XYiii 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



me, and why I am so impatient of any efforts to simply check it. 

 I have nothing to say about checking it ; I speak for stamping it 

 out. Mr. Scudder simply says he doesn't think it will be exter- 

 minated. As to how much of any given territory one individual 

 is capable of critically examining, a man who is capable of dis- 

 tinguishing between this caterpillar and others, doing nothing 

 'else, would, in my judgment, be able easily to go over a square 

 mile of ground a day, except in dense forest. 



Professor Shaler. I don't think so ; nothing like it. If the 

 work was done closely (and two together would do better work 

 than one), my impression is they would be doing good work to 

 get over a hundred acres a day. 



Professor Riley. Well, say a hundred acres — 



Professor Shaler. If we could get from the college say forty 

 young men as inspectors, we would have four thousand acres a day 

 inspected, and my impression is that the region covers about ten 

 thousand acres. That area can be thoroughly inspected by twenty 

 parties of selected men doing nothing else. They should mark 

 the infested trees and plat them on a map. As we are no longer 

 a paid commission, I would devote that money to experts. We 

 want the best expert we can select to superintend the actual appli- 

 cation of the remedies. When a tree is marked as infested, let it 

 be numbered so and so ; and when it is sprayed, let an account 

 be taken of that tree, so that by some system of checking we can 

 find whether every tree has been disposed of or not. 



Professor Riley. The suggestion seems to me eminently wise. 

 But I suppose you could get the leading citizens in a community 

 interested also? 



Mr. Sessions. I don't believe you can get the college boys to 

 come. 



Professor Riley. Not if you paid them? It would be an ex- 

 cellent education for agricultural students ; and if you offered 

 them a hundred dollars each, you would have no difficulty in get- 

 ting them, I think. 



Professor Shaler. What month should the work be done in? 



Professor Riley. As far as I can learn, the month of June. I 

 believe that about the second week in June will be the time to 

 strike, after having made all your plans, got your forces ready and 

 trained your men. It may be that the thing is not practicable, 

 but I can see nothing impracticable. It is simpl}^ a question of 

 mone}^ and men. After this one thorough effort you need not ask 

 for another appropriation ; everybody will be interested, and then 

 you could afford to offer a big reward for any eggs that might es- 

 cape. The attempt is well worth making. 



