THE LARCH WORM. 889 



Machiasport ; but aloug the road from this town to Lubec the larches had 

 suffered less than at other ])oiuts iu the eastern part of the State. At 

 Saiut Stephens injured larches were observed as well as at Vauceborough 

 and the counties west of Mattawamkeag, thence to Orono and about 

 Bangor, and between that city and Waterville. 



From Mr. 0. G. Atkins, United States assistant fish commissioner, 

 we learn that the larch worm was abundant, stripping the trees, at 

 Bucksport, and also at Cherryfleld, Machias, and New Sharon. 



General C. F. Walcott, of Boston, who, in September, 1883, spent sev- 

 eral weeks at and about the Forks of the Kennebec, informs us that he 

 noticed numerous dead hackmatacks in masses on Wood stream, which 

 enters Wood pond, which is a part of Moose River. He did not, how- 

 ever, see any dead spruce in this region in clumps or masses, although 

 his guide, an experienced boss lumberman, informed him that a great 

 many spruce trees were dying in that region. 



In the Adirondack region, from Scroon Lake to North Elba and 

 about Mount Marcy, the larches were universally attacked by this worm, 

 as we are informed by George Hunt, esq., of Providence, R. I., who 

 made a journey of about 100 miles through this region in July. 



Condition of the hackmatack in 1884 and 1885. — In last year's report 

 I thus summed up the condition of our larches or hackmatacks in 1884: 



On the whole, then, while a small proportion of larches have been killed by this 

 worm, this vigorous tree, though defoliated for two successive summers, seems, in the 

 majority of cases, to survive the loss of its leaves, though it threw out much shorter 

 ones the present summer. Possibly 10 per cent, of our northern larches died from 

 the attacks of this worm. Very probably the numbers of this insect will diminish 

 during the next year, and the species may ultimately become as rare as it has always 

 been in Europe, until a decrease in its natural insect parasites and favorable climatic 

 causes again induce its undue multiplication. 



The foregoing prediction has been almost fully verified during the 

 past summer, as the insect has been much scarcer than in 1884. A 

 few wore seen on the larch in Brunswick, Me., in July, 3885, but they 

 were not numerous enough to do any harm, and I have not heard of 

 their devastations in any part of Maine. The same appears to have 

 been the case in the Adirondack region of New York. Mr. George 

 Hunt, who passed the summer at Scroon Lake, tells me that he saw 

 very few of the worms during the past summer, and he judged that 

 they had not been generally so destructive as the year preceding. As 

 the result of their ravages during the preceding years, he thought that 

 about one-third of the larch trees had died. It would seem as if the 

 visitations of the worm were over, and that for some years to come it 

 would be a rare insect, existing within its usual or normal limits. 



The larch saw-fly was, in 1886, found to be still not uncommon. It 

 was observed July 1 at Brunswick, Me., locally, the worm havingfreshly 

 hatched upon a few trees, but it did not do any more harm than the 

 previous year. 



During the early part of September, however, it was observed in 



