No. 4.] SHADE-TREE INSECT PROBLEM. 79 



writings of the middle ages describe several church trials of 

 the insect pests of that day. Such proceedings were of a 

 most serious and formal nature. The pests were haled (by 

 proxy) before the bar of the church, and, after being found 

 guilty, were subjected to anathemas and maledictions. We 

 may say parenthetically at this point that this unique method 

 of dealing with insect pests has been described at length by 

 M. Laverune in " Cosmos," of Sept. 12, 1897 ; and that in 

 the year of grace 1899 an attempt was made to check the 

 forest tent caterpillar invasion at St. Hilaire, P. Q., by sim- 

 ilar means. Later newspaper reports indicate that the use 

 of Paris green finally proved a more effective remedy. 



The historic outbreak of the brown-tail moth at Grenoble 

 in 1543 is one of the best authenticated instances of wide- 

 spread damage from caterpillars. 



The Puritan settlers of Massachusetts early found their 

 attempts at agriculture hindered by the attacks of native 

 insects, and gravely recorded the seasons of 1646 and 1649 

 as " caterpillar years." 



Scarcely a centuiy ago damage by the canker worm in 

 Boston and vicinity led the Massachusetts Society for Pro- 

 moting Agriculture to offer a substantial reward for the best 

 treatise on the insect, and means for preventing its ravages. 



Between 1860 and 1880 damage by the gypsy moth in 

 the forests of central and southern Russia reached a severity 

 hardly paralleled by any insect depredations previously 

 recorded. 



I have given some space to the mention of these historical 

 insect depredations, to emphasize the point that in all lands 

 and at all times noxious insects have vexed the labors of the 

 tiller of the soil, and that the present is not an unusual 

 period, so far as damage by insects is concerned. Com- 

 pared with past standards, however, it is an unusual period 

 in the increased attention given to the care of trees. Never 

 before have so many people been interested in the cultiva- 

 tion of trees ; never before have greater efforts been made 

 to disseminate information concerning their proper treat- 

 ment. The care of public shade trees is being made gener- 

 ally a public duty throughout the land. The tree warden 



