INSECTS AFFECTIXG PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 



149 



have suffered a similar fate hatl it not lieeii for the systematic spraying 

 undertaken then and since continued. See phites 35, 36, and ^j for rep- 

 resentations of the injur}' caused 1)\' this pest. 



The record of this inse-ct in Tro)- has been even worst; than in Albany. 

 It probaljly made its way to that city about the sanu; time that it came 

 here, and up to uSq8 practically no eflort had Ijeen matli; to check its 

 ravages. .At that time probal)ly 1500 elms had been kilk'tl within the 

 corporate limits of Troy and since then many others have suffered a similar 

 fate, though not so many have died the last few years on account of the 

 large amount of spraying done in different parts of the cit\- for private 

 parties. Even now it is possible to go into sections of the city and see 

 within two or three blocks 50 to 100 or more dead elms. Thtjse are not 

 aged trees that would have died irrespecti\-e of attack by insc^cts, but are in 

 most cases elms which a few years ago were as thrifty and vigorous as an\-- 

 one could desire. 



The story of the cit)- ot Watervliet has been virtually that of Troy 

 except that less eftort has been made to check the pest ; also, as a large 

 proportion of the elms in Watervliet were of the American or wliite variety 

 on which the beetle does not thrive so readily, the destruction was not 

 quite so rapid. It hardly seems possible, however, that fewer than 1500 

 magnificent trees have been killed or practically ruined b\' this insect in 

 Watervliet. 



Practically the same story has been repeated here and there in small 

 towns along the Hudson river valle\' wliere this pest has estaldished itself 

 in force ; and, unless the insect is checked on its advent into a village, this 

 is like!}' to !)(■ till- reciird wherevt;r it makes its wa\'. 



Inaction means death to the elm. The defoliation of a tree in midsum- 

 mer is a serious injury since the leaves are breathing organs, and if tliis 

 occurs for successive \'ears, even once a season, the earl\' death of tin- elm 

 may be expected, and when it occurs two or e'.x-n three timers in a smnmer, 

 it is very easy to see that the danger to the tree is increased manifold. 



Such is the record of the elm leaf beetle in this section. The time to 



