New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-11
,,oTVS AND AGRICULTURAL STUDENI'

After all. the disraceful gypsy moth is 10 NC
,or,,ht 4, Massachusetts,. Half dozen dlhereh'
roaSers of The Tribune have kindly sent us chp-
ninos from Boston papers to this effect lndeeu'
no is being fought now, as the latesO chipping
zoos n show. The Bay State scientists are 81
ready in the tree ,,, u,a;oo,
According to "The Boston Herald raolcal
change has been made this year in the manner OIL
attacking the gypsy moth. The dearly raris
rreen will not be used. 1t will be remembered
that the commission last year used seVeral uohS
80 poris green. to which the people objected SO
strongly that the Governor abolished the com
rnission The present moth commission is pledged
TO step-adders and pruning-knives alone-ln snor5'
the treatment will be surgical, rather than thera-
peutcal. The gypsy detectives" VINO were
employed last year at the rate OF 20 day 'to the
great scandal Of the Taxpayers, and who went
about wearing low-crowned Derby hats ana false
side-whiskers shadowng the moths, have been d)s-
nensed with, as THE Herald says that they
were found wholly unnecessary. The head
quarters of the new commission have been re-
moved from Medford to Maiden, as, notwithstand-
ing the superior quality of the rum at Medford, IL
is not a strategic point for moths Mr. u. H.
Forbush of Worcester, formerly president OF the
Worcester Natural History Society, is the new
superintendent of the commission, and there Is
said 70 be nothing about moths which he does
not know He has divided the worltmen into
three divisions each under the command of
students from the Agricultural College, who have
completed the seasons course of lectures on How
TO Teach Calf to Drink Out of Pail" and have
been excused from recitations in the class on
Inducing Pig to Return by the Same Hole from
which He Escaped Without Swearing" The first
no Of Discovery goes
ahead, and when it finds tree in which there are
moth eggs it puts big white mark on the trunk.
When the second or Division Of Destruction,
comes along and sees tree thus marked, the
men climb up in it, each with knife and tin pail.
When they discover a moths nest they cut it oil
and place it in the pail. The fear at first en-
pressed by the agricultural college students that
difficulty would be experienced with the old moths
that might be sitting on the nests, has not been
realized, as it is found that the gypsy moth does
not brood her eggs like a hem Lastly follows the
Division of Inspection, which crawls up the trees
once more and carefully searches for eggs. III
none are found, blue mark is placed on the
trunk but if it is that the work OF the
Division of Destruction was not we'll done, red
mark is used instead, and the next day the second
division has to go up the tree again and finish It's
duties.
We need scarcely say that The Tribune is glad
to hear that the good work Of exterminating the
gypsy moth has been begun in Massachusetts
The only thing that we can sec 10 regret is the
presence in the field Of the students of the.Agrl-
cultural College. These young men should be at
their studics. They are missing the spring
lectures on Hos Killing and on the Subsection OF
the Hired Man. They will be poorly fitted to
take up the eXacting life Of farmer if they con-
tnue to employ their time in climbing trees and
hunting meth nests. II it is replied that active
practical work is needed by the students we an
swer that they get it right in the college. AL
ready this spring the professor who occupies the
chair of Large Fruits has had his class out digging
the big holes which he finds arc clearly necessary
in planting pumpkins. Some of the students have
objected to the hardness of the work, but the
professor has replied with whitening sarcasm that
If they find fault with this, what will they do
next fall when they have to dig the pumpkins
with perhaps ten or dozen in every hill. Mod
ern scientific farming, the professor well points
out, is no child's play