no AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



shadow on which to base a doubt. Those records should urge 

 us to greater expediency — greater efforts to suppress and stamp 

 out this ravaging pest. 



Frisch, in 1720, records the stripping of the celebrated lin- 

 dens from Neustadt to Berlin. Schaeffer, the defoliation of 

 entire forests in 1752 at Althenburg, Leitz and many other 

 places. The stripping of the cork oaks in Southern France in 

 1 73 1, recorded by Brown, again recorded by others in the early 

 i8's. Other well-known entomological writers of a later pe- 

 riod, such as Ratzeburg, Bazin, Portchinsky and Keppen, have 

 each recorded the notable outbreaks of this pest. 



In 1828, Daudeville describes an outbreak extending sixty- 

 five miles at Saint-Quentin, when the gypsy moth absolutely 

 denuded the trees, giving them the appearance of dead timber. 

 The ravages and destruction of the moth was so great at this 

 time that churches remained open for prayer, penitence and 

 fasting; they created terror in the hearts of all and was 

 thought to be a visitation and wrath of heaven. 



Another incident not to be forgotten was when the whole 

 world stood aghast at the threatened destruction of the entire 

 Black Forest of Germany, which was saved only by diligent 

 and combined efforts of the citizens and soldiery of the nation. 



Our intelligence should cast no doubt on any record noted by 

 these eminent writers, but should teach us and instill in us a 

 dread lest they burst the bounds of suppression and create the 

 havoc and destruction, not only in this state, but in this whole 

 country. They are the most feared and most formidable pest 

 in the universe. 



Yet, many in our state are prone to look upon it as a not too 

 serious pest, while in reality the slightest infestation is so seri- 

 ous as to prove a calamity if not stamped out in its incipiency. 

 When we consider the insect world to be four hundred times 

 greater than any other, we are considering a magnitude unbe- 

 lievable; nevertheless, such is a fact. Individually, an insect 

 is an insignificant creature and receives but scant notice from 

 man, and, if unmolested, will soon assume proportions ap- 

 proaching that crisis that man must act and use every endeavor 

 at his command to control and preserve the remnant it has not 

 destroyed. 



