THE TUSSOCK MOTH 
°5 
UJ05] 
THK TUSSOCK MOI'H IX ROCHESTER, X. V. 
Because of the destruction which has been wrought on shacie trees by the 
tussock moth, the Board of Park Commissioners has deciared war against the 
pest and the schooi chiidren of the city are now eniisting in a war of extermina- 
tion on the cocoons. The crusade is being conducted on the iines foiiowed in 
the famous hunt of eieven years ago, when Rochester was so thoroughiy cieaned 
of cocoons that not untii the present year have the ravages of the past become 
serious again. The schooi chiidren wiil be paid seven cents a quart for the 
cocoons, each quart to contain about 400 egg masses and weigh ai ounces. Five 
hundred tioiiars has been appropriated by the park board for the purpose. In 
addition to the regular payments, there will be six special prizes of 55 each to the 
six boys making the highest records. It is an interesting calculation to figure 
how many caterpillars will be destroyed by this plan if the fund be exhausted. 
-\t seven cents a quart $470 wdil buy 67 14 quarts of egg masses. Each quart 
must contain at least 375 egg masses, or a total of 2,5 1 7,750 egg masses in the 
6714 quarts. Professor Slingerland of Cornell University estimated that each 
egg mass would produce 200 caterpillars, so that 2,517,740 egg masses would pro- 
duce 503,550,000 caterpillars next spring. .Approximately, therefore, 500,000,000 
caterpillars will be destroyed by the expenditure of the $500, which is at the rate 
of j;i a million, or 10,000 caterpillars fora cent. In the cocoon hunt of eleven 
years ago the first prize was won by a boy who w'as credited with collecting more 
than 2,000,000 cocoons, and his nearest competitor had more than 1,500,000 to 
his credit. It was estimated that the pupils of one school alone had destroyed 
7,500,000,000 caterpillars. Xo one else had figured out how many caterpillars 
were killed by the work of all the schools, but it was sufficient to keep the city 
clear of the pest for more than a decade. In view of these facts members of the 
park board do not agree with the State entomologist at .Albany, who in a recent 
bulletin belittles the value of such a crusade. ( Boston Evening 'Tronscripl . ) 
