given later in
this report.

Owing to the severe infestation in the district around Boston
(see Pl. V in comparison with Pl. VI), and to the fact that practically
all of the main highways were being used continually during the
caterpillar season by automobiles, it seemed necessary to keep the
roadsides free from caterpillars if a general dissemination of the
pests to distant points was to be prevented. Traffic between Boston
and its suburbs, the shore resorts along the coast, and the vacation
places in New Hampshire, is particularly heavy during the early sum-
mer. At the time of the serious outbreak of the gipsy moth in 1890
the spread of the insect was made possible chiefly by means of teams
or carriages that passed through the infested district, and these sel-
dom traveled more than 20 miles in a single day. With the use of
the automobile the daily travel often covers a hundred or more
miles, so that the danger of spread to remote districts was greatly
increased; in fact, recent inspections have shown that the spread
of the insect can often be traced directly to this means of conveyance.

A building was rented at Medford at a pot within easy reach of
the badly infested section where work was to be carried on, the neces-
sary tools and supplies (figs. 8, 9) were installed, and arrangements
made for actively beginning the campaign against the moths. Mr.
Harry W. Vinton was selected as a special agent to take charge of

PLATE V.

Bul. 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

MOTH.

WOODLAND AT LEXINGTON, MAss., COMPLETELY DEFOLIATED BY THE GIPS)

(ORIGINAL. )

PLATE VI.

. of Agriculture.

+
L

Bul. 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dep

RRS
eye

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shalt
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THE FOLLOWIN

ORIGINAL.

IN PLATE V,
S OF CONTROL WORK.

AS THAT SHOWN

SAME WOODLAND AT LEXINGTON, MASS.,

YEAR, ILLUSTRATING BENEFICIAL EFFECT

BEGINNING OF WORK BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 89

active operations in the field. Mr. Vinton had served for several
years on the gipsy moth work when it was being conducted by the
Massachusetts state board of agriculture, and from his long experience
and thorough knowledge of the pest and the proper methods of treat-
ment, as well as his familiarity with the infested region, it was possible
to begin active operations without delay.

Several trunk roads in Melrose, Saugus, and Wakefield which ex-
tended through badly infested woodland were selected, and active
cutting operations begun. Crews of men were employed to cut out
the brush and worthless trees and to thin the sound timber on astrip
100 feet wide on each side of the highway. The brush was then
burned and the egg clusters on the remaining trees and ledges
were creosoted. (See fig. 10.) Very little if any work was planned

Fig. 8.—Equipment for roadside work against the gipsy moth, used by employees of the Bureau of Ento-
mology. (Original.)

or has been carried out up to the present time in residential parts
of the infested district, as the town and city officials, acting under
state law, usually keep the trees in such sections fairly free from
infestation. The cutting out of these roadways is simply for the
purpose of preparing the way for a thorough and economical treat-
ment. It is usually necessary to carefully prune many of the trees
in the treated area, and in some cases where they are of special
value the cavities in hollow trees are closed with cement, covered
with zinc, or sealed with a wooden plug, so that egg clusters can
not be deposited in such places, where it is extremely difficult to treat
them. In the spring the trees are banded, and burlaps are often used
for this purpose. Another method which has come into favor since
the gipsy moth work was resumed in Massachusetts is to apply a band

40 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

of tanglefoot to the trunks of the trees before the eggs hatch. (See
fig. 11.) Rough-bark trees should be scraped where this material is
to be placed, so that the surface will be smooth enough to apply the
band evenly with a wooden paddle. Care should be taken not to
remove the inner bark so that the living wood will be exposed. If
the tree tanglefoot can be applied evenly, no scraping should be done.
This material will remain sticky for several weeks, and prevent the
caterpillars from ascending, but the best practice is to draw a comb
through the band as the workman walks around the tree. This
brings fresh material to the surface and removes any foreign sub-
stances which may have collected. The caterpillars are obliged to
feed on what low growth remains on the ground and if this has
been well sprayed they are soon destroyed. Aside from the roads

Fig. 9.—Roadside where thinning operations are being carried on, showing tools and equipment used in
the work. (Original.)

already mentioned a considerable amount of roadside work was done
in the towns of Malden, Lynnfield, Lynn, Peabody, Woburn, Lex-
ington, Burlington, Waltham, and Belmont, and the strips cut out
during the fall of 1906 and the spring of 1907 and prepared for
spring and summer treatment aggregated about 65 miles. Late in
April and early in May, 1907, the trunks of the trees in all these
strips were banded with tanglefoot to prevent the caterpillars from
climbing the trees, as well as to keep such larve as migrated from the
woodland back of the strips from destroying the foliage. After the
caterpillars hatched the strips were sprayed with arsenate of lead,
which was used at the rate of 10 pounds to 100 gallons of water.
Previous to this time one small and three large spraying machines
operated by gasoline engines had been secured. Owing to the lim-

BEGINNING OF WORK BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 4]

ited length of time that the insect is in the caterpillar stage it is
necessary to provide equipment so that a large area can be thor-
oughly sprayed in a short time. This renders impracticable the
use of hand outfits for such extensive work. The sprayers used
had a tank capacity of between 500 and 600 gallons, and it was
possible to treat many acres in a single day. Since the work began
a number of improvements have been made in spraying outfits used,
which have rendered them more efficient and economical. In addi-
tion to the spraying the bur-
lap and sticky bands on the
trees were examined from
time to time and the cater-
pillars crushed with — steel-
wire brushes. In the worst
infested places it was neces-
sary to go over the strips
daily, and even then in some
instances it was almost im-
possible to kill the caterpil-
lars fast enough to prevent
some defoliation on _ the
back edge of the treated
strips.

Early in the fall of 1906
a number of the more ex-
perienced men were selected
and scouting operations were
begun in a limited way in
Maine, New Hampshire, and
Connecticut. (See fig. 12,
showing outfit used by gipsy
moth scouts.) This work
was continued until June,
1907, and a large number of

Fig. 10.—Employees of the Bureau of Entomology treat-

towns were found infested. ing egg clusters of the gipsy moth with creosote, using
In the spring of 1907 it be- an ordinary paint brush and a brush attached to a

3 long pole. (Original.)
came evident that owing to

the discovery of so many infested towns, a larger appropriation would
be necessary in order to make anything like a careful examination of
the outside territory. In May, 1907,Congress appropriated $150,000 for
the purpose of carrying on the work, this sum being available for imme-
diate use. Plans were at once made to clear more roadside areas
in the worst infested sections and in the fall to scout thoroughly the
towns north of the known infested region. Owing to the great increase
in the amount of work which was to be taken up, the territory in

42 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

Massachusetts was divided into two sections. Mr. Vinton took charge
of the crews in one of these sections, and Mr. David G. Murphy was
appointed, June 17, to take charge of the crews in the other division.
Mr. Murphy, like Mr. Vinton, had had long experience in fighting the
gipsy moth in Massachusetts, and had proved by his previous work
with the State to be very capable in taking charge of field work.
The roadside work was continued in Massachusetts during the summer
and fall, and by the next spring the mileage that had been cut out
had been increased twofold over that of the previous year. The
strips were treated in practically the same manner as already de-
scribed and much benefit resulted from this work. Special effort
was made in the fall to thoroughly scout the region outside of the
towns known to be infested in New Hampshire. The work was
handicapped to some extent by inability to secure men with sufficient

Fig. 11.—Roadside which has been cleared of brush and the trees banded with burlap and tanglefoot.
( Original.)

training who were willing to take up this arduous work during the
winter. The scouting, however, resulted in the discovery of 17
additional infested towns. Work of a similar character was carried
on in Maine, where five more towns were found to be infested.

In the spring of 1908 Congress appropriated $250,000 for the work
covering the fiscal year bona July 1, 1908, to June 30, 1909. The
work of clearing roadsides was ivorane pushed J ponent the
year so that by the spring of 1909, 170 additional miles of 100-foot
strips had been put in good condition for summer treatment. In
addition to this amount it was necessary to spray and care for 130
miles of strips that had been thinned during the previous years, so
that in the summer of 1909 more than 300 miles of roadside were given
careful attention, which undoubtedly prevented many new colonies

BEGINNING OF WORK BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 43

from becoming established. Over 200 miles of roadway, not yet cut
out, which was more or less infested, was sprayed, and this served
to further decrease the danger of dissemination. (See figs. 13 and 14.)

Late in the summer of 1908 plans were made to carry on an
extensive inspection of the outside territory in New Hampshire and
Maine. Owing to the size of the territory to be covered in New
Hampshire it was divided into two sections, and Mr. Irving L. Bailey
was selected to take charge of the western section and Mr. Henry L.
McIntyre was placed in charge of the work in the eastern section.
Both were men of extended experience in gipsy-moth work in the
field, Mr. Bailey having been employed as an inspector when the
insect was being fought by the Massachusetts state board of agri-
culture, and Mr. McIntyre having had much practical experience in
town work for controlling the moths and later in the field work which
was being carried on by this office.

About November 1, several crews of the most expert men were sent to
New Hampshire and
from time to time the
force was increased un-
til over 100 men were
employed in scouting
work in the various
towns. Practically all
of the territory south
of Lake Winnepesau-
kee and a double tier of
towns west of the Mer- Fic. 12.—Gipsy moth scout’s outfit, consisting of climbing irons,
rimac River were ex- mirror, cleaning knife, can of creosote, and brush. (Original.)
amined and most of them were found to be more or less infested. In
this work-all of the roadways, orchards, and private property were
inspected; in fact, all trees were Seamined except the large forest
areas. Several crews were detailed to scout along the main high-
ways north of Lake Winnepesaukee, as these form the main routes
of travel for summer tourists to the White Mountains. The prince ipal
roads from Ossipee to the mountains as far as Bethlehem and Bretton
Woods were carefully inspected; also along the roads on the west
side of the mountains through the Pemigew: asset Valley. No egg
clusters were found north of Ossipee on the eastern or above Mere-
dith on the western roads. While this work was being carried on
several crews were engaged in making examinations of the territory
surrounding the known infested towns in Maine. This region was
found to be in much more satisfactory condition than during the
previous year. All work that seemed necessary was done in Connec-
ticut and the sondition of this territory showed marked improvement.

44 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

The great danger throughout the entire campaign in fighting the
gipsy moth has been the existence of large woodland colonies and it
has been impossible for either this office, the States, or the individual
property owners to keep the moths reduced in territory of this
character on account of the vast expense involved. In eastern
Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire there are large areas of
forest land which are covered with an inferior growth of trees and
which are badly infested. In most cases the cost of cleaning up such
areas and stamping out the bad colonies would amount to more than
the value of the property. This being the case the main attempt
has been to keep the roadways through forest areas free from the
young caterpillars and to prevent to as great an extent as possible
any further spread of the pest. (See Pl. VII.)

Fic. 13.—Roadsides badly infested by the gipsy moth. (Original.)

During February, 1909, Congress appropriated $300,000 to pro-
vide for the continuation of the work. This sum was available for
the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1909. Since that time work on
roadsides has been continued in Massachusetts and up to January 1,
1910, nearly 150 miles of 100-foot strips have been cut out and pre-
pared for spring and summer treatment.

The roadways cut out up to January 1, 1910, aggregate 450 miles
of strips. (See fig. 15.) During the period since the government
work began about $300,000 has been expended in Massachusetts for
labor and transportation of men. This does not include the amounts
expended for salaries, rent, tools, equipment, insecticides, supplies,
and the expenses that have been paid by the Government for the
maintenance of the Gipsy Moth Parasite Laboratory.

Late in October, 1909, 16 scouting crews of 5 men each were sent
to the northern portion of the infested district in New Hampshire

PLATE VII.

gy, U. S. Dept. of

f Entomolo

VIEW OF WOODLAND NEAR ROADWAY AT WESTON, Mass., SHOWING EFFECT OF CONTROL MEASURES AGAINST THE GIPSY
MOTH. (ORIGINAL.)

