Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-08-27
TIE ELM AND ITS DEsrROYER.
A Beetle Playing Havoc with Shade
Trees fn WashinztOn-Is the English
Sparrow FsespUmsiblc MIR. saul. Of
the Parking Commission, says Not
SO Does Mr.. Smith, OF that Commits.
sion-ti.her Opinions.

In a conversation with Nil Jcha Saul. OF the
parking commission, some days ago. in ref. ce
10 the English sparrow, that &c ntieman said TO a
STAR reporter:
"SiIce 81 have been extensively occupied in
the cultivation or tres and plants in the District
and consequently have had in opportunity OF
nhscrvin: what effect the intro.u ton or the
sparrow mas had On preventing the spread of IN
ciiy were e:r.ui:y Inf, sted with insects. could
nline several species, but viii nanis one particU-
lary. the elm Tbs tree wherever seen vas
completely denudad OF its fclagr by midsummer
How different today some o. the beautiful
avenues If e!Ins in onr city. The trees are lu:ly
'qlal In Vi-or tJhCush lacking ace, and col,e-
q Etiy 81 y to The trees GA similar avenues in
New England cities Much OF the good Effected
rs me s:arrcTs IS In the early st ges OF the in
SCI. 1t Is done quietly ami GaohseTveJ, VIII st
t;N'. II he nlp2 ms 10 harm few fruit OR buds,
he IS immediately ienonac ID as thief! In com
mon tn GOS' ct1er small bird; at sea sons their
food Is lartiy q ius cts and when fruit or grain
are III season II is quite % accept ,be. The little
ne takes n this WY consider he more than pays
for In destroying insects have never observed
single Instance OF the s2arrows having driven
away other biz Is. and have no dCubt whatever
have native htris In greater number on my
place this day than in years ra;t. Tnis, however,
attribute TO their greater protection OF late.
ana to the fact that allow 10 prds 20 be shot on
my place In conclusion, would by all means
protect the sparrow. The work h accOmplishes
Is great. Il Is visible to-day on the trees IN our
worTy appearance before his arrival Bear with
him IL he changes his diet occasionally. In my
OPINION e Is nothing NOR than his right"
THE ELM DESTROYER AT WORK.
Since tie Expression OF these views By Mr.. Siul
the rayages OF inse:ts among the elos in this city
hive become 0! such charact as to attract gen
ccal attention. The row OF these beautiful trees
Oh the Avenue. along the south side or Lafayette
square fron'in, TIE White House, are badly dam
aged The beautiful green leaf giving place 10 the
diy, Witherpd skeleton. which the ken app ties
oi the insects have Lit to mark their course. In
ali sections CT the city where the elm is growing
fine 10 that species or tres. Tie Efforts OF the
parking commission have checked The destruction
to some extent. but still the evil exists. The
insects eat ont all the sOct parts OF the foliage,
leaving Only broWnlSA skeletons OF Leaves. 1ne
felLiFe TO the elm IN thit city and In the sire Is
OF Newark aud New Brunswick ana ether cities.
The trees are described IS looking t,s they do in
aShiDgJOnl a IL they were ScnrrEed IL Is stated
tnat the mischief IS caused by the raVaSeS OF
AN INPo::TED PEST
known by the maine OF the elIr-tree beetle with
the scientific name o: G.I,'51sca Enihonactti1lu.
IL belongs TO the same great family of leaf-eating
beetles is the Coi0!a 10 ,Gtato beetle. These
beetles ere quite SMALL OF brcwnish color, with
one broad stripe On each wing and three
black SPOTS OF the top OF the thorax The einl-
leaf BE-. tie does not aly go into the ground !Or
lis Transformation, hut the larva or grab merely
cr"wls under the oil dead leaves Or grass at the
base OF tie tree upon wEl,h it has feJ, ana in
Sca Sh iterrd situations it passes into the puOa,
ard thHica into the winged s:a,e, or the stag OF
the perfect beetle. They hibernate in the perfect
leaves or wherever suitable shelter can be
io1nt Thence they come forth quite early in
spring, aud as soon as the elm leaves are fully
opened the females fly up into tile trees and de-
p st their eggs on the leaves In the course of a
month or SIX weeks q second brood appears, and
by August THRU, and by this time thtr numbers
have increased so enormously that they soon skcl-
eton:Ze the leaves OF the largest elmS.
THE ENGLISH SPARKoWs CHARGED WITH TIE MIS-
CHIEF.
