l6o MAINE} AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I904. 



"brown-tail nests." In reply to a question one bright-eyed 

 youngster stopped long enough to say, "O we cleaned 'em all 



out on street and then we came down here." About the 



same time a Kittery urchin was heard to remark somewhat wist- 

 fully, "The Portsmouth kids are makin' their fortune pickin' 

 brown-tails." 



Instruction in public schools. 



It would be a simple matter to teach in an elementary way a 

 few things about the important insects in the vicinity. A little 

 observation and a little reading would prepare any teacher to 

 do this. A single lesson would enable a child to distinguish the 

 winter nest of the brown-tail moth from the webs of the fall web 

 worm and tent caterpillar or from the various cocoons which 

 are attached to leaves. All these things are brought into Kit- 

 tery with the question "Is this the brown-tail nest?" and the fact 

 that many people within the infested district do not know what 

 to look for suggests the need for preparing the children of 

 Maine to watch intelligently suspected areas for the occurrence 

 of this pest. If nothing else were accomplished, it would be 

 worth while to have every child know at least that the insects 

 are not "just bugs that happen to be around," but forces of vital 

 importance both for good and for evil in the agricultural interest 

 of his state and nation. It seems rather a pity to leave a few 

 such things as the relation of the white grub to the May beetle 

 or the bumblebee to red clover, mysteries to be solved in a college 

 course. 



Spraying. 



The caterpillars are readily killed by arsenical sprays. This 

 remedy is most effective when applied as soon as the leaves 

 develop in the spring. Of course where the winter nests have 

 been destroyed there will be no need of this remedy and it is 

 mHch easier to kill about two hundred caterpillars enclosed in a 

 nest than to wait until they are scattered over the tree. 



State Legislation. 



Every state needs a statute enabling authorities to treat as 

 common nuisances neglected property which is infested by dan- 

 gerous fungus diseases or insect pests ; and state appropriations 

 should be sufficient to control conditions which are of more than 

 local importance. 



