Commissioner of Agriculture 199 



New Hampshire 8,100, Vermont 2,635, Massachusetts 6,510, Rhode Island 

 1,250, and Connecticut 1,475, a total of 32,420 square miles. 



The first appropriation made by the Federal Government for the moth 

 work was in 1906 when the sum of $82,500 was set aside " to prevent the 

 further spread of gipsy and brown-tail moth." The Federal appropriations 

 have been increased until the present year when the sum available for this 

 year's work is $300,000. Increasing appropriations have been necessary for 

 the reason that the Government, through the Federal Horticultural Board, 

 has, by a strict quarantine, been successful in controlling the distribution of 

 the moths in interstate commerce. All shipments of plant material from 

 New England are made under Federal certification. It is also a monumental 

 work to locate the outlying districts in New England for the purpose of 

 bringing new territory under quarantine restrictions, and, when determined, 

 a large amount of spraying is done by the Federal Government along the 

 highways for a distance of about three hundred feet on each side. 



An interesting feature of the work of the Federal Government is that of 

 collecting and breeding parasites for the two moths, and a recent report from 

 the Federal Government states that excellent results from the imported 

 parasites of the gipsy moth have been obtained during the past year. Over 

 two thousand colonies have been located in a large number of towns. Good 

 results are also expected from the wilt disease of the caterpillars, but before 

 much can be expected from this source of control, a large amount of work 

 is still necessary. 



A recent result of investigations in connection with the spread of the 

 gipsy moth has grown out of the discovery that even gipsy moth caterpillars 

 require a variety of food. They will not always mature or complete their 

 growth if confined to a single species of plants. Wherever possible, therefore, 

 plants that are especially susceptible to the attacks of the caterpillars should 

 be replaced by trees on which they do not thrive. This can be frequently done 

 as a forestry proposition of distinct commercial importance. In many in- 

 fested areas there are large numbers of oaks and gray birch. These are sus- 

 ceptible to the attacks of the gipsy moth. The white pine, on the other 

 hand, is immune except when growing with oak or gray birch and if sub- 

 stituted for the other trees, will grow to much better advantage and yield 

 much more valuable products. 



The moth work of the Federal Government is under control of Dr. L. O. 

 Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology. Prof. A. F. Burgess, 43 Tremont 

 St., Boston, Mass.. has charge of the parasite work. Mr. D. M. Rogers has 

 charge of inspection and certification of shipments, and Mr. L. H. Worthley 

 has charge of the scouts locating the areas of infestation. The State of 

 Massachusetts is doing a large amount of work under the direction of Prof. 

 Rane. State Forester, Boston. Mass. 



The work in Maine is in charge of the superintendent of moth work. Major 

 E. E. Phillbrook, Portland; New Hampshire, Prof. W. C. O'Kane. Durham; 

 Vermont, Hon. E. S. Britain. Commissioner of Agriculture, St. Albans; Rhode 

 Island, Prof. A. E. Stein. State Entomologist, Kingston; Connecticut, Dr. W. 

 E. Britton, New Haven; New York, Commissioner of Agriculture. Albanv. 



