60 



Given a small appropriation of say $-5, 000 annually, it will become 

 necessary to a(loj)t some law, like that in forte in California, whereby 

 much less frequent inspection may be made, and the committee will have 

 to rely in part upon voluntary observers for information. ^Moreover, 

 they will be unable to conduct spray inj^' operations upon a large scale, 

 and the expense of tlie destruction of insects will have to be assessed 

 upon the owners of the property upon which the insects are found, pro- 

 vided such owners will not themselves undertake the destruction of the 

 insects. There will be many disadvantages from such a course, and in 

 the case of unproductive lands .the expense will be so great that the 

 owner will prefer confiscation. Between some such course as this and 

 the continuance of the present methods, however, there seems to be lit- 

 tle choice, since if the appropriation were taken away the insect will 

 not only speedily reach its former destructive height, but will spread 

 far aud wide over the country. It may be urged that it will be only a 

 few years before the insect will take its ijlace as a naturalized member 

 of our fauna and will become subject to the same variations of increase 

 and decrease as our native species, and that it will, in fact, become lit- 

 tle more to be feared than species already existing with us, particularly 

 if its European natural enemies are introduced. Against this view, 

 however, it must be urged that the gypsy moth seems an exceptionally 

 hardy species and tha t even in I Airope it is a prime pest. The caterpillar 

 is tough and rugged and seems little subject to disease and to climatic 

 drawbacks and is wonderfully resistant to the action of ordinary insec- 

 ticides. The gypsy moth larva will feed for days without apparent 

 injury upon trees which have been sprayed with Paris green or London 

 purple in a solution so strong as to somewhat burn the leaves. In fact, 

 the committee, in the spraying which they are carrying on at present^ 

 have found it necessary to use arsenate of lead in as strong proportion 

 as 10 pounds to loO gallons of water. The well-known vitality of pre- 

 viously introduced European injurious insects is ai)parently increased 

 to a striking degree with this species, while the fact that it feeds on 

 nearly all plants renders it a much more serious pest than any of its 

 forerunners. Under these circumstances, therefore, any course other 

 than an energetic aud well-directed effort to keep the insect within its 

 present boundary will be shortsighted in the extreme, although it is 

 very doubtful to my mind whether absolute extermination will or can 

 ever be brought about. 



ISTev/ York. — It is rather a stretch of the facts to classify Dr. Harris 

 as an official entomologist. The first scientific man to receive 'a, true 

 official commission for the investigation of injurious insects was Dr. 

 Asa Fitch, of I^ew York. The New York State legislature, during its 

 session of 1853-'54, made an appropriation of $1,000 for an examination 

 of insects, especially of those injurious to vegetation, and authorized 

 the appointment of a suitable person to i»erform the work. The matter 

 was placed in the hands of the New York State Agricultural Society, 