[On the right is a strip 100 feet wide in which the gipsy moth has been prevented from destroying the foliage and spreading to the

road to be ¢

distributed by passing vehicles. The trees on the left have been completely « ed over an area reaching back
nearly a mile into the forest. It was necessary to clear the trees from a strip 25 or 380 feet wide in order to protect the treated zone. }

BEGINNING OF WORK BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 45

and since that time 5 more crews have been added, making a total
of 21 crews, or 105 men, engaged in examining the towns. The first
work was taken up in the region surrounding Lake Winnepesaukee
and in towns west of the Merrimac River and north of Concord.

January 1, 1910, 41 towns had been scouted and egg clusters were
found in 6 towns not previously known to be infested. No egg
clusters were found in 6 other towns outside the infested area, and
in 4 towns which were found infested and treated last year a care-
ful examination failed to bring to light any egg clusters.

The severe snowstorm and blizzard which prevailed in New Eng-
land on December 26 resulted in making the roads almost impassable,

Fic. 14.—Same road shown in figure 13, after the completion of thinning operations against the gipsy moth.
( Original.)

and coating the trees with snow and ice, and it was necessary to lay
off all the scouting crews until weather conditions were suitable to
continue the work.

During the season when trees are banded with burlap about 47
men working in Maine were carried on the Bureau of Entomology pay
roll, and since that time the number has been increased so that about
60 men engaged in cleaning and scouting have been employed. Small
colonies have been found in 3 towns not previously known to be
infested. In Rhode Island 53 men were employed during July
turning burlap, and on November 21 were transferred from the state
pay roll and have been engaged in treating egg clusters and cleaning
the trees in the infested territory.

Two men in the employ of the Bureau of Entomology examined the
colony at Stonington, Conn., in December and only a single egg cluster
was found, A large colony of gipsy moths was found at Wallingford,

46 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

Conn., December 14. It was visited by Mr. Rogers, December 20,
and arrangements were made with Dr. W. E. Britton, state entomolo-
gist of Connecticut, to cooperate in every possible way to stamp out
the pest.

The above is a brief outline of the cooperative work which has been
carried on by the Bureau of Entomology in suppressing the gipsy
moth.

Winter webs of the brown-tail moth have been destroyed whenever
they have been found in the belts which are being cleared along the
roadways. This insect has spread so rapidly that it has been impos-
sible to carry on an active campaign against it, and in Maine and New

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Fig. 15.—Map showing roads in Massachusetts where the brush has been cut, the trees thinned, and those
remaining treated by employees of the Bureau of Entomology to prevent the spread of gipsy-moth larve
on vehicles. (Original.)

Hampshire only a moderate amount of good would have been accom-
plished if an attempt had been made to destroy the brown-tail webs
along the roadways and in the orchards, a8 the woodlands, especially
in the southern part of these States, are very badly infested. In
many towns property owners have destroyed the webs found on their
orchard and shade trees.

The work of suppressing the gipsy moth is carried on in a different
way in each of the New England States. In Massachusetts a large
annual appropriation is made by the State, and property owners as well
as towns and cities are required to assist in the control of the insect.

WORK BY THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 47

The work of the Bureau of Entomology in Massachusetts, there-
fore, has been practically independent of the state work, except that
a hearty spirit of cooperation has always existed between the two
offices. In Maine the state appropriations have not been sufficient
to finance an active campaign against the insect throughout the
year, and a system of cooperation has been established between this
office and the Maine department of agriculture, so that the work
can be continued uninterruptedly. In New Hampshire, owing to
the small appropriations made by the State, the greater part of the
work has been carried on by the Bureau of Entomology, the state funds
being used for urgent calls which it was impossible for this office to
attend to. Practically the same conditions hold in Rhode Island as in
Maine, while in Connecticut most of the work has been carried on by
the State, and the Bureau of Entomology has furnished only such
assistance as was deemed necessary to supplement the local work at
Stonington and Wallingford. A summary of the work done in the
New England States is given herewith.

WORK BY THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS.

During the past five years the State of Massachusetts has appro-
priated $1,195,000 for the purpose of controlling the gipsy and
brown-tail moths, and an additional sum of $75,000 has been expended
in an attempt to introduce their parasites and natural enemies. The
money has been used, in the main, in reimbursing cities and towns
in the infested parts of the State which have expended more than was
required by the gipsy moth law. A small part of the appropriation
has of course been used for maintenance and supervision of the
work, and the central office has adopted a system of inspection of
the city and town work in order that uniform standards might be
enforced and useless expenditures prevented. The men employed as
agents and inspectors by the central office have had long experience
in fighting these pests, many of them having served when the work
was under the direction of the state board of agriculture.

The amount of money expended by the different cities and towns
affected has about equaled that appropriated by the State, while
many private property owners and state commissions (such as the
Metropolitan Water and Sewage Board and the Metropolitan Park
and State Highway Commissions) have expended large sums of money,
so that the amount expended annually, exclusive of that spent by the
Federal Government, has averaged about $750,000 to $800,000.

The result of the work has been to reduce greatly the infestation
in the residential sections. This has not been accomplished, how-
ever, without vigorous application of all the best-known methods of
fighting the pests. Spraying has been carried on in a wholesale way,
and at the present time most of the infested towns have purchased

48 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

high-power sprayers, so that a large area of territory can be covered
in the short time that the insect is in the larval stage.

In 1909 over 150 high-power and 250 hand spraying outfits were
used in the infested district in Massachusetts.

Unfortunately many of the less valuable woodland sections have
received little attention, owing to the pressure of more important
work. This results each year in large areas being stripped by the
caterpillars, great numbers of which die from starvation and disease,
and in this way the infestation for the next year or so is materially
decreased. Fortunately these badly infested areas are more or less
isolated, as strong effort is made to care for the woodland section
that is near roads or lines of travel, so that the danger of spread of
the insects from these centers of infestation is reduced as much as
possible.

It has been impossible, however, up to the present time, owing to the
excessive cost, to do all of such work that could be done to advantage.
As the residential areas become freer from the insects more funds can
doubtless be devoted to this much-needed work.

In addition to the work already outlined a large amount of scouting
has been carried on under the direction of the central office and at
state expense. This has been done by skilled and experienced men
in the towns outside the known infested territory. All the main
roads and orchards have been examined in a section several towns
deep around the infested area.

Some of the more important and much traveled state roads have
been scouted for long distances and this work in 1907 and 1908
resulted in the discovery, near Springfield and Greenfield, Mass., of
small colonies of the gipsy moth.

The infestation near Springfield was located near the state road,
which is a favorite route for automobiles between Boston and New
York City. The outlying colonies discovered in this way have been
treated with special care and many of them have been reduced
almost to the point of extermination.

The area infested at the present time in Massachusetts is somewhat
larger than that which was found in 1905 when the first scouting
operations were begun after the work was resumed by the State.
This is what would naturally be expected, as it was at that time
impossible to undertake scouting operations over such a large terri-
tory with the small force of trained men available.

Doubtless many of the colonies since found developed from cater-
pillars scattered during the time the moth was allowed to spread
without restriction, and more colonies will probably be found in the
outside territory. Further scouting should be taken up so that
these may be discovered at the earliest possible moment and promptly
treated.

WORK BY THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 49

Much credit is due to the State of Massachusetts for the energetic
manner with which this campaign has been waged. The officials at the
state office, under the direction of Mr. Kirkland, and later under Mr.
L. H. Worthley and State Forester Rane (in whose charge the work
was placed by the last legislature), have accomplished excellent
results in spite of the many difficulties which had to be met and
overcome.

The work undertaken in Beverly, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Glouces-
ter, and Rockport—the region which is known as the north shore of
Massachusetts Bay—and also in the towns of Hamilton, Wenham,
and Essex deserves special mention. The value of the woodland in
this section is probably greater than any other area of the same size
in New England, and this fact, together with the magnificent ocean
scenery, has resulted in these towns becoming the summer residences
of many prominent citizens from all parts of the country. The gipsy
moth threatens the destruction of these valuable forests, and as the
land is of little agricultural value the towns concerned would shrink
thousands of dollars in valuation, and much of the territory would
be uninhabitable during the summer season, thus working a double
loss to the sections of the State concerned. During the past two
years a special fund for carrying on the work has been furnished on
the basis of the State supplying one-third, the city of Beverly and
the town of Manchester one-third, and the balance being subscribed
by the summer residents. In 1909 over $60,000 was expended, the
work being carried on by the state forester’s office. Over 2,100
acres of woodland have been thinned, sprayed, and protected from
moth injury.

Col. Wm. D. Sohier, chairman of the citizens’ committee which
raised private funds for carrying on the work, in a report recently
issued, says:

It is perfectly evident that had it not been for the work which was done last year
and this year conditions on the north shore from Beverly all the way down through
Manchester would have been unbearable. All the trees would have been stripped
except on a few private estates, and all the pines and hemlocks would have been
killed.

Many improvements in methods have been developed while the
work has been in progress. Most of these resulted from suggestions
made by different members of the state and government forces. A
large number of ideas have been tried out in the field to test their
utility, and a considerable number of these have been made cooper-
atively between the state and governmental offices. The whole effort
has been to secure the best results by adopting the cheapest possible
methods, and practical suggestions have been received with alacrity.

40705°—Bull. 87—10-—-—-4

50 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.
WORK IN THE STATE OF MAINE.

Webs of the brown-tail moth were found at Kittery, Me., in the
spring of 1904 by one of the deputy state nursery inspectors of New
Hampshire, and Prof. C. M. Weed, who was then entomologist of the
New Hampshire agricultural experiment station, informed Hon.
A. W. Gilman, commissioner of agriculture of Maine, of the presence
of this insect in the latter State. An examination was made at
Kittery and in the vicinity by Miss Edith M. Patch, entomologist of
the Maine agricultural experiment station, and through the efforts of
the above-named officials considerable work was done in the fall of
1904. Many winter webs were collected and burned. Infestations
were found not only in Kittery, but at York, Eliot, and other points
to the eastward along the coast. Owing to the large territory over
which this insect was spread the matter was brought to the atten-
tion of the legislature the following winter and an act passed appro-
priating $5,000 for the year 1905, and $5,000 for the year 1906, for the
purpose of controlling the pest. The office of state entomologist
was created and placed under the direction of the state commissioner
of agriculture, and Prof. E. F. Hitchings, of Waterville, Me., was
appointed to take charge of the work. Many of the towns in the
infested section voluntarily raised funds to fight the pest, so that a
considerable amount in addition to the state appropriation was
available for expenditure during the years mentioned.

Owing to the danger of the State becoming infested with the gipsy
moth, an appeal for a national appropriation was urged by the State
of Maine, in connection with other New England States, and in the
fall of 1906 it was possible for this office to send several scouting
parties into the section of Maine nearest the infested area in New
Hampshire. As a result of this inspection, egg clusters of the gipsy
moth were found at Kittery, Eliot, York, South Berwick, Wells,
Kennebunk, and Kennebunkport. Several men examined the prin-
cipal cities and towns east of Portland, but no infestation was found
except a single egg cluster discovered by these men on the grounds of
the National Soldiers’ Home at Togus, Me., which was 81 miles from
the nearest known infested locality. Doubtless this infestation was
brought about by inmates or visitors unintentionally conveying
some of the insects from the infested territory on their clothing or
among their personal effects. The work during the year 1906 was
continued in Maine with great vigor. The towns found infested
showed a generous spirit of cooperation in fighting not only the gipsy
‘moth but the brown-tail moth. The Old York Transcript, in its
issue of January 18, 1907, stated that 120,000 brown-tail webs (fig.
16) were burned in a single day. Most of the money expended for
collecting these webs was raised by private subscription or appro-

WORK IN THE STATE OF MAINE. 51

priated by the towns involved. In spite of the vigorous work carried
on in the brown-tail moth infested section, the insect continued to
spread with marked rapidity and was found in many towns east of the
known infested area. In the fall of 1907 scouting parties examined
the roadways and orchards throughout the gipsy-moth infested terri-
tory. This resulted, as might be expected, in the discovery of sev-
eral vigorous woodland colonies in Kittery and York. Work was
immediately begun in clearing out the brush and sprout growth in the
infested region, creosoting the egg clusters, and preparing for effective
summer treatment. [ive new towns were found infested with the
gipsy moth as a result of scouting work during the winter of 1907-38,
namely, Berwick, North Berwick, Sanford, Lebanon, and Acton.

