﻿956 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  York 
  state. 
  Favoring 
  circumstances 
  may 
  bring 
  about 
  its 
  introduction 
  

   within 
  a 
  year 
  or 
  two 
  or 
  it 
  may 
  not 
  occur 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years. 
  The 
  

   following 
  brief 
  notice 
  has 
  therefore 
  been 
  prepared 
  in 
  order 
  that 
  citizens 
  

   of 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  may 
  have 
  at 
  hand 
  reliable 
  information 
  concern- 
  

   ing 
  a 
  pest 
  they 
  must 
  expect 
  to 
  meet 
  shortly. 
  The 
  well 
  known 
  habits 
  

   of 
  this 
  species 
  emphasize 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  being 
  forewarned. 
  The 
  extermi- 
  

   nation 
  of 
  the 
  pest 
  in 
  America 
  may 
  now 
  be 
  placed 
  among 
  the 
  impossibili- 
  

   ties, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  of 
  greatest 
  importance 
  that 
  it 
  be 
  kept 
  under 
  control, 
  as 
  it 
  

   spreads 
  over 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  History 
  in 
  America. 
  This 
  insect 
  was 
  introduced 
  into 
  Medford 
  

   (Mass.) 
  in 
  1868 
  or 
  1869 
  by 
  Leopold 
  Trouvelot, 
  who 
  imported 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  

   course 
  of 
  some 
  experiments 
  on 
  silkworms. 
  Justice 
  to 
  Mr 
  Trouvelot 
  

   compels 
  the 
  statement 
  that 
  the 
  insect 
  escaped 
  from 
  him 
  by 
  accident, 
  

   and 
  that 
  he 
  did 
  all 
  in 
  his 
  power 
  to 
  repair 
  the 
  mischief. 
  Very 
  little 
  was 
  

   seen 
  of 
  the 
  creature 
  for 
  about 
  10 
  years, 
  and 
  then 
  the 
  caterpillars 
  began 
  

   to 
  be 
  abundant 
  about 
  the 
  place 
  where 
  they 
  had 
  become 
  established, 
  and 
  

   from 
  then 
  on 
  their 
  numbers 
  increased 
  till 
  1889, 
  when 
  Medford 
  and 
  

   vicinity 
  were 
  literally 
  overrun 
  with 
  hordes 
  of 
  voracious 
  caterpillars. 
  The 
  

   infestation 
  bordered 
  closely 
  on 
  a 
  plague. 
  An 
  act 
  was 
  passed 
  in 
  the 
  

   winter 
  of 
  1890 
  providing 
  for 
  the 
  appointment 
  of 
  a 
  special 
  commission 
  

   and 
  placing 
  at 
  its 
  disposal 
  $25,000, 
  which 
  sum 
  was 
  subsequently 
  increased 
  

   by 
  an 
  equal 
  amount. 
  The 
  work 
  of 
  that 
  year 
  showed 
  the 
  insect 
  to 
  be 
  

   present 
  over 
  a 
  much 
  larger 
  territory 
  than 
  had 
  been 
  supposed. 
  A 
  farther 
  

   appropriation 
  of 
  $50,000 
  was 
  made 
  in 
  1891, 
  and 
  from 
  then 
  till 
  1899 
  the 
  

   appropriations 
  ranged 
  from 
  $75,000 
  to 
  $190,000 
  annually 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  

   of 
  exterminating 
  this 
  species, 
  the 
  total 
  amount 
  appropriated 
  by 
  the 
  com- 
  

   monwealth 
  of 
  Massachusetts 
  for 
  work 
  against 
  the 
  gipsy 
  moth 
  being 
  

   $1,155,000. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  money 
  to 
  be 
  expended 
  in 
  ex- 
  

   terminating 
  an 
  insect, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  small 
  compared 
  to 
  the 
  loss 
  we 
  may 
  

   reasonably 
  expect 
  from 
  the 
  devastations 
  of 
  this 
  pest. 
  The 
  work 
  was 
  

   hindered 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  by 
  delayed 
  appropriations, 
  and 
  yet, 
  in 
  spite 
  

   of 
  this 
  and 
  other 
  obstacles, 
  good 
  progress 
  was 
  being 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  work 
  

   of 
  extermination. 
  Its 
  abandonment 
  at 
  this 
  stage 
  can 
  hardly 
  be 
  

   regarded 
  as 
  other 
  than 
  a 
  grave 
  misfortune. 
  The 
  general 
  results 
  obtained 
  

   were 
  most 
  striking 
  to 
  a 
  visitor. 
  Places, 
  where 
  in 
  1891 
  defoliated 
  trees, 
  

   crawling 
  caterpillars 
  and 
  signs 
  of 
  desolation 
  had 
  been 
  prominent 
  fea- 
  

   tures, 
  were 
  in 
  1895 
  ^"^ 
  ^^9^ 
  ^^^^ 
  ^^ 
  ^^ 
  comparatively 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  

   pests, 
  and 
  the 
  injuries 
  to 
  vegetation 
  slight 
  or 
  none. 
  The 
  checking 
  of 
  the 
  

   insect 
  over 
  a 
  large 
  area 
  was 
  so 
  thorough 
  as 
  to 
  lead 
  many 
  to 
  forget 
  its 
  

   earlier 
  destructiveness 
  and 
  to 
  despise 
  its 
  powers. 
  At 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  1899 
  

  

  