340 



PROMPT TREATMENT OF THE GYPSY- MOTH. 



to arrange sales on a business basis, in the hope of 

 avoiding some of the extraordinary fluctuations now 

 equally disastrous to buyer and seller. There is no 

 reason why flowers should not be sold under the same 

 rules as any other perishable commodity, but at present 

 the lack of a central market, which would regulate 

 prices by giving a just idea of supply and demand, fre- 

 quently causes heavy loss to the grower, and annoyance 

 to the retailer. Many and varied are the complaints 

 against the commission man and his exactions, though it 

 is not likely his lot is altogether a happy one. 



A question often debated in the trade is the need of 

 the apprentice system. A very large proportion of the 

 leading men in the trade, especially the elder ones, 

 learned their business abroad, either in Great Britain or 

 on the continent. With few exceptions, they began 

 to learn the business when mere boys ; they were ex- 

 pected to study all branches of the trade, instead of con- 

 fining themselves merely to roses, or carnations, or some 

 other specialty. Consequently they are what may be 

 called "all round plantsmen," especially when their 

 education has been finished in some place famous for 

 shows. It is really difficult to get the same class of help 

 here. Growers often complain that it really does not 

 pay to teach a boy, because you cannot bind him for any 

 length of time, and as soon as he knows enough to pay 

 for the instruction given him he is sure to leave. There 

 is a prejudice against employing boys in greenhouses, too ; 

 it is all very well to have one, but where several are em- 

 ployed there is usually so much "larking" that the 



amount of work done is reduced to a minimum. Some 

 of the most prominent men in the trade, however, are 

 disposed to make good openings for intelligent boys pos- 

 sessing at least a good common school education, think, 

 ing rightly that such material will continue to raise the 

 standard of the trade. As present the number of foreign- 

 ers holding good positions in the trade is lather discour- 

 aging to anyone who believes essentially in America for 

 Americans. 



There is no doubt that great benefit has accrued from 

 ^. the founding of the Society of American Florists. It 

 has brought the trade together in a variety of ways, pro- 

 ducing an esprit dit corps before lacking, and the con- 

 ventions give an opportunity for the interchange of ideas 

 which w^ould be impossible in any other way. The other 

 protective societies which are connected with it are not 

 only beneficial, but give the trade a commercial footing 

 similar to that of other large industries. 



The trade will have an opportunity to distinguish it- 

 self greatly at the approaching Columbian Exposition, 

 and it is to be hoped that the chance will be taken. The 

 Centennial did a great deal in that way, moving us out 

 of the old ruts, and this later affair should show plenty of 

 improvement. There will be a fine opportunity for out- 

 door effects, of which Mr. Thorpe will doubtless avail 

 himself to the utmost, but he would be greatly ham- 

 pered without the free cooperation of the trade. It is 

 to be earnestly hoped that this will be made an epoch in 

 the gardening world. 



Emily Louise Taplin. 



PROMPT TREATMENT OF THE GYPSY-MOTH. 



[ETHODS USED IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



NE of the most destructive insects on 

 record is the gypsy-moth [Ocncra dis- 

 par) which for the last three or four 

 years has been devastating large 

 areas. It has been found in more 

 than twenty townships in Massachu- 

 setts, embracing a territory of 200 

 square miles. With characteristic energy and thought- 

 ful system in the presence of a public evil the old Bay 

 State established a commission of capable men — experts 

 and practical workers — and equipped them with ample 

 means ($50,000) for fighting the pest ; an example which 

 might well be followed in other states. 



Their efforts were so well directed that the spread of 

 the gypsy-moth seems to have been effectually checked. 

 When the caterpillars appeared, a large force of men and 

 teams was employed to spray the trees infested with 

 Paris green and other mixtures. Thirty teams with 

 large spraying outfits were in use. To prevent the trans- 

 portation of caterpillars by teams, a large force of police 

 was employed to guard the roads leading from the in- 

 fested territory ; but it was found impossible to make 

 their work effective, and a code of rules was adopted, 

 which we epitomize ; 



All persons were forbidden by law to remove the gypsy-moth, its 

 nests or eggs, from one place to another, in any city or town, and 

 requested to exercise care against so transporting the g3rpsy-moth 

 on teams and carriages. 



All persons were forbidden to remove any hay, manure, wood, 

 bark, trees, rags, lumber or shrubbery of any kind, without a writ- 

 ten permit from the department. All loads must be covered with 



All vehicles leaving the district might be stopped and delayed 

 until their contents were inspected. 



No person might remove the bark from trees, nor attempt to 

 scrape and clean them, without first notifying the department, and 

 having said trees thoroughly inspected and, if found infested^ 

 cleaned under its direction. 



Owners or tenants were requested to gather and burn all rubbish 

 and useless material upon their premises that might provide nest- 

 ing-places for the insect, and to fill with cement or other solid ma- 

 terial holes in trees upon their premises. 



Windows of houses were protected by screens during the sum- 

 mer months, as the insect lays its eggs in the houses wherever it 

 can gain admittance. 



Fences and buildings could be torn down if necessary, and the 

 owners were to be recompensed by the state. 



When spraying ceased, every effort was made to destroy 

 the creatures during the short time they remained in the 

 pupa and moth stages. The men were then set to gath- 

 ering and destroying eggs. An effort was made by the 

 men employed, to go systematically over the entire 



