The morning times., 1895-08-26
Washington's Pets Suffering from
the RaVages of Worms.
HAVOC OF THE ELM BEETLE
Web Worm Doing a Great Deal OF
Damage to the Negunde and Euro
pean nden-A not her Insect w hich
Also Works Great Injury-A ssistant
Superinte endent Suggests Remedy.


quite at home among the trees OF the Dis
trict. He helps to raiee them from babies
in that very interesting nursery for the
District, on the Eastern Branch which is
in charge of Superintendent Lanham.
On this W OGDEN baby farm the children are
very mute, except when stiff breeze rustles
the leaves and makes them whisper to
each other, their present subject of converse
tion being whether the elm beetle shall
''eat 'em up when they are set out in the
parks and on the streets. This also was the
subject of conversation between The Times
and the assistant superintendent.
In this very interesting nursery one sees
long rows of little trees such as are TO
be found everywhere i'll Washington.
TREES IN THE NURSERY.
Among them a." the silver maple, Nor
way maple, scarlet maple, sugar maple,
honey locust, Chinese locust, tulip gum,
Carolina poplar, Athonian poplar, sycamore,
eastern plane, white oak, silver linden, pin
oak, red oak, American linden, American
elm, winged elm, and few others.
There have been dozens of trees whose
culture has been abandoned 10y the nursery,
specimens of which are, OF course, still un
the streets. Among thesearc thepersimmon,
the JudaStrec, the mulberry tree the walnut
the butternut, sassafras, grey poplar, white
birch, sweet gum, American aspen, Chinese
cypress, locust, and about dozen others.
The places of these are TO be supplied by the
species mentioned as now being raised in
the nursery. Intwenty years, perhaps some
Of tho a will
peared entirely from the streets.
One Of the first to be stricken from the
list was the Negundo, which is a species Of
ash Mr. Langdale said that ii is about the
first that is attacked by the insects in the
| spring and becomes vcritable nursery for
these pcS's all through the summer. 1t is
| especially agreeabletoth the web worm, which
| is now playing havoc with the trees OF the
| city
The ravages made by the web worm in
the Negundo strike every eye everywhere.
| Anoftheset trcesappearto bcfilled withncsts
made around dead or dying branches, which
| have been almost Genuded OF their leaves,
| and give the trees a very sickly and dis
! agreeable appearance. ANY one who OBJ
serves at all must have been struck with the
| desperate condition Of these trees on street
/ and n street north west. The worms have
| simply eaten their victims to death.
THE ELM ATTACKED
Another species, which is now in the
| throes OF death, is the American elm,
| the most familiar Of all the Trees. II is
| attacked every year by the elm leaf beetle
| after that villainous little insect has eaten
| all the leaves OF the imported elnls, as he is
| a foreigner himself One need not visit
the White House grounds to see what the
| elm leaf beetle can do with the European
elm.
On the north and south sides or Lafayette
square are rows OF this superb elm. which
are about as near eaten up as a tree can
well be and retain its life. The weeping
elm, one Of the prettiest trees of the parks
and triangles is also suffering dreadfully--
The tulip poplar is showing signs OF decay
which is partly caused by the beetle and by
the drouth.
The European lindens, OF which there are
two splendid specimens near the corner OF
Ninth and G streets northwest, are much
affected by the drouth. The elns have
suffered most and will continue to suffer
until some remedy is found for the web
worm which attacks them in the fan and
work OF the foreign boy tie.
Beside these two pe,f, there is another
which is as ugly as a nightmare. 1t is
only about an inch long 1t has two horns
and a TAN which stands up straight and
the thing is as lively an insect rs one would
not wish 10 see in the night time on ones
pillow. Whenever it attacks a tree it
completely invests it ana also its imme-
Ill hnr ha rI-
of houses, windows and other resting
places.
They appear to be on very friendly terms
with the web worm a nj seem to do business
together in the same ugly web Between
them they have already eaten out the
tops of trees aud are now doing the lower
branches, from which they drop to the
ground or on the hats of people who are
passing at the time Of the descent.
MR. LANGDALE'S REMEDY.
The drought aud the pests have It all
their own way now, and the great glory
OF the parks, the trees, are feeling the
keen tooth of their enemies, the worms
more fatally than if a sudden frost had
stripped them of their verdure.
Mr.. Langdaie's view is that there is no
help for the case this year. The trees
will not die so that there Will be n chance
to save them from the same degree of
afflction next year by a very simple
remedy Mr.. Laugdale thinks that the
best remedy is the spraying of the trees
with arsencal preparations, but this is
dangerous He does not believe in many
of the specifics which are used, but lie
suggests one which can be used by every
,nambar of The Times Tree Protep
League.
His suggestions pure water in abundance
in the spring of the year. Every house has
a watering hose, and il the trees are kept
clean il VIII not only 60 far towards keep
ing Off the insects, bIt it win be q set-off
against the drouth, which will defaee the
beauty of many species of trees which are
attacked by the worms. Among this last
class are the red oak, which in the past few
years has become favOrite with the park
commission, fine specimens of which are
found on Twelfth street between B street
north and b .treet south and on Pennsyl-
vania avenue east; the sugar maple, the
silver maple, the Carolina poplar, the
American linden, the oriental plant or
sycamore, of which there are many beau
tiful specimens around the Capitol grounds,
and the Norway maple
This last is to be seen on First street
northwest and Thirteenth street above
Pennsylvania avenue. The Carolina poplar
is just now presenting a very untidy and.
unganly appearance, but that is due to
the drouth and not to the insect pests.
There is, perhaps, a month more of de-
vastatien, after which time the cool
n iSb I,a Il is