Fig. 16.—Pile of 120,000 webs of the brown-tail moth gathered and destroyed at York, Me.
(From Hitchings.)

The following summer the infested areas were burlapped and given
careful attention, especially the one at Togus, where an attempt was
made by the Maine department of agriculture to secure the extermi-
nation of the insect. The work at this point was especially difficult,
owing to the large number of people who visited the home during the
spring and summer, and because it was not possible to remove some
of the board walks, which furnished excellent places for the moths to
deposit egg clusters. The trees surrounding the one infested were
burlapped and tended during the summer, and in the fall the grounds
were thoroughly scouted for egg clusters. In addition to the cater-
pillars, pup, and moths found when the burlap bands were turned,
40 egg clusters were found and treated,

59 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

As a result of the thorough work done only a few caterpillars and
no egg clusters were found in the summer of 1908, and although the
same methods have been employed as in previous years none of the
insects was found in 1909. The last specimen taken was a caterpillar,
July 11, 1908. It is probable that this colony has been completely
exterminated, although the location and character of the place render
it peculiarly liable to future infestation. Since the year 1907 the gipsy
moth state work has been under the general oversight of Capt. E. E.
Philbrook, and the state force has worked in close cooperation with
the government office. The work has been especially difficult, owing
to the necessity for training new men, and also because the country
along the Maine coast, which is infested, is rough and broken and fur-
nishes opportunity for egg clusters to be hidden in situations where it
is almost impossible to find and destroy them. During the winter of
1908-9 scouting work was continued, and small infestations were
found in Newfield, Waterboro, Biddeford, Saco, and Scarboro. All
the known colonies in Maine have been given most thorough atten-
tion, and their condition has improved each year. An important
feature of the work has consisted in sending out scouting parties to
examine the roadways, orchards, and places likely to be infested out-
side of the known infested area. This has been done in a limited
way, but more work of this character must be taken up in order to
determine positively the extent of the infestation. During the fall of
1909 the scouting work was pushed vigorously, not only along the road-
ways and in the orchards, but crews of trained men were sent into the
woodland area to make thorough inspections. Three towns, namely
Shapleigh, Gorham, and Dayton, have been found slightly infested,
and during the progress of the work a large woodland colony was
found in the Agamenticus district in the town of York. The location
of this colony is in a region seldom frequented and practically inac-
cessible to travel. Scouting is being continued for the purpose of
discovering any similar colonies that have not yet been found.

The work in Maine has been carefully and thoroughly prosecuted,
and the state officials have shown much interest and enthusiasm in
meeting this difficult problem. A force of men has been organized
and trained to a high degree of efficiency. During the time the
work has been in progress it has met with the hearty approval and
cooperation of citizens in the infested district. As an example of
the esteem in which the work is held it may be stated that during the
past year the summer residents and public-spirited citizens of York
contributed $1,000 and purchased a power spraying machine, which
was turned over to the Maine department of agriculture for treating
infested areas.

The amount appropriated by the State from 1905 to January 1,
1910, has been $95,000, and $50,000 additional has been used ne the
Sect of Entomology in the moth work in Maine.

WORK IN THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 53

WORK IN THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

The first infestation of the gipsy moth in New Hampshire was discoy-
ered in 1905 by inspectors from the Massachusetts state office, loaned
by agreement between Mr. Kirkland and the New Hampshire experi-
ment station. Three experienced men were detailed and the experi-
ment station sent Mr. W. P. Flint, an assistant in the entomological
department, to make an examination of the trees along the roads in
the coast towns from Seabrook to Portsmouth. Egg clusters were
found in these towns and also in Hampton Falls, Hampton, North
Hampton, Rye, and Greenland. Additional scouting was done in
I-xeter and Nashua, but no evidence of the moth found.

The brown-tail moth had already thoroughly established itself in
southern New Hampshire and was causing great injury to orchard,
shade, and forest trees.

No state funds were available for moth work. In 1906 a request
was made for assistance from this office, soon after the first appro-
priation was available, but it was too late to do any effective work
against the caterpillars, and as no serious outbreak of the pest was
evident, scouting was deferred until winter, when an examination
showed that the gipsy moth was present in 36 municipalities in the
southeastern part of the State.

At the 1907 session of the legislature a law embodying some of the
principal features of the Massachusetts law was enacted, and $12,500
appropriated for each of the years 1907 and 1908. The enforcement
of the law was placed in the hands of the governor and council with
authority to appoint a state agent, if it was deemed necessary. Dur-
ing the first year the burlap work was let out by contract, and Mr.
G. E. Merrill, of Hampton Falls, N. H., was employed to inspect the
work of the contractors.

All trees within about 100 feet of infested trees in the towns east of
Pelham along the Massachusetts border, and the coast towns to
Portsmouth, were burlapped and tended, and although some benefit
resulted, the amount of money available was entirely inadequate to
accomplish satisfactory results. At the close of the year Col. Thomas
H. Dearborn, of Dover, was appointed state agent, and has since that
time had charge of the moth work.

The appropriations made by the State have not been increased,
although the scouting operations of the Bureau of Entomology have
resulted in the discovery of the gipsy moth in more than 100 cities and
towns. Allof Rockingham, Strafford, and Belknap, most of Hillsboro
and Merrimack counties, and a few towns in Carroll County are
infested—an area of about 3,000 square miles. All the roadsides
and orchards in this entire territory have been examined, and similar
work has been done in a tier of towns surrounding the infested region,

54 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

in an attempt to determine the extent of the infestation and to pre-
vent the spread of the pests from colonies along the highways. For
three years the greater part of this territory has been inspected in a
similar manner.

During the summer thousands of people from all sections of the
country visit the State, which is noted for its summer resorts and
mountain scenery, and this has been a potent factor in dispersing this
insect. Many automobile parties tour the State, and not infre-
quently trips are made from Boston and vicinity to the White
Mountains and lake resorts. During the time the gipsy moth was
allowed to develop without interference in Massachusetts, excellent
facilities were offered for its dispersion throughout New Hampshire.
Travel is unusually heavy at the opening of the vacation season,
which is the time when the larve are small and most easily carried.

The scouting operations have resulted in locating many colonies in
and around summer camps and country houses frequented by vaca-
tionists who come from badly infested districts in Massachusetts.

The most serious feature of the problem in New Hampshire is the
undoubted infestation of a large part of the thickly wooded area in the
southern part of the State. Remedial measures are entirely imprac-
ticable, as it is impossible to apply them to such large areas of low-
priced forests, owing to the great expense involved.

The greater part of the area is not yet badly infested, but unless
the people of the State become aroused and exert themselves to
check the gipsy moth serious injury will be caused to the trees and
enormous loss is bound to result.

In the residential sections the people will, when the moth increases
to an extent to cause serious injury, undoubtedly awake to the situa-
tion, and exert themselves to preserve their trees.

The brown-tail moth has been found in an area covering over one-
half of the State, and in the entire section east of the Connecticut
River watershed and south of Lake Winnepesaukee it is most abun-
dant and is causing great damage. Its presence has caused much
complaint from residents and summer visitors, and this has led to
effective work being done along the roadways and in some of the
towns. Colonel Dearborn has succeeded in awakening considerable
interest in this work in certain sections of the State, and some relief
from this troublesome pest has been secured where it has been pos-
sible to sufficiently arouse public sentiment.

The State has spent $37,500 and the Bureau of Entomology about
$90,000 in the work in New Hampshire.

WORK IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.

The presence of the gipsy moth in Providence was discovered in
1901, and some effort was made by the city and property owners to

WORK IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. aD

destroy the insect during the following two years. In 1906, the year
after the state work was begun in Massachusetts, a law was enacted in
Rhode Island providing for control measures against the gipsy moth.
An appropriation of $5,100 was made. This was inadequate for the
work, but by means of a cooperative arrangement between the state
superintendent, Prof. A. E. Stene, and the Bureau of Entomology it
was possible to carry on a vigorous campaign. The original infesta-
tion was confined almost entirely to residential property, and at the
present time very little woodland in the State of Rhode Island is
known to be infested.

Infestations have been found in 11 towns in the northeastern part
of the State, extending from the Massachusetts line and including one
tier of towns west of the city of Providence. The work which has
been done has resulted in the extermination of a large number of
small colonies, and those localities in which the moth is now present
are of limited extent and are being given careful attention. In
many cases the caterpillars or egg clusters were found in brush and
undergrowth growing on dumps or unimproved building lots and
much work has been required to clean up infestations of this
character.

Since the work began practically all of the State has been scouted

-except the towns north of Westerly along the Connecticut line.

In 1907, $10,000, in 1908, $10,000, and in 1909, $8,000, was appro-
priated for moth work, and with the help which has been furnished
by the Bureau of Entomology great progress has been made. Each
year all the trees in the infested area have been carefully examined
and fences, buildings, and shrubbery thoroughly inspected for egg
clusters. In order to check up the work two experts have gone over
the territory after the regular workmen in order to ascertain if any
egg clusters had been missed.

During the summer of 1909 about 150,000 trees were burlapped in
Providence and surrounding towns. These were visited twice a week
during the caterpillar season, and all the insects found were crushed
by the workmen. The cavities in a large number of trees in the
infested section have been filled with cement or covered with zine so
that work can be more thoroughly done. In order to show the prog-
ress which has been made in Rhode Island, it should be stated that
during the winter of 1906-7 nearly 80,000 egg clusters were found
and destroyed. During the following winter, 1907-8, only 7,500 egg
clusters could be found, and in the winter 1908-9 but 1,700 were dis-
covered and treated. It is believed that the moth has been extermi-
nated in 4 of the 11 towns which were infested. The entire territory
in this State is in excellent condition, and very little injury now
results to the trees, as the insect is present only in small numbers.
With persistent work for a number of years it should be possible

56 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

totally to exterminate the insect in this State, but this can not be
accomplished and the region kept free from infestation unless the
vigorous work which is now being carried on in the other New England
States is maintained. Throughout the period that the work has been
in progress in Rhode Island most cordial relations have existed”
between the state superintendent and this office, and this is one of
the factors which has made the work so successful.

The amount appropriated by the State during the four years the
work has been in progress is $33,100. In addition to this the
National Government has expended about $28,000.

WORK IN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT.

Adult specimens of the gipsy moth were found by Mr. Ernest
Frensch, a local collector of insects, at Stonington, Conn., near the
Rhode Island state lme during the summer of 1905. He reported
the matter early in the year 1906 to Dr. W. E. Britton, state entomol-
ogist of Connecticut, who at once made an investigation and found
that the report was correct. An emergency fund was available in
that State, and was placed at the disposal of the state entomologist
for the purpose of stamping out the pest.

The work has been managed in a very efficient manner, and each
year such assistance as was desired has been furnished by the-
Bureau of Entomology. The original infestation covered practically
1 square mile, this having been determined by very careful scouting
operations. This colony has been very difficult to treat successfully
owing to the broken and rocky character of the ground and to a large
number of pastures and brush-covered areas which furnished excel-
lent places in which the eggs of the moth could be deposited. In
the autumn of 1906 a determined effort was made by the state
entomologist to exterminate the moth in this town, and all brush
was cut in the woodland and pastures throughout the infested area.
The following summer the trees were burlapped after having been
previously pruned and all cavities sealed with cement or patched
with zinc. Many stone walls were burned out with a cyclone burner,
some spraying was done during the caterpillar season, and a number
of trees were banded with tanglefoot. Working on the theory that
colonies originated from the introduction of caterpillars by some_
peddler or milkman or other person making frequent visits over
quite a large area, several of the adjoining towns were scouted to
determine if other colonies existed from which these caterpillars
might have been distributed. No evidence was found, however, of
outside colonies. During the summer of 1906 approximately 10,000
caterpillars were destroyed, and during the winter of 1906-7, 118
egg clusters were treated with creosote. By following up the methods
already outlined the infestation has decreased each year, and during

WORK IN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. 57

the summer of 1909 less than 100 caterpillars were killed. The
final inspection recently completed revealed the presence of only 1
egg cluster. The condition of this colony in Connecticut is very
satisfactory and much credit is due the state entomologist and his
assistants for the efficient work which has been done. A small
amount of help has been furnished by the Bureau of Entomology
when it was desired, and it is evident that extermination can be
accomplished by following up the work in a thorough manner,
although“the territory is a most difficult one to treat.