Their natural enemies are birds, spiders, and
ether beetles. but. as the En- :l:sh sparrow. re-
marks TIE sun, has driven Off the insectiyorous
birds, Ills l"at haS largely Increased.
ME- sArI DEFENDS THE SPARROW.
Mr.. jean Sui, or the parking commission, when
his t;enticn WAS called to this statement. Said
before the Introduction OF the sparrow here
there was scarcely good elm IN the city. Their
success SO far Is due to the sparrow AS for SPAR
rows DRIVING other birds away, don't believe Ii.
We have more birds now than ever, but the i'm
preston is that the 81, arrow has driven them of.
The fact is. tina: the American birds naturally
afraid o, men, and as the cities and he suburbs bui
up they retire an go further back into the coun-
try. The sparrow has liking for man. and 1t is,
therefore, quite numerous In The citi"s-"
'HoW IS II. then" asked the report T, ''that the
the SparTOwS are 80 numerou5?i
"1h'r5 Is too much expected OF that bird, I" said
Mr.. Saul AS far as my observation goes the elm
Is generally doing well in this vicinity. When the
parking commission entered upon ITS duties there
was some opposition TO planting the elm. but finally
they made compromise in SOM streets and ave
NUS, alternating Ihs elm with the poplar, in ex-
down: but the elm has kept right along and done
as well as any tree planted"
what remedy would you propose for extirpa-
ton OF the elm destroycr?7 asked the reporter
IL would recommend" said Mr.. Saul, "a carbOic
or whale oil soap with tobacco water. Kerosene
VIII 10, Dut II requires care in u sing it"
VIEWS OF NR SMITH, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE
BOTANICAL GARDENS.
"les, have noticed the rayages that this bug
has made among the elms in certain sections OF
the city," said Mr. Smith, the supprintendent of
n
from STAR reporter 'They have already done
good deal OF damage. The sparrows do not seem
10 be much OF protection ag ainst the ravageS OF
this insect just now. But it must be remembered
IN the spaIrows are more of gra.rIniTerous
their food is chi fly insects. am not prepared TO
sly that the destruction OF the trees Is due the
sparrowS keeping away from them, but do know
that in these g9rlens, which Is the home o. the
SPARROW, the eilnS have not suffered. while they
di d. h.:ore the tn;rodaetlon OF the aparrow.n
use? asked The reporter.
"Certainy, do" was the response. II believe
that the goo! they DO more than balances the evil
10T there Is 10 question that they do Ii rn. have
to wdtch certain SEEDS so as to Get them be-
fore the sparrowa do Then they quarrel, and are
net, in all respects, good citiZ us. Bnt In the
cites L don't believe that we can afford to do
without them"
"Take this city, for instance, sail Mr. Smith.
"Thcre Is no place where the trees are in a
healthier condition. and attribute IT, in great
meaaure, TO the sparrowS. o. course he sparrows
they neglect the bugs and worms, and devote
taemr' Ives TO stealing seeds. They eat grasshop-
pers, and any day you can see them following the
mower. don't Know said Mr.. Smith. recurring
to the original subject, "what be done to stop
the bugs that are eating up the eims. The spar
rows may go at them again, and perhaps some
n'her remedy may be found But II the SDarrOwS
We're not here they would be great deal worse"
THE SUBJECT DISCUSSED BY THE HORTICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
At recent meeting of the Horticultural So
cety. OF which Mr.. Saul is president he stated his
views as above, and remarked that what was said
by n SCIENTIFIC man in Baltimore recently, that
there Was 10 city in the Union where the trees
were more generally attacked by insects than
this, was untrue. The trees here were generally
clean and h 'althy. more so than In most oil lceS
and he beiieTed that the sparrow had much TO do
with it.
Mr.. j. T. c. Clark remarked that what had been
said as TO the benefit OF tie sparrow may be true
as regards the elm, but the evil they did over
balanced the good He had seen them pluck both
Hover ana fruit. and he resorted to poison to keep
them down. He had never seen sparrow
destroy caterpillar, ana he called attention to
the trees on l1tn street, between and l., which
were formerly infested with the caterpillar and
said that they were destroyed not by The sparrow
but by the cOmini sion.
Mr. d. 5. Curtis remarked that In Madison Wis.,
where the Insects attacked the ASH and elm the
!ree5 were now healthy, and had been so since the
INTRODUCTION or the sparrow. Some CT the scinn-
tine men OF that city had examined the subject
AMI failed TO find In the crops OF the birds any