442 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



public interest. Many visitors public 

 officials, newsreel photographers, writ- 

 ers, and others came to see the oper- 

 ations. People were very friendly and 

 .many commented on the efficiency 

 and effectiveness of the spraying. Some 

 farmers asked to have their infested 

 yard trees sprayed, and we did so 

 when they could be reached on the 

 regular spray runs. A number of farms 

 were sprayed under a special arrange- 

 ment between the Forest Service, the 

 farmers, and the flying contractors. 



A few complaints were received, and 

 each one was immediately investigated. 

 The most serious complaint involved 

 the alleged sickness of a child from eat- 

 ing garden vegetables that had received 

 a light application of spray. Project 

 officials were not concerned as to spray 

 being the cause; they were extremely 

 worried because no doctor had been 

 called and they thought that the symp- 

 toms described by the father indicated 

 tick paralysis. 



The case was investigated with the 

 view to having the child taken to a 

 doctor for diagnosis and proper at- 

 tention. When the investigator arrived 

 at the farmstead, the child was romp- 

 ing with the neighbor's children. The 

 investigator partook with relish of the 

 strawberries which showed spray spots, 

 and the fears of the complainant were 

 promptly dispelled. 



All spraying operations were com- 

 pleted on July 2. A total of 413,469 

 acres of fir timberland was covered 

 and 390,878 gallons of spray was ap- 

 plied. The actual application was 

 within approximately 5 percent of the 

 first estimates thanks to the contrac- 

 tors' engineers and the entomologists. 



No live tussock moth caterpillars were 

 found a week after the spraying; the 

 infestation was stopped in its tracks. 

 The cost of the project was just under 

 $1.57 an acre, or about 13 cents less 

 than the estimated cost. 



People had been concerned about 

 the possible effects of the spraying on 

 apiaries and forest fauna. Arrange- 

 ments had been made with the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service of the Depart- 



ment of the Interior to conduct in- 

 vestigations on these aspects of the 

 work and farmers had been warned to 

 cover apiaries ahead of the spraying. 

 Since the fields used by the bees were 

 not sprayed, the covering provided 

 adequate protection. No serious effects 

 of the spray on birds and mammals 

 were discovered. Some suckers and 

 bullheads were killed, but trout were 

 not directly affected. The supply of 

 fish-food organisms was markedly re- 

 duced, but probably not enough to 

 cause permanent damage. 



The project demonstrated the fea- 

 sibility and practicability of control- 

 ling by aerial spraying what could 

 easily have been a disastrous insect 

 infestation. It showed that inaccessi- 

 ble mountainous forest areas could be 

 economically treated. It provided val- 

 uable technical and administrative 

 experience and established a general 

 pattern for the conduct of similar 

 projects should they be necessary. 



But such projects are expensive. 

 They are hazardous to human life and 

 to costly flying equipment. It is much 

 better to try to make them unneces- 

 sary to use a stitch in time by early 

 detection and prompt suppression 

 while the areas of infestation are small. 

 Prevention is better than cure. 



PAUL H. ROBERTS,, assistant re- 

 gional forester in the Forest Service, 

 has worked in the Northern and 

 Southwestern Forest Service Regions. 

 He has also served as director of the 

 Prairie States Forestry Project and as 

 associate director and director of the 

 Emergency Rubber Project. Mr. Rob- 

 erts was project leader for the Forest 

 Service of the Tussock Moth Spraying 

 Project. He is a graduate of the Uni- 

 versity of Nebraska. 



JAMES G. EVENDEN is in charge of 

 the Forest Insect Laboratory of the 

 Bureau of Entomology and Plant 

 Quarantine at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. 

 He served as the field technical leader 

 on the Tussock Moth Spraying Proj- 

 ect. He is a graduate of Oregon State 

 College. 



