34 CIRCULAR 4 6 4, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



caution should be used to avoid excessive spray residues. The 

 foliage should be treated, particularly the terminal shoots, and care 

 should be taken not to cover the fruit. Late fall or winter varieties 

 of fruit may be sprayed with lead arsenate in August, and although 

 an occasional spot may be found on the fruit at the time of picking, 

 no injury will result from it. Where only a few choice fruit trees 

 are sprayed, it is practicable to wipe the fruit before packing it for sale. 



The damage caused by the brown-tail moth is ordinarily not so 

 severe as that due to the gypsy moth, because the brown-tail moth 

 does not have so wide a range of food plants and, since most of the 

 feeding is done early in the season, the trees have an opportunity 

 to recover before midsummer. In the territory where both insects 

 exist the caterpillars of the gypsy moth supplement the feeding done 

 by those of the brown-tail moth, and the injury is therefore greatly 

 increased. 



Thorough destruction of the webs in residential sections and in 

 orchards has materially reduced the infestation in such places. Elim- 

 ination of worthless apple and wild cherry trees would help greatly 

 in reducing the pest. 



RECENT CONTROL EFFORTS 



In the winter of 1933-34 an extensive Civil Works Administration 

 brown-tail-moth project was carried on, under the direction of the 

 Bureau of Entomology in cooperation with the New England States, 

 in which almost 24 million webs were cut and burned. Although 

 the insect was much less abundant the following summer, during the 

 winter of 1934-35 almost 2 million webs were cut and destroyed by 

 State officials using local or State funds. The following winter a 

 Works Progress Administration project was conducted by the Bureau 

 in cooperation with the States, and more than 4% million webs were 

 destroyed. The work was continued during the winter of 1936-37, 

 and up to the end of March more than 2% million webs had been 

 cut and destroyed. 



The destruction of such large numbers of winter webs has resulted 

 in a decided decrease in infestation over much of the infested area. 

 Prior to the C. W. A. work heavy defoliation was common in many 

 parts of this area. During the past summer little defoliation was 

 found. Towns have been found in all the infested States where no 

 infestation could be located, and it should be possible to reduce the 

 affected territory materially if the work is continued. 



ORGANIZATION AND STATUS OF WORK AGAINST THE 

 GYPSY MOTH AND THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH 



Each State infested with the gypsy moth and the brown-tail moth 

 is carrying on control work, and many of the towns and cities are 

 similarly engaged. The Dominion of Canada and several of the 

 Provinces have abo taken up control and eradication work. 



MAINE 



In Maine the work is in charge of the commissioner of agriculture, 

 who has authority to appoint assistants to supervise the operations. 

 In the southwestern part of the State the gypsy moth infestation is 



