No. 4.] THE GYPSY MOTH. 97 



pages in regard to the habits of the gypsy moth. I have 

 studied it by day, and I have had a man go to a tree and 

 stay there twenty-four hours without going away. We know 

 just what it is, and we know its habits quite well. A man 

 must know them in order to get at them and destroy them. 

 The habits and transformations of the insect would make 

 a very interesting book. Now, I want this Board to have 

 these things published in some way. If it can be done I 

 think it will be of great benefit to the farmers. We are now 

 having prepared a plate containing a series of the trans- 

 formations of the insect from the Qg,^ to the perfect moth, 

 and that is to go in with our report to the Legislature. I 

 hope that a report will be printed for general distribution. 

 I have been trying to impress upon the committee that this 

 is what they ought to do. If this insect ever gets away 

 you will have to fight it, and it will get to your farms very 

 soon, if it is not kept within its present limits. 



Mr. Lynde. We must all go home and write to our sen- 

 ators and representatives to vote for an appropriation for 

 the destruction of the gypsy moth. 



Mr. Foebush. I agree with you heartily. Perhaps it 

 is not generally known that at the last convention of the 

 Entomological Society at Washington it was stated that 

 $31,000,000 were lost every year by the people of this coun- 

 try through the ravages of insects. 



Governor Hoard. The chinch bug cost the people of 

 Illinois $73,000,000 in one year. 



Mr. Forbush. That is confirmation of the statement 

 I have just made. Now, we have spent nearly $70,000 

 in one year in fighting the gypsy moth. We hope we shall 

 not have to use as much another } r ear ; but, if the gypsy 

 moth is allowed to spread, the farmers of this State will 

 lose a great deal more than that. The lowest estimate by 

 Professor Fernald of the damage caused by the potato beetle 

 annually in Massachusetts is $75,000, even now when the 

 farmers know how to handle it. The gypsy moth, which 

 feeds on so many different kinds of trees and plants, will 

 certainly cost a great deal more here in Massachusetts if it 

 is allowed to spread. Think how much will be saved to the 

 nation if it can be kept from spreading, as I believe it can 



