REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I912 53 



not generally appreciated. Systematic work against this insect 

 began in the city of Albany about 1900 and was shortly thereafter 

 undertaken in Troy under private auspices. The spraying of 

 earlier years was with a moderate power outfit and a nozzle which 

 would throw only a short distance, consequently much climbing 

 was necessary if the trees were thoroughly sprayed. The ultimate 

 outcome was that most of the poison was applied to the foliage of 

 the lower limbs, while the tops were nearly untouched, and in 

 years when the treatment, for some cause or other, was so late as 

 to be comparatively ineffective, most of the leaves were destroyed 

 on many trees. Furthermore, there have been times when the ap- 

 plication to the lower limbs, even when timely, was not sufficiently 

 thorough. The result of this policy has been a progressive weak- 

 ening of many trees with the death of numerous elms here and 

 there. Practically all those affected should have remained in full 

 vigor for a generation or two, aside from the relative few which 

 may have succumbed to adverse urban conditions, such as leaky 

 gas pipes, poor insulation of wires, the cutting of roots, etc. None 

 of these trees can be replaced in less than twenty-five years and 

 most of them represent active growth for half a century. 



A clearer idea of the condition may be gained by a few con- 

 crete examples. A canvass of the trees in Washington park, Al- 

 bany, in August 191 1 showed that over ninety elms of the approxi- 

 mately 275 in that recreation area had been severely injured by 

 this pest. The foliage of all these trees had been badly browned, 

 many of the leaves had dropped or there was a considerable 

 amount of dead wood. This was in a section where elms should 

 find most satisfactory conditions for growth, aside possibly from a 

 slightly polluted atmosphere. The area lying between the Capitol 

 and Madison avenue, Eagle and Lark streets is another striking 

 illustration of these unfortunate conditions. In June 19 12 ten 

 dead elms were observed on Hamilton street between Lark and 

 Eagle streets, a distance of only five blocks. There were four 

 dead trees on South Hawk street within two blocks of Hamilton 

 street and four dead or practically dead elms on three sides of the 

 block in which the Albany Medical College stands. The last 

 named block appears to have been exceptionally unfortunate, since 

 the preceding year three stumps of what were magnificent trees 

 were to be seen on Lancaster street, and three similar ones just 

 around the corner on Eagle street. Most of the elms noted above 

 have perished as a result of repeated injuries by the elm leaf 



