TREES, SHRUBS, VINES AND PLANTS. 373 



with water before applying. The spraying must be very thor- 

 oughly done, however, if satisfactory results are desired, and it 

 seems desirable, if possible, to use an oil one winter and the lime- 

 sulphur wash the next, thus alternating the two materials. 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



This notorious pest was accidentally introduced from Europe to 

 a point near Boston about 1869, and has now spread all over east- 

 ern and central Massachusetts, into central and southern New 

 Hampshire, southern Maine, and portions of Rhode Island and 

 Connecticut. It is likely to appear anywhere in the New England 

 and Middle Atlantic states locally at any time, as the result of 

 being carried on freight, trees, automobiles or trains from in- 

 fested territory to that not yet infested. 



The adult moths are found in July and August and a few strag- 

 glers may be met with early in September. The female has a large 

 body and grayish-white wings bearing irregular, indefinite, darker 

 markings, and measuring about an inch and a half between the tips 

 of the extended wings. The males are rather smaller, and much 

 darker in color. 



The eggs are laid mainly during the latter part of July and Au- 

 gust, in clusters of from two hundred to four hundred, mixed with 

 brownish hairs from the body of the moth, which conceal the eggs 

 themselves. The clusters are placed on trees, rocks, fences or on 

 any rubbish at hand, and the eggs remain unhatched until the fol- 

 lowing spring. The tiny caterpillars escape from the eggs about 

 the time the leaves develop, and begin to feed, and are full grown 

 in most cases during June, being at this time two inches or more 

 in length, rather stout, and with numerous rather long hairs, 

 though the caterpillar could hardly be called " furry." These 

 caterpillars now crawl from the leaves to the trunk, fences or 

 rocks, and here they spin a few scattering silk threads around 

 themselves, and then change to short, brown pupae, within which 

 they change from caterpillars to moths. This change having 

 been completed, the moths escape from the pupae in July or Au- 

 gust, and lay their eggs for another generation. 