On December 14, 1909, a letter was received from Dr. W. E. Britton
stating that a colony of the gipsy moth had been found in the town
of Wallingford, about 12 miles north of New Haven. Several men
were immediately sent by him to investigate the matter thoroughly,
to determine the amount of territory infested, and to treat egg clus-
ters. On December 20, Mr. Rogers and Doctor Britton visited Wal-
lingford and saw many badly infested trees near the center of the
town. The examination which had been carried on previous to that
time showed that the moth had spread over approximately one-half
of the borough. The principal infestation was located in the rear
of a grocery store, and during the caterpillar season delivery wagons
and other vehicles must have furnished excellent opportunity for
the spread of the insects. Undoubtedly, a considerable area will be
found, infested after a thorough examination has been made. It is
probable that this colony has existed for at least three years, and pos-
sibly for a longer time. The total number of egg clusters treated
up to January 1, 1910, aggregated over 5,000.

The presence of this bad colony, which is at least-100 miles from
the badly infested area in Massachusetts, indicates the probability
that other colonies may exist at equally distant points. From the
fact that the center of the infestation appears to be near the provi-
sion store mentioned, and also because lettuce, cucumbers, and other
garden crops were undoubtedly shipped to this point from market
gardens near Boston, it is possible that the infestation may have
been caused by egg Savers brought in boxes used for transporting
these products. If this supposition is correct, it is probable that
many points outside the infested district in Massachusetts became
infested in this way during the years when no work was done in that
State. Every effort will be made to stamp out the pest in Walling-
ford, and arrangements are on foot to place a sufficient number of
men in the town to thoroughly inspect and treat the infested area, and
to examine carefully the surrounding territory.

INSPECTION OF LUMBER AND FOREST PRODUCTS.

On March 27, 1909, a letter was received from Mr. A. M. G. Soule,
one of the foremen in charge of the scouting work in Maine, which

58 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

stated that while examining woodland along the railroad near Scar-
boro Beach, Me., he found a quantity of oak shim wood, which was
being used by the section men in repairing the track, badly infested
with gipsy moth egg clusters.

An investigation showed that the mont was originally shipped from
a badly infested district near Bedford, Mass., and that it had been
delivered at various section houses along the railroad between South
Lawrence, Mass., and Portland, Me. By following up the deliveries,
infested wood from this shipment was found at Kennebunk, Bidde-
ford, Pine Point, and Scarboro Beach, Me. The entire shipment, so
far as could be determined, was traced and the egg clusters treated
wherever they were found. This discovery emphasized the danger
of shipping forest products of all kinds by rail after the egg clusters
of the gipsy moth had been laid, and arrangements were at once
made to inaugurate a system of inspection by means of which dis-
tribution of egg clusters from the infested area to distant points
could be prevented. The matter was presented to the Chief of the
Bureau of Entomology, and later a letter was sent by the Secretary
of Agriculture to the different railroad companies operating in the
infested district, requesting their cooperation with the Bureau of
Entomology in preventing further spread of this insect. The offi-
cials of the several railroads operating within the infested district
gave assurance of their interest in the matter, and promised all
possible assistance in confining the pest to the present territory.
Orders were issued by the railroads to all station agents within this
area that after July 1, 1909, forest products would be accepted for
shipment only when accompanied by permits or certificates of inspec-
tion from this office. As soon as shippers became acquainted with
the requirements little delay was experienced, and the order has met
with hearty approval and a generous spirit of cooperation. When
such material is being forwarded from one town in the infested dis-
trict to another known infested point, a permit to ship is granted
after proper application has been made. The inspection of such
shipments is not attempted unless there is special danger of trans-
mitting infested material. On shipments, however, that are destined
to points. outside the infested territory, inspection is made by
employees of this office before a certificate is granted allowing ship-
ments tomove. As aresult of this work, inspections have been made
of 490 shipments, many of which were badly infested. The following
table gives the geographical range of the shipments sent out from
infested territory from July 1, 1909, to January 1, 1910. Hach
shipment averaged about a carload lot, although in some cases as
high as 10 carloads were examined for a single shipment. Over
1,000 cars of forest products have been shipped from the infested

INSPECTION OF LUMBER AND FOREST PRODUCTS. 59

district in Maine during this period. Practically all the lumber
region in this State is outside the infested area.

This material consisted chiefly of railroad ties, posts, poles, cord
wood, bark, staves, rough lumber, and, in the last few weeks of 1909,
small evergreen trees for the Christmas trade. The enforcement of
the inspection requirements has resulted in a large amount of addi-
tional work for this office, but as several badly infested shipments
have been prevented, the expense of the work has been amply
justified. A large shipment of lumber consigned to Holyoke, Mass.,
was found badly infested, and held until it could be thoroughly
inspected and treated before it was allowed on the cars. Lumber
which was destined to Philadelphia, Pa., and other points as far
removed from the infested region was also held up for thorough
inspection and certification. This has been the means of preventing
a number of colonies from gaining a foothold in States outside of
New England.

Number and geographical distribution of lumber shipments forwarded to uninfested points.

CONNECTICUT. MASSACHUSETTS—cont’d. NEW HAMPSHIRE—cont'd.
Ansonia, 4. Athol, 3. Peterboro, 9.
Bridgeport, 11. Barre, 2. Plymouth, 1.
Danbury, 2. Fair Haven, 1. Rumney, 1.
Derby, 2. Fall River, 7. Swanzey, 1.
Greenwich, 1. Holyoke, 25. Winchester, 1.
Hartford, 7. New Bedford, 4.
Litchfield, 1. Northampton, 1. glee ie ac
Lyme, l. Royalston, 1. Camden. 2.
Meriden, 3. Shelburne, 1. Edgewater, +

New Haven, 13.
New London, 2.
Norwich, 2.

Southbridge, 2.
Springfield, 2.
Ware, 2.

Edgeworth, 1.
Helmetta, 1.
Hoboken, 1.

Seymour, 6.
Torrington, 2.
Waterbury, 5.

ILLINOIS,
Chicago, 1.
MAINE.

Auburn, 1.
Buxton, 2.
Freyeburg, 2.
Millinocket, 2.
Portland, 35.
Westbrook, 4.

MASSACHUSETTS.

Acushnet, 1.
Amherst, 1.

Winchendon, 2.
NEW HAMPSHIRE,

Berlin, 1.
Campton, 1.
Canaan, 2.
Claremont, 1.
Conway, 1.
Gorham, 1.
Greenfield, 4.
Hancock, 2.
Harrisville, 6.
Haverhill, 4.
Keene, 10.
Lisbon, 1.
Madison, 2.
Marlboro, 3.
Newport, 2.

Irvington, 1.
Jersey City, 2.
Keyport, 1.
Newark, 3.

New Brunswick, 2.
Passaic, 3.
Paterson, 1.

NEW YORK.

Albany, 1.

Arden, 1.
Brooklyn, 1.
Claremont Park, 1.
Cornwall, 2.
Dunkirk, 2.
Hornell, 1.

Ilion, 1.

Kingston, 1.

60 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

NEW YORK—continued. OHIO. VERMONT.
Long Island City, 2. Sandusky, 5. Barton, 4.
Morris Heights, 1. Bellows Falls, 1.
Mount Kisco, 1. Re Shave ae Brattleboro, 1.
New Hartford, 2. Allentown, 1. Lyndon, 1.
New Rochelle, 1. Pen Argyl, 1. St. Johnsbury, 1.
New York City, 7. Philadelphia, 18.
Oneida, 1. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Peckskilieas RHODE ISLAND. ;
Port Chester, 1. Bristol, 2. ee
St. Johnsville, 1. Coventry, 2.
Seacliff, 1. Newport, 2.
White Plains, 2. Woonsocket, 2.

Aside from the certificates required for shipping forest products
outside the infested territory, a large number of permits, aggregating
2,624 to January 1, 1910, have been issued allowing the transporta-
tion of these products inside the infested district.¢

This inspection feature of the work is of great importance and
must be well organized and thoroughly enforced if the gipsy moth is
to be prevented from becoming established at distant points. This
is especially true, since at the present time large forest areas are
heavily infested, and in order to harvest the marketable lumber
many owners are cutting and shipping. Where large cutting opera-
tions are carried on it is customary to use portable sawmills, and
the rough lumber is often piled in the woodland where it may remain
one or two seasons. This may result in the lumber becoming badly
infested with egg clusters. (See Pl. VIII.) A number of cases have
been found which indicate that the moth has been spread by the
removal of these portable sawmills from one infested area to another
where no infestation existed.

The report has recently been received that gipsy moth egg clusters
were found in Providence, R. I., on boxes which had been used
by market gardeners in shipping their produce. This feature con-
cerning the spread of the moth is very difficult to regulate, and about
the only measure seems to be the requiring of shippers of such prod-
uce to keep their grounds and premises free from the pest. The
thorough inspection and cleaning up of such premises will undoubt-
edly result in checking the spread of the insect in this way.

DANGER OF INTRODUCING THE GIPSY MOTH AND BROWN-TAIL
MOTH FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

The suppression and inspection work which is being carried on
in New England of course can not prevent the introduction of these

a From January 1, 1910, to May 25, 1910, 227 certificates and 102 permits were
issued. Several infested shipments were found, which were carefully treated before
being released. In addition to the New England States these shipments were sent
to New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and Ohio.

PLATE VIII.

Bul. 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

LUMBER PILES AT YORK, ME., INFESTED WITH EGG CLUSTERS OF THE GIPSY MOTH.

DANGER OF INTRODUCTION FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 61

pests from foreign countries, and unfortunately at the present. time
there is no effective general law which provides for the inspection of
nursery stock or other products, coming into the country, on which
these insects are likely to be transported. Most of the States have
nursery inspection laws which are enforced with special reference
to preventing the introduction and spread within the State of the San
Jose scale and other dangerously injurious insect pests. Most of
these laws are well enforced, and the officials in charge have been
provided with sufficient funds to carry on the work. The ports of
entry, which are controlled by the United States Government, have
not come under the jurisdiction of the State officials, and when inspec-
tions were made of stock coming to the United States from foreign
countries, they have been carried on at the point of destination.
Little attention was given to this feature of nursery inspection work
until during the winter of 1909 discovery was made by the inspectors
working under the direction of the commissioner of agriculture of
New York that seedling nursery stock imported from France was
being received at various nurseries in the State, which in many cases
bore webs containing hibernating caterpillars of the brown-tail moth.
This matter was given immediate attention, and the inspectors in the
different States were cautioned, both by the commissioner of agricul-
ture of New York and the Chief of the Bureau of Entomology at
Washington, to be on the lookout for such stock. As a result of
this warning and of the arrangements made by the Bureau of Ento-
mology with the custom-house officials, notice was sent to inspectors
in all of the States of the arrival of any nursery stock shipments in
this country, so that an inspection could be made as soon as the stock
reached its destination. Most of the States followed up the ship-
ments energetically, and carefully inspected them, but in a few
where no funds were available for doing the work the local inspector
was deputized by the Bureau of Entomology to examine the importa-
tions and the work was paid for out of the appropriation for prevent-
- ing the spread of moths which had been made for carrying out the
campaign in New England.

At the close of the season it was found that brown-tail moths
had been found in shipments of stock that had been received in 15
different States, viz, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, lowa, Kansas, Ken-
‘tucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In New York
State alone over 7,000 webs were found and destroyed. A single
egg cluster of the gipsy moth was found in a shipment received
in Ohio.

