The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-20
GREAT DAMAGE TO TREES.
RAyAGES Of INSECTS SEVERELY
FELT ~ THIS STATE.
The Loss to the Owners Of Sugar Naples Es-
pecialIy serious shade Trees In cities A.
fectcd BY MANY Pests 7 Insects That
Do Damage and tho Remedies.

So
Las, wear "A plague Of insects infested
this Dart OF the country. Orchard and grove
and woodland were attacked by them and in
many case all but stripped Of their foliage, In
the central part Of the State particularly the
the rayages Of these insects were felt. Trees
that had been shade trees the year before
were 50 defoliated that they we're nothing more
than an outline Of twigs, branches and boughs
through which the sun bea' nercely. Cater
pillars spun swinging web-ropes from them and
glided down upon the unwary' IN the coun-
try districts appeal was mad" TO the farmer
TO expend some money and endeaVor In put
ting a stop to the ravages, hui the average
farmer is a practical person and esteemed II a
superfuuus effort for him TO save the LEAKAGE
of trees unless il WAS his own orchard that was
attacked, considering shade a matter OF Psthr-
tics rather than economics. ms spring no
has found out his mistake and II" Is now III
dustriously looking about for a way TO prevent
a repetition OF last years damage.
Where the matter has come home to the mind
OF the practical farmer is in the matter OF his
sugar bush. A sugar bush is n grove OF sugar
naples andi II counts for a good deal In the re-
ceipts of a farm. as there Is always a good market
for maple sugar. Last year the marandinRc cater
pillars devoured the LEAKAGE OF the NAPLES, Tor
nearly all the most destructive caterpillars Will
feed on the maple tree even though their first
choice may be some other kind of vegetation.
and this year tho farmer is discovering the
effect in the quality Of the sap. II has been
black and bitter and thin and slow In flowing,
bad in quantity and quality so bad that in some
sugar bushes the whole output has been de-
stroycd and In Others the owner has sent out
his sugar onymously, declining To risk his
reputation BY letting the stamp of his farm
appear on - inferior n grade of sugar, In
som" bushes entire groves Of trees have died
from the effects ~ the insect attacks and on the
hills of the northern central part of III" state
one can see great patches OF brown amid the rich
green OF tho forest verdure. These brown
patches are dead NAPLES. Across the line, IN
Vermont, the conditions are even worse and the
loss 10 sugar-brsh owners there in the last two
years has been enormous Hundreds OF let
tiers have been received by the authorities Of
this State asking for information a. 10 the most
effective way Of combating this insect pest
The retiring Fisheries, Game and Forest Com
mission has recently published a pamphlet 10y
F. p. Felt, State EntomOlogi~t, entitled IN
scots Injurious To Maple Trees, in which the
most destructive Of the leaf eaters are described.
together with the methods OF fighting them.
The entomologi-t treats Of he maple pests be-
cause most ~ them will attack the other shade
trees if they cannot find enough naples to cat.
and some prefer other trees. but will eat the
maple because tina, tree is common in all parts
Of the State.
Perhaps the greatest public nuisance Of all
the shade deStrovers l. the w~hite-marked tis-
sock moth Notoiophns ieurostigmdl, which
aN.E,.. 20 Z - NA hnAT an tito unh A1lInVl- ~
moth Itself j. a beautiful, soft gray Insect with
fea'hery %antenna. II i, of course, the cater
pillar that does tho damage, 1t Is, an ornate
creature. black, white, yellow and red, with
long, bruSh-lke TUFTS upon lS back II Is "A
scoUrge 10 horse ch"srnuts, lindens, ehns and
marles and also Ia persons passing benealh
these trees. bpCGl-e of ITS almost pass'onat"
affinity for the human neck. spanning a long
thread. II swings from lis twig when its appeu'"
is satisfied and allHhts upon me rarS"r,Py
collar, whence IL -traightway SETS ont 10 explore
the source and nature OF the spine, ms If why
II IL a nuisance but II Is more seriously, ue'rl-
mental in that the long TUFTS have been known
10 poison severely persons who have crushed
the caterpillars between III" collar ana IN" neck,
Last srIInme a cas" Of this poisoning wasreport-
eli that kept the sufferer from QUITTING on a
collar for nearly a month, during which time
he was afflicted with an almost lntoleraple
itching and I%ricking The egg" of ,hlo specles
of the tree bark, and the young caterpillar
emerges and. climbs III" tree Just about THIS
time OF year. In TINS CITY some OF the Ca'crtlllarS
have alraady been nbser we'd. tn goes the in
scot 70 feed upon the leaves. beginning with
the tender lower ppidernie Of the leaf and de-
youring. "A, We appetlte grows, all but the main
ribs. In this vicinity there are two hroodS Of
This insect vrarlv. The whiie-m1rked tu~~cck
moth ranges from Florida 10 Nova Scotia and
as far wpst as Iowa. Boz de- the trees mentioned
II has been found feeding on the huckeye. box
elder honey locust APRICOT garden plum. wild
plum. garden cherry, choke cherry. rose, pear,
aruie uuinc,. ash sycamore. buttrrnut. black
walnut hickory oak birch. alder willow
There are many WAYS Of DESTROYING This
predatory creature. The simple ard unscien-
fife method l. 10 decov him TO tho ground
and step on him. "A method highly cNlcaciou.
In individual cases brr SLOW In general aud
f1r-rnnchlnc result, Several wears ago when
this insect prizes were offered To the school
children Gathering the largest masses of The
egg. from the tree- in The early -pring. and
thi, rroved most aflcacionS and prevented
the threatened invasion. About ifty species
Of native birds feed upon the caterpillar and
destrov enormous quantities Of them. an added
argument for the uTrSar ratiou of orr Wild
nird life But science has contrived a most
Ingenious way Of warning against the bug
by alliance with other bugs. Those mr." in
scot parasites. PIN ph1 i%ngrisiior and Ckdic,s
Ordfd which invade the cocoon Of the white
marked tuSsock moth. and after eating ont
the living contents quietly emerge and 60
about their business rejoicing. t'nluckily
there are parasites that feed upon those para
sites in like manner and destroy many Of them
And these have orhc' fe' to bite en-
and 50 proceed ad i%nh,irlm.
Because th" beneficial parasites ,nhabit
the cocoons Of the moth is no. well TO destroy
the cocoons n the parasites are then destroyed
also, What science does j. to breed and raise
tho m AIT 90 n tnfTnE nnH Il-ffnt~ tho GARnnh.