Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-08-06


G.dl9 y submitted an in
y, H,o7K Y terestlng report Of
y SSsSZISuA Its operations fol
, the last two years
: says the New York Journal. The work
is in two parts, the first prepared by
Edward II. Furbush, and the second by
Charles H. Fernald. Mr.. Furbush is
= the field director in charge OF the work
. Of destroying the moths and their
, caterplllars and eggs, and Mr. Fernald
Is the professor of zoology in the
Massachusetts Agricultural college,
and entomologist OF the state board OF
agriculture and the Hatch expert
mental station.
In Europe the gypsy moth and Its
destructiveness are well known over a
, considerable area, but fortunately for
this country 1t never has obtained a
foothold here outside OF a limited dis
trict in Massachusetts, and there at an
expense Of hundreds of thousands Of
dollars bids fair soon to eXterminate 1t
on this side Of the ocean. Its intro
ductlon into this country Is believed to
have been due to the accidental escape
of insects which were brought here for
experiments by naturalist in 1868 or
1869.
At that time Leopold Trouvelot, an
artist and naturalist and astronomer,
from Paris, was living near Glenwood,
Medford, just outside Boston. He was
experimenting in raising silk from
Americas native silk worms, and he
introduced a member of European spe-
cies Of silk-spinning worms also.
Among these were some gypsy moth
eggs. Mr. Trouvelot, being aware OF
the dangerous nature Of the moth, gave
notice OF the escape, but it was not
until 20 years after that the people Of
Medford realized what pest was
among them. Its ravages had been
noticed before in isolated spots, but
had been attributed to some kind Of
native insect.
In 1889 the caterpillars appeared in
such numbers in Glenwood and in
parts Of Medford that they stripped the
trees Of foliage, and armies of them
were seen marching together to new
fields for food. In June and July Of
that year they were so numerous that
boys slid on the sidewalks over their
crushed bodies, and nobody could ven
ture outdoors without getting covered
with the worms, which dropped from
the trees. After public attention had
been directed to them thus they were
recognized. 1t was found that they had
spread into thirty townships. In each
place they were found in isolated col
onles. The spreading Of the pest is
supposed to have been accomplished
mostly through the agency Of man, the
worms or eggs being carried from
place to place on fruit and along the
lines Of railroads or carriage roads.
Wherever the worms appeared In
numbers they ate everything that was
green except the leaves Of the horse
chestnut trees and grass. A large part
Of the population Of Medford turned
out to fight the plague, and in the
evenings, when the men came home
from work, bonfires could be seen in
many parts of the town where cater
pillars were being burned. The people
Of Medford set men to work at the
towns expense to destroy the moth,
and finally they appealed to the state
legislature for help. The state appro-
prlated $4,000 in 1890, and commits
sion was appointed to do the work.
They sprayed infested trees with Paris
green, cut and burned trees and bushes
in other place., and killed the clus-
tered worms on other trees with kero-
sene torches, but their efforts were
comparatively puny, for it was soon
learned that fifty square miles of land
had been infested.
In 1891 the work was put INFO the
hands Of the state board Of agriculture
and $4,000 was appropriated In 1892,
$4,000 was appropriated and the work
was carried on over a more extended
area. The appropriation was increased
to 100000 in 1898, and the total sum
which had been expended in fighting
this insect up to January l, 1894, was
nearly $250O0O.
Another 100000 was appropriated in
1894, and $15O,OOO in 1895, so that up
to the beginning of this year the gypsy
moth had cost the state half a million
dollars directly, besides all the damage
it had done in infested districts. In
looking at the pictures of the gypsy
moth in its various stages of life and
at specimens of both sexes, nobody
would suspect that they had any rela-
would suspect that any relationship
existed between them.