INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 



149 



have suffered a similar fate liad it not hccn for the systematic spraying 

 undertaken then and since continueil. See [ilates 35, 36, and 37 for rep- 

 resentations of the injury caused by this pest. 



The record of this insect in Troy has been even worse than in An)any. 

 It probably made its way to that city about the same time that it came 

 here, and up to 1898 practically no effort had been made to check its 

 ravages. At that time probably 1500 elms had been killetl within the 

 corporate limits of Troy and since then many others have suffered a similar 

 fate, though not so many have died the last few years on account of the 

 large amount of spraying done in different parts of the city for jjrivate 

 parties. Even now it is possible to go into sections of the city and see 

 within two or three blocks 50 to 100 or more dead elms. These are not 

 aged trees that would have died irrespective of attack by insects, but are in 

 most cases elms which a few )-ears ago were as thrifty and \'igorous as an\-- 

 one could desire. 



The story of the city of Watervliet has been virtuallv that of Troy 

 except that less effort has been made to check the pest ; also, as a large 

 proportion of the elms in Watervliet were of the American or white variety 

 on which the beetle does not thrive so readily, the destruction was not 

 quite so rapid. It hardly seems possible, however, that fewer than 1500 

 magnificent trees have been killed or practically ruined by this insect in 

 Watervliet. 



Practically the same story has been repeated here and there in small 

 towns along the Hudson river valley where this pest has established itself 

 in force ; and, unless the insect is checked on its advent into a village, this 

 is likely to be the record wherever it makes its way. 



Inaction means death to the elm. The defoliation of a tree in midsum- 

 mer is a serious injury since the leaves are breathing organs, and if this 

 occurs for successive years, even once a season, the early death of the elm 

 may be expected, and when it occurs two or even three times in a summer, 

 it is very easy to see that the danger to the tree is increased manifold. 



Such is the record of the elm leaf beetle in this section. The time to 