A bill CH. R. 23252, 61st Congress, 2d Session) ‘‘To provide for the
introduction of foreign nursery stock by permit only, and to authorize
the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a quarantine against the

62 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

importation and against the transportation in interstate commerce
of diseased nursery stock or nursery stock infested with injurious
insects, and making an appropriation to carry the same into effect”
is now under consideration by the Committee on Agriculture of the
House of Representatives and it is earnestly hoped that it may
receive favorable action. The urgent need of some legislation of this
character should be apparent to any person who has given the matter
serious thought. From a financial point of view it is much easier
and cheaper to stamp out a few insects before they have had an
opportunity to gain a foothold in this country than to attempt to
exterminate or suppress them after they have had a chance to multi-
ply and become acclimated.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK IN THE CONTROL OF THE GIPSY AND
BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

During the progress of the field work on the gipsy and brown-tail
moths it has been necessary to carry on a limited number of experi-
ments and to make investigations so that more economical methods
could be used in destroying these insects. It has been known for
years that a single defoliation will cause the death of pine or other
coniferous trees and some of the men engaged in the field work
reported that small caterpillars of the gipsy moth did not appear to
feed on the foliage of these trees. In 1907 Mr. F. H. Mosher, one of
the entomologists connected with the Massachusetts work, carried
on an extensive series of experiments in feeding newly hatched
eipsy-moth caterpillars on pine foliage. The results secured showed
that the caterpillars would starve rather than eat the food offered,
and as a result of this test it became evident that it was necessary for
the small caterpillars to have a considerable amount of deciduous food
before they were able to attack pine. Using these experiments as a
basis, an extensive field test was made in the spring of 1908 by the
Bureau of Entomology in cooperation with the Massachusetts state
office.

An area of about 5 acres of pine woodland located in Arlington,
Mass., was selected for the test. The woodland was surrounded by
farm land upon which were growing many fruit and shade trees, as
well as a considerable amount of brush and undergrowth, all of which
was very badly infested with the gipsy moth. The pine trees were
banded with tanglefoot early in the spring and no other treatment
was applied except combing the bands. These trees, as well as the
deciduous trees on the surrounding ground, were badly infested with
egg clusters of the gipsy moth. After the caterpillars hatched, the
deciduous trees were badly defoliated, but no injury resulted to the
pines. The small caterpillars in the pine trees, being unable to secure

PLATE IX.

Bul. 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

08: 8 BR: ‘csreatoams BA sey

GR Ke Re eT

AULT 6 pA ——

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soar eee:

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(ORIGINAL. )

Fic. 1.—PINE GROVE KILLED BY THE GiIPSY MOTH.

is
onl

Fic. 2.—PINE TREES THAT HAVE BEEN PROTECTED FROM THE ATTACKS OF TH

(ORIGINAL.)

Gipsy MoTH.

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i : pee Bt
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5 ' Shliie Sarid
if a

i if

METHODS NOW USED IN FIGHTING THE GIPSY MOTH. 63

proper food for their development, either died or spun down to the
ground and migrated to the deciduous growth. Owing to the sticky
bands on the trunks of the trees it was impossible for the caterpillars
to again ascend to the foliage. This experiment was checked up by
several other tests made by the state office, all of which showed the
same results. (See PI. IX, figs. 1, 2.)

The practice at present in handling coniferous woodland is to cut
out all the deciduous growth which will furnish food for the young
caterpillars, and if the pines are well banded with tanglefoot early
in the summer, and these bands kept viscid during the caterpillar
season, no further treatment is necessary. These experiments have
resulted in the adoption of a simple and comparatively cheap method
of preventing the destruction of valuable coniferous woodland, and
as trees of this character grow satisfactorily in most sections of the
infested district it is possible to preserve and develop pine forests
at a moderate expense, regardless of the presence of the gipsy moth
in surrounding territory.

The greater part of the experimental work has been along the line
of developing more efficient spraying methods. The use of the tower
on power sprayers, which will be more fully explained later in this
report, has resulted in a great saving in cost of treatment. In the
summer of 1909 several tests were made with large spraying machines
to determine the most effective pressures and the best size of nozzle
outlets. The results indicate that on the average a }-inch nozzle of
the type described later in this report will carry the spray 20 feet
farther than a ;';-inch nozzle, and that it is necessary to maintain a
pressure of over 200 pounds in order to secure satisfactory results.
There are many opportunities for perfecting the present spraying
outfit, and much thought is being given this matter both by the
Bureau and state officials as well as by manufacturers who at the
present time are selling many spraying machines in the infested
region. The activity in perfecting devices will undoubtedly result
in better and more economical methods in the future.

METHODS NOW USED IN FIGHTING THE GIPSY MOTH.

Most of the methods used for destroying the gipsy moth have
already been mentioned, and a large number of them were in success-
ful use at the time the work was being carried on by the State of
Massachusetts during the nineties. Such methods as treating egg
clusters, cleaning up brush, thinning infested woodlands, and general
clearing-up measures have not been improved to a great extent. The
use of burlap has been continued from year to year, but owing to the
expense involved in applying and tending it throughout the season
it is not now considered as satisfactory a method as the more recent

64 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

system of banding the trees with tanglefoot. This is especially
true since the brown-tail moth became abundant in the orchards and
woodlands. Many of the caterpillars of this insect seek the burlaps
when they are about to spin their cocoons for the purpose of pupation,
and the serious poisoning which results to the men employed when
turning such burlaps makes thorough work well-nigh impossible.
Every season hundreds of men suffer extremely from this trouble, and
in many cases efficient and well-trained workers are obliged to resign
rather than attempt to continue on the work. This is leading to a
general discontinuance of the burlap method of treating the gipsy
moth. The tanglefoot bands are very satisfactory and the men are
enabled to work with less discomfort. The methods used in cutting
out zones along infested roadways has been in strict accordance with
the latest ideas of modern forestry. .

Fig. 17.—Roadside area, showing how the grass has been induced to grow by thinning out the trees and
clearing away the underbrush in gipsy-moth control work. (Original.)

By adopting the best known methods in thinning and pruning, the
trees which remain are in sound condition, and with the care which
is given from year to year after the roadways have once been thinned
they have a favorable opportunity to make a satisfactory growth.
In many of these cleaned areas, which are kept free from under-
growth by mowing them in August, it has been possible to induce a
stand of grass which greatly improves the entire appearance and
condition of the roadside. (See fig. 17.)

Perhaps the greatest advancement has been made in spraying
with arsenicals. Since the discovery of arsenate of lead this sub-
stance has practically superseded all other poisons for use against _
leaf-eating insects of all kinds. During the season of 1909 nearly

METHODS NOW USED IN FIGHTING THE GIPSY MOTH. 65

500 tons of this poison were used in New England for spraying the
trees. Considerable spraying was done to destroy the elm leaf-
beetle (Galerucella luteola Mill.), and this poison was used exclu-
sively in the work. The best results are secured in spraying for the
gipsy moth when the caterpillars are very small, but in covering so
large an area it is impossible to provide machines enough to do all
the work early in the season. Ten pounds of arsenate of lead to
100 gallons of water is a satisfactory strength to use, but after the
caterpillars are half grown it is often desirable to increase this amount
to 12 or 15 pounds to the same amount of water. Spraying late in
the season after the larve are nearly fullgrown is of doubtful advan-
tage, as the caterpillars are very resistant to poison, and as a rule
will pupate and transform to moths.
The power spraying machines used in 1909 were superior in every
way to any that had been designed previously, and plans for im-
provements on these machines have been considered for the work
next season. Barrel sprayers fitted with hand pumps are used to
“me extent for treating shrubbery and orchards, and in some cases
wagh trees are treated by using these outfits, especially when it is neces-
sary to prevent buildings from becoming discolored by the poison.
The use of these small outfits is impracticable when it is necessary
to cover in a period of six weeks the large areas which must be
sprayed, and as a result of varied tests of power outfits a system has
been devised for using what is known as “‘solid-stream spray.”’
About 1895 Mr. J. A. Pettegrew, who was then superintendent of
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N. Y., c astructed a steam spraying outfit
for use in treating the trees which were being severely injured by the
elm leaf-beetle. Sufficient pressure was developed to spray high
trees from the ground, the shape of the nozzle being such that a solid
stream was carried high in the air, where it was broken into a mist.
This sprayer was described and illustrated by Dr. L. O. Howard in
an article on spraying.? Soon after Mr. Pettegrew became superin-
tendent of the Boston city parks he used a similar outfit for spraying.
In 1905, this method of treatment was tested by Gen. S. C. Law-
rence, of Medford, Mass., who was carrying on extensive spraying
operations to protect the trees from the gipsy moth. This outfit
was built by a Boston firm, and was equipped with a high-power
gasoline engine instead of with steam to generate power. The
experiment was successful and since that time the use of outfits built
on the same general lines has been gradually increasing. Mr. George
H. Kermeen, one of the representatives of the firm alluded to, was
an early advocate of this system of spraying, and in addition to

a**The use of steam apparatus for spraying,’’ Yearbook, U. S. Department of
Agriculture, 1896.

40705°—Bull. 87—-10——5

66 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

making improvements in the outfits succeeded in interesting many
people in their use.

Experiments were carried on under the direction of Mr. A. H.
Kirkland and Mr. L. H. Worthley, and others connected with the
state office in Massachusetts, and considerable work along this line
has been attempted by Mr. Rogers and others connected with this
office, and the results have been of benefit to all workers against the
moths. The most successful machine thus far designed is provided
with a multiple-cylinder (usually triplex) pump which is connected
by a clutch to a gasoline engine of the marine or auto type. The
engine is provided with two or more cylinders. The four-cycle type
of engine has given the most successful results. A bronze pump is
used, as this metal accommodates itself to sudden fluctuations in
pressure and is not affected as readily with arsenate of lead as those
made of cast iron.

The pump must be capable of delivering 35 gallons per minute and
maintain a pump pressure of at least 200 pounds. This requires ¢
10-horsepower engine. Piping is arranged so that water may be
pumped into the tank from accessible wells, ponds, or streams, and
solution pumped from the tank and not discharged by the nozzle
returns either to the tank or into the pump suction. A large, strong
air-chamber is necessary in order to avoid sharp shocks to the pump
and also to equalize the pressure. Batteries should be placed where
there is as little jarring as possible, away from the heat of the engine,
and where water will not reach them. One of our machines has been
fitted with a magneto with excellent results. Engines and motors of
the two and four cycle types have been used and both water and air
cooled engines have been tested. Until recently only gas engines of
the stationary type were used, but last summer the two-cylinder
marine motor, water cooled, gave excellent results, and a four-cylin-
der engine of this class will perhaps be still more satisfactory.

The agitation of the solution is accomplished by a shaft fitted with
2 or 3 two-bladed propellers, which passes through the lower part of
the tank. It is operated by the engine so that the poison is thoroughly
mixed. One-and-one-fourth-inch hose has been used for spraying
with these machines, but at the present time 1-inch hose is coming
into favor. The nozzle is of much the same type as that used on fire
hose, being fitted for interchangeable tips, varying from 4-inch to
41-inch aperture.

The machinery is mounted on the back part of a wagon truck, the
front part being occupied by a 400-gallon to 500-gallon U-shaped
tank. The trucks are as short as possible to accommodate the tank |
and necessary machinery and are provided with stout springs and |
brake. They are also built so that the front wheels will cut under
the tank, as this is of advantage in turning around in narrow streets.

|

E X.

PLAT

U. S. Dept.

Bul.

87, Bureau of Entomolog

ONE OF THE TEN HIGH-POWER SPRAYING OUTFITS USED IN THE GIPSY MOTH WORK OF THE

BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY.

(ORIGINAL. )

>

Bul. 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE Xl.

HIGH-POWER SPRAYING OUTFIT IN USE IN TREATING ROADSIDE TREES. (ORIGINAL.)

METHODS NOW USED IN FIGHTING THE GIPSY MOTH. 67

When a machine of this type (Pl. X) is used and a pressure held
at from 200 to 250 pounds, trees from 60 to 75 feet high can be thor-
oughly sprayed from the ground. It is necessary in spraying the
woodland areas to use long lines of hose, and this requires the use of
a considerable number of men to move the hose about rapidly, so
that the spray material can be well distributed by the man holding
the nozzle. In the work along roadsides this system was used in
1907 with satisfactory results, but the time required for moving the
hose greatly increased the cost of treatment. In order to diminish
the cost of applying poison to the roadside areas, and also to enable
the workmen to treat a greater mileage in a given length of time, a
special arrangement was devised by Mr. Rogers which is known as a
“water tower.” This is set up on top of the tank and is mounted on
a mast 64 feet high made of 24-inch piping which is provided with
braces to hold it in perpendicular position. It is attached to the top
of the tank with bolts so that it can be laid down when not in use.
At the top of the mast is a threaded street L made on free to the mast
and a T is made onto the L in such a manner as to provide what is
practically a universal joint. Through the T a length of 14-inch,
16-gauge steel tubing is placed, which is fitted with collars to hold it
firmly in position. The tube is about 20 feet long; at the outer end
the nozzle is attached, while to the other, which extends only
about 4 feet from the point of attachment to the mast, is coupled the
hose carrying the solution.

