26 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



I had several balm of Gileacl trees cut down because they were 

 so badly eaten by the caterpillars. (Walter Sherman.) 



Our four apple trees which we cut down because of the pest 

 yielded the year before eleven or twelve barrels of fine Baldwin 

 apples. (J. P. Dill.) 



An apple tree was stripped twice, and we had no fruit. The 

 caterpillars so nearly killed the tree that it has since that time 

 borne very little. (Miss C. E. Camp, 28 Myrtle Street.) 



Fruit, Garden Crops and Flowering Plants Destroyed, 

 The caterpillars destroyed not only the foliage of trees, 

 but also fruit and vegetables. The long period of feeding 

 made it possible for the larvae to secure a great variety of 

 food. When the supply of leaves in the trees fell short (and 

 oftentimes before) they attacked the gardens. Little was 

 spared but the horse-chestnut trees and the grass in the fields, 

 though even these were eaten to some extent. There was 

 evidently some choice exhibited ; for instance, pear trees 

 were not so badly injured as the apple, but eventually most 

 forms of vegetable life in the caterpillars' path were either 

 injured or entirely destroyed. 



When fruit trees were stripped of their leaves, the imma- 

 ture fruit either failed to develop or dropped from the tree. 

 In some cases the fruit itself was partially eaten by the vora- 

 cious caterpillars. The destruction of berries was often as 

 complete. Many vegetables were ruined. Flower gardens 

 were destroyed, and even greenhouses were invaded and rose 

 bushes and other flowering plants eaten. Our space per- 

 mits but a portion of the evidence of such devastations in 

 Medford : — 



They [the caterpillars] ate nearly everything green in the yard, 

 killing my rose bushes and doing much damage to the vegetables. 

 (Mrs. Belcher.) 



I had quite a little vegetable garden, which was nearl}^ ruined by 

 the caterpillars. They destroyed the cucumbers and ate the tops 

 of the tomatoes. They also destroyed some flowering plants. 

 (Wm. B. Harmon, 5 Spring Street.) 



They [the caterpillars] even nibbled the young green pears, and 

 I lost a good many in that way. My large cherry tree, which usu- 

 ally bears two bushels, was stripped clean for two years running, 

 and I got no fruit. The caterpillars ate all the young tomato vines 



