LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, 



Washington, D. C., March 27, 1911. 



SIR: I have the honor to transmit, for publication, a paper dealing 

 with" the danger of the general establishment throughout the United 

 States of the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth, which have been 

 during the preceding two years, and are again the present year, 

 imported from European countries on nursery stock and widely dis- 

 tributed in the United States. While every effort has been made to 

 examine and disinfect such imported stock, it is by no means certain 

 that all of the infested shipments have been reported and examined 

 by inspectors, especially as, in the absence of any law, all reports and 

 work of this kind are more or less voluntary. There is, therefore, con- 

 siderable danger that the brown-tail moth, or perhaps the gipsy 

 moth, has already become established in one or more interior points. 



This paper gives a record of the infested importations during the 

 last two years and descriptions of nursery conditions in Europe, 

 showing the nature of the infestation there, and concludes with a 

 brief description, with illustrations, of the two moth pests which are 

 now being thus imported. The publication is, therefore, a warning 

 to users of such imported stock and gives descriptions and figures 

 enabling the prompt recognition of either of these pests wherever they 

 may become established. 



The nonexistence of a general law providing for the reporting of 

 all imported stock and 'for uniform and thorough inspection and dis- 

 infection of such stock makes it highly desirable that the information 

 here given should be made promptly available and widely distributed. 



I recommend its publication as a Farmer's Bulletin. 

 Respectfully, 



L. O. HOWARD, 

 Entomologist and Chief of Bureau 



Hon. JAMES WILSON, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



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