58 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



destroyed when they are young, and it will ciiiite effectively prevent 

 their doing injury to the trees. 



The illustration on the chart shows the moth which lays its eggs 

 upon the small twigs of the trees, which may be readily seen, as 

 their varnished covering glistens in the sun. At Orchard Farm we 

 pay the men who are prunijig one cent a piece for gathering all the 

 nests that they can, and they frequently supplement their daily wages 

 by considerable amounts in taking them off and putting them in 

 their pockets while they are pruning the trees. Another method is 

 to take a fishing rod, bind upon its end a small bulb of woolen cloth 

 and thrust it in at the bottom of the web, as here shown in the 

 chart, and turn or twist it ten or twelve times in order that it will 

 catch and wind up all that there is of the tent or nest. This is far 

 better than going through the orchard with kerosene torches, for 

 they do not always burn all of the caterpillars, while at the same 

 time very great injury is done to the branches from the burning. 



The gypsy and brown-tail moths are doing incalculable injury 

 about Boston; they are equally destructive when they come to 

 the apple orchard, but by the early spraying with the arsenate of 

 lead and Paris green, as soon as the young caterpillars appear, they 

 may be effectively destroyed upon the trees. They are a most 

 serious menace to the forest trees and are carrying destruction 

 before them. 



While our National Government is making very large appro- 

 priations for the increase of battleships and military equipment it 

 would be better, for a time at least, to cut down appropriations for 

 these purposes and apply them to the aid of New England, which 

 is making an heroic fight to save the trees. These appropriations 

 would benefit the country at large more than the war preparations, 

 for if these two moths get beyond the control of New England, of 

 which there is great danger, the entire United States will be exposed 

 and it will cost hundreds upon hundreds of millions to save the 

 trees of our country. 



Among others of the most injurious insects imported to our coun- 

 try is the vSan Jose scale, which at the present time extends practi- 

 cally over the entire United States ; this is one of the most destructive 

 of all the orchard pests. It is so minute that it is not discovered 

 for several years after its introduction, and its increasing numbers 