The tube near the end where the hose enters is reenforced by :
quantity of lead which makes it nearly balanced on the mast. The
nozzle is raised by lowering the reenforced end of the tube, and when
the sprayer is in operation the nozzle is about 25 feet from the ground.
With this arrangement, if the pressure is maintained at 200 pounds
and a }-inch nozzle used, trees 80 to 90 feet in height can be readily
sprayed. If the wind is light or favorable, a strip along one side of
the road 100 feet deep, or more, can be treated. It is impossible to
use this arrangement with satisfactory results if the wind is blowing
from the strip, but under favorable conditions good work can be
done if the sprayer moves along the road while the machine is in
operation. (See Pl. XI.) It is more effective to spray these strips
twice, as this assures better distribution of the poison. A modifica-
tion of this system was tried during the past summer and consisted
simply of using the tower for elevating the spray and treating the
high trees and growth as far back as possible from the roadway, while
at the same time another hand nozzle, with smaller tip of the same
type as the one on the tower, was operated by a man standing on the
top of the tank. The latter nozzle was used for treating the trees
close to the road, and by this modification more thorough work was
done. (See fig. 18.)

68 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

It is obvious that the tower can not be used except for treatment
of roadsides, and where woodland areas are to be sprayed it is often
necessary to lay long lines of hose from the sprayer, which should
be located as near as possible to a supply of water. The State of
Massachusetts has conducted large spraying operations over thousands
of acres of forests of this character in the North Shore district with
excellent results. In some cases a line of hose more than one-fourth
of a mile long has been used, and it was possible to maintain sufficient
pressure at the nozzle to do satisfactory work. Woodland work
of this character is very expensive, owing especially to the amount
of labor required to carry the hose. A machine and crew of men
can usually cover about 12 acres of woodland per day, the entire
cost of treatment averaging about $10 per acre. Roadsides can be

Fig. 18.—Spraying a roadside, using a combination tower and hand nozzle, so as to throw two streams.
( Original.)

treated, where the tower is used, for about $2 per acre, and it is
possible under favorable conditions to spray 2 miles in a single day.

With the last mentioned outfit it is necessary to employ two men
to operate the nozzles, an engineer to look after the machine, and a
team and driver. <A driver with a horse and wagon accompanies
each sprayer with a supply of poison, gasoline, extra hose, ete.
The driver of the supply wagon is required to post warning notices
in the treated strips, which indicate that spraying has been done, so
that owners of cows and other animals will not permit them to feed
on the sprayed foliage or grass.

Under favorable circumstances from 4,000 to 5,000 gallons is
sprayed out in 8 hours, but this amount is sometimes reduced by
each machine, owing to pump or engine troubles.

METHODS NOW USED IN FIGHTING THE GIPSY MOTH. 69

COST OF METHODS EMPLOYED.

In the gipsy moth work it is very necessary to know the approxi-
mate cost of cleaning up or caring for any given infested area. The
treatment work attempted by the Bureau has been principally
along the line of caring for trees growing near wooded roadsides,
while that of the States has covered infested areas of all kinds. In
the latter work, especially in woodland areas, much money has been
expended in thinning out the trees and putting the forests in the
best possible condition, so that the moth can be successfully treated.
Special attention has been paid to leaving trees which would be the
most profitable, and also those which are to some extent immune
from the feeding of the insect.

Mr. L. H. Worthley, assistant forester in charge of moth work for
the State of Massachusetts, who has had wide experience in cutting-
out operations, states that woodland can be properly thinned (not
pruned) and put in condition for treatment measures against the gipsy
moth at a cost ranging from $15 to $35 an acre. This variation
depends on the character and size of the trees to be cut. The first
roadside work done by this office where considerable heavy timber was
cut cost about $40 an acre for thinning, burning, pruning, and creosot-
ing egg clusters. As the force of men became more experienced in the
work it has been possible to reduce the expense of cutting out these
roadside strips. The average cost of work on over 30 miles of
strips last fall amounted to $27.50 an acre. It may seem at first
glance as though this method required an excessive expenditure of
money; nevertheless it should be stated that the gipsy moth can not
be successfully controlled unless the woodland is properly thinned
and dead wood removed. In addition to this, if hollow trees are
allowed to remain it is almost impossible to keep the insect in sub-
jection. Another feature which should be pointed out is that
although the first expense of cutting is large, the cost of caring for
the area in future years is greatly reduced. Our data show that as
a result of putting the roadsides in good condition for future treat-
ment it has been possible to reduce the amount each year which must
be expended for destroying the caterpillars and egg clusters.

Many experiments have been carried on for the purpose of decreas-
ing the cost of spraying work. The adoption of the water tower
on the tanks has materially assisted in this direction. A careful
record of the spraying this year shows that over 360 miles of roadway
were sprayed on both sides. By taking into account the entire cost,
including labor, poison, supplies, fuel, and a liberal allowance for
depreciation on the outfits used, it should be possible to spray road-
sides for about $2 an acre.

70 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

If spraying could be relied on to control the gipsy moth, the prob-
lem would be greatly simplified, but unfortunately it is impossible to
destroy all the caterpillars by spraying, and it is usually necessary to
supplement the work either with burlap or tanglefoot, and to creosote
all of the egg clusters that can be located during the winter. The
cost of these methods is difficult to determine, as there is much varia-
tion in expense owing to the character of the infestation, the size
of trees, and the locality in which the work is to be done. In gen-
eral '¢ may be said that woodland can be pruned, egg clusters creo-
soted, and brush cut and burned for $25 to $30 an acre; tanglefoot
applied and tended for the season for $5 to $6; sprayed for $2 to $10;
creosoted the following winter for $5, and should be kept free from
injury by the gipsy moth for $2 an acre for each year thereafter.

VALUE OF NATURAL ENEMIES IN CONTROLLING GIPSY AND
BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

The influence exerted by native birds and insect enemies of the gipsy
and brown-tail moths in this country has already been mentioned.
As soon as the work was resumed by the State of Massachusetts,
it was found that in some sections of the territory infested by the
brown-tail moth large numbers of caterpillars were dying from a
fungous disease. The matter was investigated by assistants em-
ployed by Mr. Kirkland in 1906, and specimens of the disease-
bearing caterpillars were referred to Dr. Geo. E. Stone, botanist of
the Massachusetts agricultural college, who stated that the cause of
the death of the caterpillars was a fungus known as Empusa aulice
Reichardt. This disease destroyed millions of caterpillars during
the spring and early summer of 1906, and it has been found quite
frequently since that time in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and
Maine. It works on both small caterpillars in the webs and the
larger ones which feed during the early summer. This has assisted
in checking the increase of the insect, especially in the sections of
Massachusetts where it first became seriously injurious. The devel-
opment of this fungus is influenced largely by weather conditions
and during some years it has not greatly reduced the number of
caterpillars.

During the past two or three years large numbers of caterpillars
of the gipsy moth have died from a disease which is popularly known
as the ‘‘wilt”’ or caterpillar cholera. This has been prevalent par-
ticularly in badly infested areas, especially in woodland, where
many of the trees have been nearly defoliated. It seems to develop
more rapidly on caterpillars which have not had sufficient nourish-
ment, although in some places it was present where a considerable
amount of foliage remained. The caterpillars attacked by this
trouble become sluggish and soon die, the inside of the body becoming

INTRODUCTION OF PARASITES AND NATURAL ENEMIES. 71

semiliquid and putrid. When the cholera is prevalent, the trunks
of trees below tanglefoot or burlap bands, where the caterpillars con-
gregate, are sometimes completely covered with dead or dying larve.
Isolated cases of caterpillars that had died from this disease were
observed previous to the year 1900, but at that time the insects
killed by it were relatively few. This trouble, which is supposed
to be a disease known as “flacherie,”’ was recognized as fatal to
the silkworm many years ago.

Both of the diseases above mentioned are being carefully inves-
tigated by specialists of Harvard University in cooperation with the
office of the Massachusetts state forester.

THE INTRODUCTION OF PARASITES AND NATURAL ENEMIES OF
THE GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

Although the work of introducing parasites and natural enemies
of the gipsy and brown-tail moths is entirely separate from the field
work which is being carried on for the control of the insects mentioned,
a brief statement is made concerning it, as it has an enormous prac-
tical bearing on the problem at hand.

It is evident that if the natural enemies of these insects can be
introduced into the infested district in large numbers and be able
to survive our climatic conditions and reproduce in the same ratio
that they do in their native homes, it should be possible by this means
to largely curtail the destruction that is now prevalent in New Eng-
land. An effort in this direction has been carried on for the past
four years by the Bureau of Entomology in cooperation with the State
of Massachusetts, and Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau, has
had the matter in charge.

A considerable number of parasites and natural enemies have been
received and liberated, and conditions at the present time seem to
warrant the hope that eventually much good will result from this
work. It should be borne in mind, however, by some of those who
are overenthusiastic as to the possibilities of controlling the insect
pests by means of their parasites or natural enemies, that few cases
are on record where work of this sort has been entirely effectual.
Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the gipsy moth was lib-
erated in this country nearly twenty years before it became such
a serious pest as to cause widespread notice and the adoption of
active measures for its suppression. This being the case, it will
undoubtedly be several years before it will be possible to notice
definite results from the reproduction of parasites in the field, and
until it has been demonstrated that natural enemies can control the
situation it is folly to curtail the amount of hand work which is being
employed for the destruction of these pests.

72 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

VALUE OF THE WORK OF SUPPRESSION TO THE FARMER AND
FRUIT GROWER.

From what has been already mentioned in this report it must be
apparent that the strenuous effort being made to control the spread
of the gipsy and brown-tail moths is of great value to farmers
and fruit growers, especially to those who live outside the infested
district. Should these insects spread over the United States and
cover the same range which they now occupy in foreign countries
the cost of controlling them and the damage which would result to
orchards and to forest and shade trees would be enormous. The
more progressive citizens throughout the country who understand
the situation must appreciate the danger of the spread of these pests
and are undoubtedly in sympathy with the work which is being car-
ried on to restrict their increase. The residents of the infested dis-
trict who have seen the devastation caused understand the necessity
for thorough and persistent work if the trees are to be preserved.
(See Pl. XII.) This is especially true in cities and towns where
most of the shade trees have a desperate struggle to maintain an
existence and where, owing to unfavorable. conditions for tree
growth, it is difficult to replace trees which have died from any cause.
The hand methods of suppression which are being used are the best
that have been devised and new or more effective methods are
eagerly sought for by all who have a hand in managing the work:

The introduction of parasites and natural enemies, and the study
and attempt to make use of the diseases of the insect which are
known to exist, are being pushed asrapidly as possible. Both
branches of the work are being conducted for the ultimate benefit
of the property owners in the infested district and for the protection
of all those who are fortunate enough to reside beyond its limits.
The cost of protecting trees from such well-known insects as the San
Jose scale, the codling moth, the elm leaf-beetle, and many other
insects which prey upon them in more or less restricted localities
throughout the United States, represents an enormous annual ex-
penditure of money. This cost is ultimately met by the consumer
of the products, and in the moth-infested district (fig. 19) by the
tenant who lives on the property where treatment is applied.

SUGGESTIONS TO THE OWNERS OF PRIVATE PROPERTY IN THE
INFESTED DISTRICTS.

It is evident that little progress can be made in controlling such
insects as the gipsy and brown-tail moths without the hearty coopera-
tion and intelligent interest of owners of private property in the
infested districts. As a rule, owners have shown great appreciation
of the work which is being carried on and many have expended large
sums of money in caring for the trees on their own property. In sec-

Bul. 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE XIl.

