294 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



be considerably increased. The figures given by Mr. Fletcher, $380,- 

 000,000, represent one-tenth of the value of the entire yearly agricultural 

 products of the United States. " This sum," he says, " is given up with- 

 out a murnuir and almost without a struggle by the people of the United 

 States ; " and he has stated, in his report before the committee on agri- 

 culture of the Canadian House of Commons, July 4, 1891, that insects 

 destroy one-tenth of all of the crops of the Dominion ot Canada. These 

 estimates are borne out by the estimates made from time to time of 

 the damage done in towns and counties in different States. 



~o^ 



Why the Gyjysy Moth is More Destructive than our Native Insects. 



It was introduced without its native enemies. 



Its reproductive capacity is enormous 



The eggs contained in egg clusters have been comited, and in some 

 of them over fourteen hundred have been fomid. It is probable that the 

 average number given in my last report (four hundred and sixty-eight) 

 was not the full complement for one female, as some females deposit 

 their eggs in more than one cluster. The average number of eggs laid 

 by each female is probably between six and seven hundred. 



The caterjnllars are very voracious, not even the army worm is more 

 so, and the amount of food that one can consume is enormous. It has 

 become acclimated in Massachusetts, and it is very hardy. Cold does not 

 affect the eggs. 



It seems adapted by nature to almost any kind of plant food, so that, if 

 it is exterminated from the orchard or garden or driven into the field or 

 forest, it can multiply there, and again overwhelm the orchard. In this 

 it has the advantage of such other pests as feed on a few species of 

 plants. 



As young are continually hatching from April until the middle of 

 June, and are feeding throughout the late spring and the entire summer, 

 the feeding season is unusually long. 



When not numerous it is not conspicuous, as when the caterpillar is 

 well grown it feeds at night, hides during the day, and has no nest or 

 web like that of the tent caterpillar; therefore it is likely to be over- 

 looked, and the damage done by it attributed to some other insect, 

 until it has become so numerous as to discourage efforts to destroy it. 



The Increase arid Destructiveness of the Gypsy Moth in this 



Country. 



" The fact that this insect has now been in this country for the last 

 twenty years, and has not only held its own but has multiplied to such 



