X 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



due to the inferior character of the Paris green in the one case 

 and its purity in the other. It should be applied with a spraying 

 nozzle that would simply touch it to the leaves, and it should be 

 mixed with a substance to make it adhere. In other words, al] 

 this work should be superintended by a careful, practical man, 

 who knows what to do. A part of the advantage of using the 

 arsenicals in this part of the country would be that, aside from the 

 destruction of Ocneria, it would pay to use it as against the tent 

 caterpillar, the codling moth and various other insects that are so 

 prevalent in your orchards. It is one of the curious things which 

 strike a man travelling through Massachusetts that in a State 

 where applied entomology has had its origin in America, an insect 

 as common as the tent caterpillar, and which may be so easily mis- 

 taken for this very Ocneria^ should be so abundant, and that so 

 little should be done to control it. You will have the same 

 trouble with the Ocneria. You can't get the average Massachu- 

 setts farmer to besth* himself about it. 



Professor Shaler. Am I not right in supposing that oui' first 

 care should be to drive this pest in on the periphery at all costs, 

 but to make surest of its destruction on the periphery? The num- 

 ber of inspectors we could have would be limited, therefore we 

 should take the extremest care with the periphery. With that in 

 view, how would it do, from now until the time the eggs hatch 

 (they are conspicuous things, — you can see them a great distance, 

 and boys could gather them in quantities) , to pay the school-boys 

 what would be a tempting price per ounce for the eggs? TTe 

 would secure a very large destruction on that basis, I think, be- 

 tween now and the time the eggs hatch. "We could put a person 

 in each town who should gather the eggs once a day, pay for and 

 destroy them, — that is, in the regions that are thoroughly in- 

 fected. In that way I think we should diminish the number that 

 are to be killed in the spring, and that at small cost. 



Professor Fernald. In reply to that. Professor Riley has 

 already expressed his opinion. A year ago I had just the same 

 opinion that Professor Riley has, and expressed it to the commis- 

 sioners, but the}" had already gone to work. I talked with some 

 entomologists about it, and they differed from me ; they thought 

 it was beneficial to use other means than Paris green. Theoreti- 

 cally it seems to me that any other means would be a needless 

 expenditure of money, and Professor Riley's suggestion to exter- 

 minate them in one year would be a good one if it could be accom- 

 plished ; but I question whether it would be wise for us to go 

 from this meeting to the Legislature with that proposition. If 

 you failed to do it in one year and came back for a second appro- 