VIEW SHOWING CONTRAST BETWEEN TREES PROTECTED FROM THE GIPSY AND BROWN-
TAIL MOTHS AND THOSE UNPROTECTED. (ORIGINAL.)

[The tree at the left is an oak defoliated by brown-tail caterpillars and containing many of their
Webs at tips of branches. |

SUGGESTIONS TO OWNERS OF PRIVATE PROPERTY. 73

tions which are now only slightly infested less interest is taken in the
matter because of the fact that few of the citizens thoroughly under-
stand the damage which these pests are capable of inflicting.
Owners of orchards are advised that if modern methods of horti-
cultural practice are adopted it is possible to put their trees on a
paying commercial basis in spite of the presence of these insects.
Too many New Eng-
land orchards yield no
great revenue at the
present time because of
neglect, which is either
due to lack of interest
in caring for the trees
or to ignorance of the
possibility of making
them sources of reve-
nue. (See fig. 20.)
Few intelligent farmers
expect to harvest a
profitable crop of pota-
toes without giving the
land proper culture and
treating the vines to
protect them from the
ravages of the potato
beetle, and if the owner
of fruit trees expects
an income from. this
source he must give his
orchards the best of : 4 Scar oF pales.
care and protect the . a ——
trees and fruit from the

many insect enemies
4d: a Fig. 19.—Map of New England, showing present area infested
W hich pl ey upon them : with the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth. ‘The black area is

The orchards of New that infested with the gipsy moth; the brown-tail moth occupies
Seeiandshouldbethor- “© "° ee Meright ofthe blackline. (Original,
oughly pruned and trees which do not yield good varieties of fruit or
which are in poor condition should be cut down and burned. Those
remaining should be sprayed to destroy the insect pests which already
attack them, and if the gipsy and brown-tail moths are present the
additional expense of fighting them will not prevent the growing of
a profitable crop.

Owners of woodland on which the trees are of marketable size
should cut the timber if the gipsy moth is prevalent in the region.
Care should be taken in doing this work to cut out all poor and

74 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. ~

worthless trees, and if possible to leave for reforesting purposes
vigorous specimens of ash, maple, pine, or coniferous trees of which
the insect is not especially fond and which can be protected with the
least possible expense. (See fig. 21.)

The planting or preservation of ash and hickory is recommended

as the wood is of high value and these trees are not subject to attack
by the brown-tail moth. Planting pine or other coniferous trees for
reforesting purposes is also advisable, as the region is suited to their
growth and these can be protected from moth injury at slight expense.

It is probable that many of the forests containing oak or other
trees which are preferred by these insects must in time give way
to species less subject to attack. In the meantime the owner
should take advantage of the opportunity to harvest his merchant-

Fic. 20.—Neglected apple orchard in which the trees have been killed by the gipsy moth. (Original.)

able trees that are susceptible to attack and foster the growth of
other species that will not be destroyed.

In cities and towns much progress can be made by cutting out
neglected areas of worthless trees and in some sections the number
of trees on the streets or on private property can be reduced and still
provide as much shade as is desirable. If this work is intelligently
done no injury will result to the property; in fact, a direct benefit
will accrue and the cost of future work required to hold the moths
within reasonable bounds will be greatly decreased.

THE OUTLOOK.

At the time the work on the gipsy moth was abandoned by the
State of Massachusetts in 1900, over $1,000,000 had been spent in
an attempt to exterminate the pest. Since the work was resumed in
1905 nearly $4,000,000 has been expended by the different States in

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TOWNSHIPS FOUND TO BE WHOLLY
BY THE

5 POINT WHERE GIRSY MOTH was FIRST pais Fare
DI) INTRODUCED /N /868 OR 1569. a] FIRST COMMISSION IN (890.

ages supsoses ToaeiresreD EW
WHEN STATE A/D WAS ASKED. TOOK CH,
PRESSION iN /59/.

TOWNSH/PS FOUND 70 BEINFESTED

So) BETWEEN 1891 AND 1899.

showing

DISPERSION ano PRESENTS DISTRIBUTION
of the

GIPSY MOTH 'v NEW ENGLAND,
and limits of area infested by the BROWN-TAIL MOTH in 1909.

GLOU-

cesTER |14

TOWNSHIPS WHOLLY OR IN PART. INFESTED /N 1900. ——
TOWNSHIPS EIRST FOUND INFESTED /907-/908

(ERR) #20 wore Uncen B04R0 OF AGRICULTURE Was
DISCONTINUED.
TOWNSHIPS FOUND _TO BEINFESTED WHEN ACTIVE
oer has resuneo Iv 1905,
Til) rownswirs FIRST FOUND (NFESTED 1906 -/907.
APPROXIMATE LIMITS OF BROWN-TAIL INFESTATION /NDICATED BY BLUE LINE.
| \

\
6s"

(GRR) zowwswes rirsr rounp INFESTED /908-1909

TOWNSHIPS FIRST FOUND IMFESTED 1909 -/910.

At

THE OUTLOOK. . 15

New England, which are infested with the gipsy or brown-tail moths,
by private property owners, and by the United States Government,
in an attempt to suppress them and to prevent their further dissemi-
nation. Every known means which promised good results in accom-
plishing this end has been tried in the field. The best methods of hand
suppression have been carried on extensively and foreign countries
have been literally ransacked for parasitic and predaceous enemies
of the moths in the hope that they may in due time develop into a
most important factor in checking the ravages of these insects.
Owing to the ability of both sexes of the brown-tail moth to fly con-
siderable distances, it has been impossible to prevent its rapid spread
to new localities (see fig. 22), but the methods employed in the worst

Pia, 21.--View of a hill where all the timber was cut to prevent its destruction by the gipsy moth; pile of
logs in the foreground. (Original.)

infested sections have afforded a large amount of relief from the injury
which this insect causes.
Each year more or less territory has been found infested by the
gipsy moth where the pest was not previously known to exist, so that
the territory now known to be infested covers in the aggregate about
7,900 square miles. (See Pl. XIII.) At a conservative estimate
three-fourths of this area consists of wooded land, while the balance
is made up of residential sections, orchards, and farm lands. While
the States in the infested section and the United States Government
have done much work in the residential sections and along some of the
_ principal roadways, it has been impossible to inspect the large forest

area so as to determine the present state of infestation. So long as
_ some of these areas remain badly infested it is difficult to prevent
_ further dissemination of the gipsy moth. The methods adopted of
: keeping roadways clear has undoubtedly been a factor in preventing

~

76 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

many colonies from becoming established at distant points, but
although nearly 250 miles of roadways have been treated in this man-
ner in Massachusetts, there is still a very large mileage of trunk roads
which can not be given proper attention with the funds at hand.
The need of more work in the infested area is very urgent, as this is
the only possible way to prevent the continued spread of the inseet

SCALE OF MILES.
30 40 60 70

———— “2 aS

Fig. 22.—Map of New England, showing areas infested by the brown-tail moth from 1897 to 1909. ( Original.)

until the parasites and natural enemies which are being introduced
have an opportunity to show their capacity for reducing the pest.
The importance of the work against this insect extends beyond state
lines or sectional lines and should receive the cordial support of all
who are interested in agriculture, horticulture, or forestry.

THE MORE IMPORTANT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS. (ef

THE MORE IMPORTANT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS ON THE GIPSY

1889

"1892.

1892

1893.

1894.

1895.

1896.

1896.

1897.

1897.

1897.

1898.

1899.

1900.

1901.

1902.

1903.

1903.

L905,

AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

_ Fernawp, ©. H.—Ocneria dispar, Notes.<Spec. Bul. Mass. Agr. Coll. Hatch
Exp. Sta., pp. 3-8, figs. 4, November.

Forsusn, E. H., AND Fernaup, C. H.—Special report of the state board of
agriculture on the work of extermination of the Ocneria dispar or gypsy moth.
<39th Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass. State Bd. Agr., 1891, pp. 287-312, pls. 5. Boston.

_ Fernatp, C. H.—Report on insects. The gypsy moth (Ocneria dispar, L.).
<Bul. 19, Mass. Agr. Coll. -Hatch Exp. Sta., pp. 109-116. (Illustrated.)

Forsusu, E. H., AND FERNALD, C. H.—Report of the state board of agriculture
on the work of extermination of thegypsy moth.<40th Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass.
State Bd. Agr., 1892, pp. 259-297. (Illustrated.) Boston.

Forsusu, E. H., AND FERNALD, C. H.—Report of the state board of agriculture
on the work of extermination of the gypsy moth.<4lst Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass.
State Bd. Agr., 1893, pp. 263-302, pls. 6, map. Boston.

Forsusu, E. H., Aanp FERNALD, C. H.—Report of the state board of agriculture
on the work of extermination of the gypsy moth.<42d Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass.
State Bd. Agr., 1894, pp. 235-270, pls. 5. Boston.

Forsusu, E. H., anp FerNatp, C. H.—The gypsy moth. Porthetria dispar
(Linn.). Published under direction of the Massachusetts state board of agri-
culture. Boston. pp. 495 and appendices pp. I-c, pls. 66, maps 5, figs.

Forsusu, E. H., Anp FERNALD, C. H.—Report of the state board of agriculture
on the work of extermination of the gypsy moth.<43d Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass.
State Bd. Agr., 1895, pp. 199-237, pls. 3. Boston.

FERNALD, ©. H., AND ForsBusu, E. H.—Report of the state board of agriculture
on the work of extermination of the gypsy moth.<44th Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass.
State Bd. Agr., 1896, pp. 349-433. (Illustrated.) Boston.

Howarp, L. O.—The gipsy moth in America.< Bul. 11, new series, Div. Ent.,
U.S. Dept. Agr., pp. 39, figs. 8.

FERNALD, C. H., AND KrrxKianp, A. H.—The brown-tail moth.<Spec. Bul.
Mass. Agr. Coll. Hatch Exp. Sta., pp. 15, fig. 1, pls. 4.

FERNALD, C. H., AND Forsusu, E. H.—Report of the state board of agriculture
on the work of extermination of the gypsy moth.<45th Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass.
State Bd. Agr., 1897, pp. 305-439. (Illustrated.) Boston.

FERNALD, ©. H., AND ForsBusu, E. H.—Report of the state board of agriculture
on the work of exterminating the gypsy moth.<46th Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass.

State Bd. Agr., 1898, pp. 409-481, figs. 2, pls. 11. Boston.

FERNALD, C. H., AND KrrKianp, A. H.—Report of the state board of agriculture
on the work of exterminating the gypsy moth.<47th Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass.
State Bd. Agr., 1899, pp. 339-388, pls. 7. Boston.

Report of the state board of agriculture on the work of extermination of the
gypsy moth.<48th Ann. Rep. Sec. Mass. State Bd. Agr., 1900, pp. 353-369.
Boston.

Report of committee on gypsy moth, insects and birds.<49th Ann. Rep. Sec.
Mass. State Bd. Agr., pp. 313-319. Boston.

Report of committee on gypsy moth, insects and birds.<50th Ann. Rep. Sec.
Mass. State Bd. Agr., 1902, pp. 265-271, pl. 1. Boston.

FERNALD, ©. H., AnD Krrkianp, A. H.—The brown-tail moth (Euproctis
chrysorrhea 1.) Published by Massachusetts state board of agriculture,
Boston. pp. 73, pls. 14.

Maruatr, ©. L.—Report on the gypsy moth and the brown-tail moth, July,
1904.<Cir, 58, Bur. Ent., U. 8S. Dept. Agr., pp. 12, pl. 1, map 1.

78

1905.
1905.
1906.

1906.
1906.

1906.

1907.
1907.
1907.
1907.

1907.

1908.
1908.

1908.
1908.
1908.

1908.

1909.

1909.

FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

SanpERSON, E. D.—The gypsy moth in New Hampshire.<Bul. 121, N. H. ~

Coll. Agr. Exp. Sta., pp. 81-104, figs. 11, December.

Hircuines, E. F.—The brown-tail moth in Maine.<Quart. Bul. Maine Dept.
Agr., vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 101-127, December. (Illustrated.)

Britton, W. E.—The gypsy moth in Connecticut.<dth Rep. State Ent. Conn.
f. 1905, pp. 246-252, figs. 2-6.

