6 DANGER OP SPEEAD OF GIPSY AND BBOWN-TAIL. MOTHS. 



northern France — and distributed into many States. These brown- 

 tail moth nests were first reported in connection with a consignment 

 of seedlings shipped from Angers, France, to JSTew York. The nests 

 were discovered by the New York State inspector, and the informa- 

 tion was communicated to the Bureau of Entomology by the com- 

 missioner of agriculture of that State. 



A little later information came from Ohio that the winter nests of 

 the brown-tail moth had been found on seedlings imported into that 

 Sta;te from the same locality in France. 



Warning letters were promptly sent out by Dr. L. O. Howard, chief 

 of the Bureau of Entomology, to the different entomologists, and special 

 arrangements were made with the customs office, through the kindness 

 of the Secretary of the Treasury, and by agreement with the railroads, so 

 that this bureau was to be informed of all cases of plants received at 

 customs or subsequently handled by the principal railroad companies. 

 By this means the receipt and ultimate destination was ascertained 

 of much of the imported stock of that year. This information was 

 transmitted to the State inspectors and other competent persons near 

 the points of ultimate destination of such packages and an effort was 

 made to have all such imported material inspected. 



Information was secured concerning nearly 800 shipments, divided 

 among 35 different States. In shipments to 15 of these States, 

 namely, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mary- 

 land, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, 

 North. Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, nests of the brown-tail moth 

 were found, ranging in number from one nest to many nests in each 

 shipment. These brown-tail nests — little webbed packets of leaves 

 containing the very small hibernating larvae to the number of 300 or 

 400 in each nest — were found on the seedling and other nursery stock 

 in enormous numbers, some 7,000 nests (approximately 2,800,000 

 larvae) being found in shipments to New York State alone. 



In one locality in Ohio an egg mass of the gipsy moth was found 

 and Prof. P. J. Parrott, of the New York Experiment Station, at 

 Geneva, N. Y., found another important European fruit pest (Hypo- 

 nomeuta padella), which had probably been introduced on these 

 same French seedlings. 



BROWN-TAIL MOTH NESTS IMPORTED IN 1910. 



In view of the dangerous conditions of the shipments of 1909, a 

 strong effort was made on the part of Dr. Howard to have the French 

 authorities provide for the competent inspection and disinfection of 

 material preliminary to the shipping season of 1910. In spite ol 

 promises of the authorities that such inspection would be made, the 

 shipments of nursery stock from France in 1910 again brought to 

 this country enormous quantities of nests of the brown-tail moth, 



453 



