REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 115 



same necessity for concerted work in this State against the brown-taQ 

 moth. Conditions in Maine as compared with New Hampshire are 

 much better. Some large new colonies were located by scouting, but 

 some of the older ones seem to have been extirpated. The brown-tail 

 moth seems possibly to have reached the northern limit at which it 

 can tlirive in Maine. The condition in Rhode Island is very favorable, 

 and the gipsy moth is less abundant in that State than at any time 

 since its control was undertaken. In Connecticut the colony near 

 Stonington is nearly exterminated; less than 100 caterpillars were 

 found there during the summer of 1909, while in the following winter 

 but a single egg cluster could be found by the combined efforts of the 

 state people and the Government people. This very promising 

 condition at Stonington, which heretofore has been the only infested 

 town in the State, was offset by the discovery in December, 1909, of a 

 bad colony in the town of Wallingford, near New Haven, which has 

 probably existed there for tlu-ee or four years undiscovered. The 

 colony, however, seems to be definitely limited, and strong efforts 

 are being made to exterminate it. 



Slow but steady improvements in methods have been made and 

 practical new points in the economy of the gipsy moth have been 

 discovered. The hitherto only known method of spread has not 

 explained perfectly the presence of this insect in entirely isolated 

 woodland colonies, and this year a careful series of experiments has 

 show^n that the newly hatched caterpillars may be distributed by 

 the wind — in fact, it has been definitely proved that they have been 

 carried in this way for more than 1,800 feet. This discovery will 

 probably necessitate some modification in methods. 



All of this work has necessarily been on a large scale, and the Depart- 

 ment is experiencing considerable difficulty in securing first-class 

 men. At times 500 men have been employed. Forty tons of 

 arsenate of lead were used during the spraying season, and 20 tons 

 of the sticky substance used for tree banding. The outlook, on the 

 whole, is far from unfavorable, and surely the work carried on by 

 the Bureau has been done in the most intelligent and efficient way. 



THE IMPORTED PARASITES OF THE GIPSY MOTH AND THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH. 



The work mentioned in the preceding paragraphs can not be 

 expected to bring about the extermination of the two tree pests. 

 This is made plain even in the wording of the appropriation act, by 

 which Congress instructs that the money is to be spent in an effort 

 to prevent the spread of the gipsy and brown-tail moths. It is 

 hoped, however, that it will minunize the damage and prevent 

 undue spread until such a time as the parasites which have been and 

 are being introduced from abroad shall have reduced the dangerous 

 insects to a condition of comparative harndessness. These efforts 