Kirkitanp, A. H.—First annual report of the Massachusetts superintendent
for suppressing the gypsy and brown-tail moths. Public Document No. 73,
January, 1906. Boston. pp. 161.

Hitcnines, E. F.—First annual report of the state entomologist on the brown-
tail moth and other insect pests of the State of Maine, 1905, pp. 21. (Illus-
trated.)

Feit, E. P.—The gypsy and brown-tail moths.<Bul. 103, N. Y. State Mus.,
pp. 20; pis: 10:

KirKLAND, A. H.—Second annual report of the Massachusetts superintendent
for suppressing the gypsy and brown-tail moths. Public Document No. 73,
January, 1907. Boston. pp. 170. (Illustrated.)

Hircuines, E. F.—The gypsy moth in Maine.<2d Ann. Rep. State Ent. on the
gypsy and brown-tail moths and other insect pests of the State of Maine, 1906,
pp. 9-20, pl. 1, figs.

Hirenines, E. F.—The brown-tail moth (Huproctis chrisorrhoea).<2d Ann. Rep.
State Ent. on the gypsy and brown-tail moths and other insects pests of the
State of Maine, pp. 21-26, fig. 6.

Steng, A. E.—Report of the Rhode Island commissioner for the suppression of
the gypsy and brown-tail moths for the year 1906. Providence. pp. 80,
pls. 28.

Britton, W. E.—Gypsy moth work in Connecticut.<6th Rep. State Ent.
Conn. f. 1906, pp. 235-260, map, figs. 2-7, pls 3-10.

Hircuines, E. F.—Brown-tail and gypsy moths.<3d Ann. Rep. State Ent. on
the gypsy and brown-tail moths and other insect pests of the State of Maine,
1907, pp. 14-56, figs. 8-14, pls. 1, 6-20.

SteNE, A. E.—Report of the Rhode Island superintendent for the suppression
of the gypsy and brown-tail moths for the year 1907. Providence. pp. 52,
figs: 2, pls. 10:

Britton, W. E.—Progress of the work of controlling the gypsy moth in Connecti-
cut. 7th Rep. State Ent. Conn. f. 1907, pp. 300-312, pls. 7-13.

Britton, W. E.—The brown-tail moth (Huproctis chrysorrhaea Linn.).<7th
Rep. State Ent. Conn. f. 1907, pp. 313-318, figs. 1-4, pl. 14.

SANDERSON, E. D.—The gipsy and brown tail moths in New Hampshire.< Bul.
136, N. H. Agr. Exp. Sta., pp. 156, figs. 34, February.

Kirkianb, A. H.—Third annual report of the Massachusetts superintendent
for suppressing the gypsy and brown-tail moths. Public Document No. 73,
January, 1908. Boston. pp. 228. (Illustrated.)

Brirron, W. E.—Account of progress in suppressing the gypsy moth in Connecti-
cut.<8th Rep. State Ent. Conn. f. 1908, pp. 772-777, pls. 42, 43.

WortaiLey, L. H.—Fourth annual report of the Massachusetts superintendent
for suppressing the gypsy and brown-tail moths. Public Document No. 73,
January, 1909. Boston. pp. 75. (Illustrated.)

a

Sie. * -

penn

uae
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+~
|

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ad

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i
: TG Bt a.

Page.
Apple, preferred food plant of gipsy moth......-..-......-..-.-------------- 14, 74
Mrsenate of lead against elm leaf-beetle..:......-.---..------..-.--------+--- 65
BiRINNENIGRER rth eo ee So LS 17, 40-41, 64-69
Ash for reforesting purposes in district infested by gipsy moth...........-...-- 64
practically immune from attack by gipsy moth....--...----.------------- 14,74
rare aresmet Ine Pipisy MON. 22.575) 52-2 22 2-2 ----+--~----- cae 18
Birds, enemies of gipsy moth and brown-tail moth ............---.-.--------- 26, 27
ert Cmennn lei OENBORIO Bletiic @ a2 he 2 St eee y en. 2 es 2 2 Ss 2 2 Re 24, 26
naan aculs, description and lite Wistory..>----...-.-.-.2-+.--.-.% 23, 24
and gipsy moth field work by State of Massachusetts......... 47-49
cost of methods employed........ 69-70
Shoei i) nh a tS 60-62

inspection of lumber and _ forest
peetaeise. het oe =. OL
in the State of Connecticut... --.. 56-57
| ee ean ke 50-52
New Hampshire... 53-54
Rhode Island... .. 54-56
introduction to report. .......--.- 9

suggestions to owners of private
property in infested districts... 72-74
value to farmer and fruit grower. - - 72
danger of introduction from foreign countries.......-.--.-.-.-- 60-62
ereeremnnnn IMEC tc et tt ka 20
Gone Greist and ite bistory—_.- 52. J...--..-.-.----2.< 21
Pee EID en oe en ete so oS. se ek 21
Sx periseien WOR Tl CONGO!) 5.2... .22..5-..22- 45-2. sen 62-63
aE Agee So a2 no) Dy A ae ee a 23-24
larvee, description and life history..-...........-........-..- 21-22
MM ION ee rea Pig een oe eC ke ee San nae 21-24
Massachusetts Act for suppressing it......................-- 31-35
National work apamaetait beputt. 62.2... A ces. eee 37-A7
natural enemies native to America................--......-- 26-27
RAE ee a Sa ee es ee 70-71
NACI SOM COOMRIOR Se ec een ek hci ee hee waan 74-76
parasites and natural enemies, introduction.............-..-. 71
publications in America treating of it.....................- 77-78
pope cescrepuion and ite history. -......0.....2 22... 5.24. 22-23
RN Ee fies eS SS ong ne Go Pe Sane Lk wan ctw 22
bt ee ee Se Sc SS a Pk cg ek ce ev ews 24-26
Himes, tie eipey met. 6.22.0. ek ck ck eee ee ee eee 17-18
-Burning and cutting against the gipsy moth.........................--....-- 18

80 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

Page
Carabidz, enemies of gipsy moth and brown-tail moth.......................- 2
Cedar, red, practically immune from attack by gipsy moth................_... 14
“Cholera” of gipsyamoth’ catenpililanss ee see oe een eee 70-71
Conifers, food plants of etpsy mothss. 22. ae ee eee ee 14
Corn, food plant ofgipsy-miotls se spe cece ee re eee ae 14
Creosote against gipsy moth egg-masses.......---...---- Seige eet 19-20, 41, 43
Crow, factor in ‘dissemimation(ol @ipsyemiotht. 2-205. 29 — see tee eens ee 27
Cutting and burnine against pipsy more =. geen. ee ee 18
Dipterous parasites of gipsy moth and brown-tail moth....................... yi)
Elm leaf-beetle; arsenate on lead asmemed y= 266 eos eee 65
Empusa aulice, fungus enemy of brown-tail caterpillars...................... 70
Euproctis chrysorrhea. (See Brown-tail moth.)
‘*Flacherie” attectime larvaoleipsy mothe. 920s. oss oe eee ee 70-71
Forest products and lumber, inspection against gipsy moth and brown-tail
MOth... osec2 SaAeweew etn e, ae artes re eee ene OE SMP gee Ce a ee a 57-60
Bungous disease or brown-tail caterpillars 42. 2see ee ee eee 70
Galerucella luteola. (See Elm leaf-beetle.)
Garden crops, sometimes eaten by gipsy moth caterpillars........-........... 14
Gipsy moth; adults, description and lite history: 24/2523. 245. eee ee ee ee 16
and brown-tail moth field work by State of Massachusetts ....... 47-49
cost of methods employed........ 69-70
experiments... sscaesBuce see 60-62
inspection of lumber and forest
PLOUUICLA = eee Sete PR. , 57-60
in the State of Connecticut. ...-.- 56-57
Mame: 3sc.ceeeee 50-52
New Hampshire. . 53-54
Rhode Island... .. 54-56
introduction: to reporb. 22) e2 see 9
suggestions to owners of private
property in infested districts... 72-74
value to farmer and fruit grower. 72
conditions in infested territory at close of Massachusetts state
WOE OOM Ss rain eit OS Se ne eo cee et 29
danger of introduction from foreign countries........-..--.-....-. 60-62
eve clusters. methodol destruction: 5 42.2522 - 4.6 2 er eee 19
eves description and) life historyic. Soc. 236 22 ici oe ee 12
expermental work imcomtroli2s-222— 2-2 ya ee eee 62-63
importance as an insect pest in this country ............--.--.-- 9-10
introduction and’ spread im this Country =. os. 5-254 se eee eee 9-10
larvee, description and lite history 2: 23222) 32e33-seseeeeee = ee 13-16
im younger stages can not eat piles. 3255-5 se eee =). se 62-63
life Ihistory- o£ ei Oa 2 Sg lee, Sec a Ne it ap 12-16
Massachusetts Act dor suppressing 122 sae ieee see se 31-35
methods formerly employed in work against it..........------.. 16-20
now-used an: fighting i,s2 722 - ae eee eos ee 63-70
National-work acainst. 1tbem unis) vee > wees sae os Shy: ene 37-47
natural enemies mative tO 7A Mer Cae = seer ea see ee eee 26-27
~ WLW: sce. PRU ee core Se ova se aags 70-71
outlook for control 2.2 4.25.2.: 2 Ree eta eet nt ee eee 74-76
parasites and natural enemies, introduction........------.--..--- 71
publications im America treatine oldios ye ae ee ee eee 77-78

pup, description and lite histony-.. 2255 ssesee ee ee ee eee 15

INDEX. 81

Page
Gipsy moth, record of it in its native home...........-.--------------- eae 11-12
state work against it in Massachusetts, 1890-1900...........---.-- 11
discontinuance.......--.-- 28-29
, discontinuance, results.... 30-31
funds expended.......... 29
progress made...........- 27-28
restmp tiga o> 5s oo a 31-37
Grass, sometimes eaten by gipsy moth caterpillars.................----------- 14
nan initL oh ilety WMI So. 5 ee oe eee 15
Hickory for reforesting purposes in district infested by gipsy moth..........-. 74
Hymenopterous parasites of gipsy moth and brown-tail moth..............-..-- 27
Insect enemies of gipsy moth and brown-tail moth native to America......... 26-27
Juniper, practically immune from attack by gipsy moth................-....- 14
Lumber and forest products, inspection against gipsy moth and brown-tail
Sa ree oe Se ns ent ee oon ee oe 57-60
Maple for reforesting purposes in district infested by gipsy moth.............. 74
not a preferred food plant of gipsy moth.................-.------------ 14,74
ik prrieires 400d plant Of eipey MOLE... 2. 2222225295. >-.------------ 222-5 14
Ocneria dispar. (See Gipsy moth.)
Orchards, proper treatment in districts infested by gipsy moth and brown-tail
enero eee Sa ne eee ae eee Et Sle Te eee 73
Pentatomide, enemies of gipsy moth and brown-tail moth........-...-...... 27
Pine for reforesting purposes in districts infested by gipsy moth.............. 74
not eaten by mall eipsy moth caterpillars. ..22-..2.-.-.-....---..«.- 62-63, 74
ie i En Or OMSY INOS. alo Boon Joe 2 2 een ke Sees s 14-15
Porthetria dispar. (See Gipsy moth.)
PIER PSRMCEC IRANI oor 3208 ne ae ths - Stan le ho we Cowes 19
RINT W NSCS AE te 20 2 Oo se ss Co BE ee we Dew been 16-17
Sparrow, English, enemy of brown-tail moth............-....--.-.-.-.-------- 24
a MSERTIETU SION. je eS re oe se ed oe eee ede ee 17
improvements in machinery............-------- 63.
SIRS OTTO 5 Se ee a cece Ee ge 65-68
Spruce, food oe OU Se eo se eg og eee 15
Tanglefoot, use against gipsy moth... , eee se cae ce eee ad So re
Toad, enemy of gipsy moth and ee tail mae. eed eer a LS Vo oe ee 27
Willows, preferred food plants of gipsy moth.............................2..- 14
ae a. Gennes Of Piney main caterpiliais.-_—......----2 .-.. 2-22. e ewe ends 70-71

O

40705°—Bull. 87—10—_6