REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 29 



its spread to the great corn belt of the Middle West. Two in- 

 fested areas have been discovered recently in Ontario, Canada, one of 

 them just across the lake from Buffalo and the other extending for 

 50 miles in either direction from St. Thomas. These areas, com- 

 prising approximately 12,000 square miles, constitute what is prob- 

 ably the worst infestation in North America at the present time. 

 The officials of the Bureau of Entomology and the Federal Horti- 

 cultural Board have been in consultation with the Canadian ento- 

 mologists, and will cooperate with them, so far as possible under 

 existing law, in the effort to prevent the spread of the insect into 

 the United States at points far removed from the present infestation 

 in this country. 



THE GIPSY MOTH IN NEW JERSEY. 



For years the department has successfully prevented the west- 

 ward spread of the gipsy and brown-tail moths, great enemies of 

 orchards and forests as well as of shade trees. It has been dis- 

 covered recently, however, that a large area in Xew Jersey is infested 

 by the gipsy moth, which apparently was brought in from Europe 

 years ago, and that trees from this area have been shipped to a num- 

 ber of points, thus indicating the possible occurrence of the insect in 

 other sections of the country. The Congress will be requested, at its 

 next session, to appropriate sufficient funds to undertake the extermi- 

 nation of the pest in New Jersey, and, in the meantime, all shipments 

 of trees from the infested area are being followed up as closely as 

 possible in order to determine the other points at which the insect 

 may have become established. 



EMERGENCY FUND TO COMBAT INSECT OUTBREAKS. 



Every year demands are made upon the department, as in the case 

 of the gipsy moth in New Jersey, for assistance in dealing with sud- 

 den and serious outbreaks of injurious insects which often cause 

 damage amounting to millions of dollars. As a rule, no funds are 

 available for this purpose, and the department, therefore, is unable 

 to take prompt and effective steps to eliminate the pests or to prevent 

 their spread. If repressive measures were immediately undertaken, 

 it might be possible to completely exterminate them; otherwise, the 

 outbreaks may get entirely out of hand and make necessary greatly 

 increased expenditures, not to eradicate but merely to control them. 

 It would be highly desirable, therefore, to provide a special appropria- 

 tion, in the nature of an insurance fund, which could be used to meet 

 emergencies of this sort, and a recommendation to this effect has been 

 incorporated in the estimates. 



