The Canadian Horticulturist. 205 



GIPSY MOTH. 



^HIS is one of the worst enemies of the fruit grower, and we hope 

 that it may never invade Canada. It has been devastating a large 

 area in Massachusetts, spreading throughout that State with 

 fearful rapidity, until energetic remedies were adopted to rout it. 

 This insect was introduced about the year 1868, by Mons. L. 

 Trouvelot, a Frenchman, then living in Massachusetts, and 

 experimenting there in the production of silk. From this beginning, this moth 

 has been distributed in twenty-nine cities and towns in the western part of Mas- 

 sachusetts. It feeds upon the apple, plum, cherry, quince, elm, linden, locust, 

 oak, maple, balm of Gilead, beech, birch, willow, poplar, chestnut, catalpai 

 Norway spruce, arbor vits, corn, grass, clover, etc. Evidently it is an almost 

 omnivorous insect, and in the infested region, it has stripped clean the village 

 woods, groves, lawns, gardens and orchards, in a wholesale manner. Bulletin 

 19 of the Hatch Experiment Station, Amherst, Mass., gives a full description of 

 this insect and its ravages, with excellent illustrations. 



Last year, it was only with the expenditure of some $50,000, and setting to 

 work some thirty teams and spraying apparatus, that the terrible pest was kept 

 in bounds. A large force of police was also appointed to quarantine the infested 

 territory and see that the laws were enforced which had been enacted. And 

 now, it is only by the continuance of the same energetic measures that it can be 

 totally destroyed. 



The following code of rules, which was adopted by the State with regard to 

 the destruction of this moth, will be of general'interest : 



" All persons were forbidden by law to remove the gypsy moth, its nests or eggs, from 

 one place to another, in any city or town, and requested to exercise care against so trans- 

 porting the gypsy moth on teams and carriages. 



" AH persons were forbidden to remove any hay, manure, wood, bark, trees, rags, 

 lumber or shrubbery of any kind, without a written permit from the Department. AH 

 loads must be covered with canvas. 



" AH vehicles leaving the district might be stopped and delayed until their contents 

 were inspected. 



" No person might remove the bark from trees, nor attempt to scrape and clean them. 

 without first notifying the Department, and having said trees thoroughly inspected and, if 

 found infested, cleaned under its direction. 



" Owners or tenants were requested to gather and burn all rubbish and useless 

 material upon their premises that might provide nesting-places for the insect, and to till 

 with cement or other solid material holes in trees upon their premises. 



" Windows of houses weie protected by screens during the summer months, as the 

 insect lays its eggs in the houses wherever it can gain admittance. 



" Fences and buildings could be torn down if necessary, and the owners were to be 

 recompensed by the State." 



In Cultivating the Strawberry Patch, run the cultivator the same way 

 of the rows every time. This will carry the runners with the rows and not tear 

 up the plants as if you went one way and the next time you cultivated went the 

 opposite. — Farm and Home. 



