1906] LECTURE. 35 



grown caterpillar. They lay their eggs upon the under side of 

 the leaves, and the caterpillars devour the foliage, and in the 

 fall fold about themselves the leaves and fasten them by silken 

 threads so firmly that no storm can shake them off. 



Every owner of property should be watchful for the very 

 first of these moths. It is then that they are most easily con- 

 trolled. 



I have charge of a large fruit farm in New Hampshire and 

 was interested to do something for New England agriculture 

 and planted a large apple orchard in New Hampshire. I was 

 interested to start this apple industry which is of such very 

 great value here in New England. I told the owner that the 

 only thing I saw in the way was these two moths. I said "un- 

 doubtedly they will come to your property," and the man who 

 had charge of this place was to notify me if either of these 

 moths made their appearance. Last spring I was there and 

 found between 50 and 75 nests. A public meeting was called 

 that same evening to discuss the brown tail moth which had ap- 

 peared in the town of Pittsfield. The entire community was 

 turned into a vigilance committee and the brown tail moth was 

 ver}' closely gathered up last spring, and last autumn I found 

 very few specimens indeed. 



The danger is when they get into the forest trees. I think 

 we can control them in our orchards, and I believe that in the 

 future we shall plant low headed fruit trees so that we can reach 

 them easily with sprays and thus protect them from the ravages 

 of these insect pests. I am even working with dwarfs. I am 

 putting out two types of dwarfs, — one that grows only 12 feet in 

 height. These pests can all be brought under control when 

 dealing with low-headed trees, but the danger is when they get 

 into our forest trees. 



The gypsy moth lays its eggs everywhere — in the ground, 

 under the fences and rocks, and I have found their eggs plas- 

 tered all through cracks and crevices, and this makes it a 

 most formidable thing to control. It is best to change our 

 system of planting trees and keep them within low range so 

 that we may control these different pests. 



