272 HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 
Mr. Howarp. No; the pine and spruce beetles. 
Mr. Apams. Is that true of the insects that affect the cypress 
swamps ? 
Mr. Howarp. I do not know anything about cypress. 
Mr. Scorr. J have seen in the spruce forests of Colorado a great 
many trees with some sort of moss hanging from them, looking a 
great deal like the Spanish moss hanging from the trees in the south- 
ern latitudes; and the trees were all dead or dying. What was the 
nature of that disease ? 
Mr. Howarp. Iam not a botanist, but probably the trouble was 
caused by a parasite that attacks trees that are already in an enfeebled 
condition. ; 
Mr. Burueson. The moss is a parasite, just as the mistletoe is, and 
will killa tree. They attack a perfectly healthy tree.in the South, 
they do, and kill it. 
Mr. Henry. Doctor, I want to ask you a question in regard to the 
elm tree. Have you made any progress in finding a check to the 
parasite that infests the elm tree? 
Mr. Howarp. No, sir; that elm-tree beetle seems to be one of those 
creatures which has no animal enemy. Even birds will not eat it. 
Mr. Henry. The beetle was not very destructive last year. I saw 
very few indications of it about the country last year. 
Mr. Howarp. You had a very rainy spring, did you not, Mr. 
Henry? 
Mr. Henry. Yes, a rainy June; and I attribute it to that. 
Mr. Howarp. Yes. 
Mr. Henry. There was considerable sprinkling of the trees early in 
the season in cities and towns. But even in the forests I did not see 
the beetle, or in the open land. So you attribute that, do you, to the 
wet June? 
Mr. Howarp. Yes, sir; entirely. 
Mr. Henry. What will be the effect of that off year, if you can call 
it so, upon another year? 
Mr. Howarp. There won’t be so many to begin with, next year. 
But if it is a dry June, they will probably increase very rapidly. 
There is nothing to be done for that insect except spraying the trees. 
Mr. Henry. That is being done in the cities and towns. It was 
done last spring, but evidently it was unnecessary. 
Mr. Howarp. Every city or town should have a city forester, who 
should be equipped with a good spraying apparatus. The city of 
Washington ought to have one. We are suffering very much here, 
not only in the streets, but in the reservations and parks. 
Mr. Lams. Why do not the Commissioners do ith 
Mr. Howarp. They say they have not enough money granted them 
from Congress. They receive about $20,000 for shade trees, and 
spend it all in setting out new trees. They make almost no attempt in 
getting rid of the insects. Sometimes there will be an outbreak of 
some insect in the midsummer that leaves hardly a leaf on the trees. 
There are usually two visitations of these insects in the summer. The 
first is in the early summer, and the other one in the late summer. 
The one in the early summer is the one that ought to be fought. But 
at the time it appears the old appropriation of the Commissioners is 
exhausted, and the new one is not available until after the 1st of July. 
chen, when the second visitation comes, they make a half-hearted 
attempt to attack it. They send out squads of men and carts, and cut 
