THE GIPSY MOTH. 



Since the publication of Bulletin 121 announcing the pres- 

 ence of the gipsy moth in New Hampshire, nothing has been 

 done toward its control, owing to lack of funds or legisla- 

 tion authorizing such work. The towns infested or thought 

 to probably be infested were urged to make appropriations 

 to secure inspectors and exterminate the pests wherever 

 found, but only Hampton Falls did so. Since July, 1906, 

 all work against the gipsy moth in New Hampshire has 

 been done by agents of the bureau of entomology. United 

 States department of agriculture. Dr. L. 0. Howard, chief 

 of the bureau, has therefore kindly prepared a statement of 

 the present status of the pest in this state. Citizens of 

 southeastern New Hampshire are coming to appreciate, 

 through personal experience, the seriousness of the brown- 

 tail moth caterpillars, but in many respects the gipsy moth 

 is a much more serious pest. It defoliates the trees in June, 

 when it is much more difficult for the tree to put out new 

 leaves and it is more injured than by defoliation by the 

 brown-tail caterpillars earlier in the spring. Again, the 

 gipsy moth caterpillar attacks pines and all coniferous 

 trees. While several consecutive strippings are usually 

 necessary to cause the death of a healthy deciduous tree, one 

 thorough stripping will kill the white pine and other co- 

 niferous trees. 



Heed should be given, therefore, to Doctor Howard's dis- 

 cussion of "What Should Be Done in New Hampshire" 

 (page 227) . If we now appreciate the necessity for the bet- 

 ter control of the brown-tail moth, which has been unwisely 

 neglected, should not this experience show the folly of neg- 

 lect to attempt the immediate control of the gipsy moth, 

 w^hich is a much more serious pest, and point to the wisdom 

 of immediate action ? 



E. D WIGHT Sanderson. 



