The evening times., 1896-06-13

Secretary Morton is at present. giving
considerable thought to the ravages or ln'
sects upon the shade trees ofthe city. The DIS
tressng experience of last year brought the
matter into the prominence which itsgravity
deserves, and Mr.. Morton in an interview |
with The Times last evening threw out |
some hints which are deserving of careful |
study by hOuseholders.
During the last two years. he said, II |
have noticed that the shade trees of Wash
ington have suffered very badly from the |
attacks OF insects. / understand that this |
cannot be said to be the fault OF the
authorities, since not enough money is ap-
propriated to allow them to do efficient
work.
''Tbis is pity, but what seems to Inc
quite as unfortunate, Is the fact that the
citizens will not take the matter into their
hands and do some work against the in
seCts upon the shade trees in 'front.' of their
own houses. Government cannot do every
thing for everybody, even to killing vernin
Popular sentimentln many northern cities
has brought about energetic work tie
present season against shade tree insects.
The cities OF New Haven, Coun. F.; sprinfield
and Holyoke, Mass, and Elizabeth, n. j.,
have made appropriations and are success
fully fighting the insects this year The
citizens of Brooklyn have banded themselves
together in an association, and the officers
OF the association are carrying on the work.
WORK IN OTHER CITIES.
"The most elaborate work is being done
| In New Haven, where the superintendent or
parks has been authorized to have "a large
| steam sprayer constructed, and ali OF the
beautiful elnis in that city are being sprayed
| withan Observation-Disclosures, which wlifdestroy
| the imported elm leaf-beetle and keep the
| trees i'll green and flourishing condition
| throughout the summer.
In the absence of appropriations which
| will enable our Park Commission to sue
cessfully treat the shade trees, all city
residents should do their best TO prevent
! the recurrence of the very bad state OF
affairs which existed in this city last
July and August.
1.-THE principal leaf-eating insects occur
| ring on shade trees in Washington are the
tussock IN 9th caterpillar, the fall web
| worm, the bag worm AMI the imported elm
leaf beetle. The tussock-moth caterpillar
was the one which did the most damage
| last year. This insect passes tile winter
in clusters of white eggs attached to the
bark of the trunk and larger limbs. Dur
ing the winter time these egg masses
should be collected and destroyed, and l
am Informed that considerable work was
of the city by the Parking Commissioners
during early spring. Z.
COTTON BANDS NOT SUFFICIENT.
"At the present time all of the remaining
eggs have Matched and the caterpillars
. are at work. / notice that one OF the local
papers recommends, as the best remedy
against this insect, placing cotton band
around the trunks of trees.
'Inasmuch however, as majority of
5 the eggs We're laid high upon the trunk
or upon the main limbs, tile main effect
of such cotton bands will be to confine
the caterpillar to the trees upon which
they have hatched. The bands, therefore,
will not act as n remedy, but simply as
a preventive OF spread.
The only way to kill the caterpilIars at
the present time is to spray with an
arsenical mixture. This is the work which
should be done by the Parking Commission,
but ] am Informed that they have not
even a spraying apparatus. Col. Wilson,
: superintendent of public buildings and
grounds. has Spraying apparatus and is
, doing good work against tile insects af-
I fecting the shade trees in the public
parks. Small spray pumps suffi GENTLY
strong TO treat trees OF moderate size
can be purchased for small amount and
will be useful for many other purposes
aside from this insecticide work.
SPRAYING THE TREES.
AS a matter of fact the water pressure
In most parts of the city is sufficiently
strong so that the householder in sprink-
ling his lawn or washing down his pave
ment in the evening would do a great dea
of good by directing the stream into the
! trees and knocking the caterpillars off.
when the caterpillars have once been
| killed upon a given tree, the cotton band
about the trunk will prevent reascent.
The mature form of this tussock-mo h
. caterpillar is wingless moth. and the
only way in which the caterpiliars can
} ascend into the trees is by climbing up the
trunk.
, '.With the web worm, however, the case
t is different. The moth flies readily and
the band will have no effect upon this in
sect. The poison spray will kill the cater
pillars. but the simplest remedy is to cut
off and burn the webs as soon as they
2 are observed. This should be done al
} night-fall or during cloudy day. since ia
[ the sunny portions of the day the cater
+ pillars will leave the webs and spread
: through the neighboring foliage.
1.-The imported elm-leaf beetle is again al
T work this season. though the wet weather
S of the present spring and early summer
has kept even leaves which are nearly
skeetonized green in color, SO that the
work of the insect has not been particu
larly observed.
ELMLEAF BEETLE.
"A week of dry, hot weather, however
will turn many of the elm trees in thi:
city an ugly brown. One or two spra yin gs
e q little earlier in the season would have
II entirely prevented this state of affairs
:, and in fact the elm trees in the grounds o.
q the Department of Agriculture, treated il
q this manner are in excellent condition a
the present time. With the larger elm
{, along our city streets it is important tia
e househoders should destroy the worms a
81 they descend the trunk within the next few
weeks to transform at the surface of th
;. ground. This can be done by pouring no
. water around the base Of the tree or by
- moderate use of kerosene.
~ "The bag worm can only be treated a
~ the present time with the poison spray
n During the winter, when the leaves ar
al not present, the bags can be seen readil.
:. and removed by hand or clipped off b.
10 means of pole pruner.
ITO sum up the subject, the only one o
y these insects which absolutely needs sum
s mer work is the imported eln-leaf beetle
n The others should be destroyed in tn
Of winter time. Thecocoons ofthe web. worn
lie the egg-masses of the tussock-moth, andth
| ~