Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-09-07
THE SPRAY KILLED.
Report on the Massachusetts, Expert
msnts Against caterpiIIars.

against caterpillarS Of the gypsy and
ErOwntall moths, recently made at
Wyoming for the Massachusetts Soci.
city for Promoting Agriculture, has
been prepared by j. w. Pettigrew, su-
perintCndent of the Boston park sys-
TEN, VINO conducted the work. Basing
IT'S deductions on his report, the com
mittee appointed by the society to
consider methods for the suppression
Of the moths, reaches the conclusion
that spraying at this time Is the cheap
est ana most effective method of de-
stroying the pest. The trial was made
on May 20 aud continued for four days,
ment by an additional application Of
poison TO prevent invasion from UNI
sprayed woods.
"'rhe piece of land In Melrose select
cd for The experimnt, IA acres in cN
tent" the committee says, was cover
cd with a growth Of white pines, oaks,
beoches, apple trees, willows and hop
Ihornb2ams, and with Tense undergrCwt
Of aldeIs, sumachs, bar-berrics, witch
hazel and Seeding trees Of several
species All the trees were BADLY In
fested with the nests of the brown
tail moth and the cgg-clusters Of the
gyEsy moth, and old walls and piles of
stone gave safe and convenient shelter
for egg clusters. No work of suppress.
sion Of any sort had been attempted
| I,i, Ns1,i,h p1rnI ~
committee to be as badly infested as
any piece of land OF similar size that
could he found in the state.
"A careful inspection of the sprayed
area made on June showed that the
foliage had not been destroyed. only
u few bali lead caterpilars, too feeble
to be dangerous and soon to die, could
be found on the leaves, while piles of
dead caterpillars on the ground showed
the effect OF the poison. Trees In the
neghboraood That hal not been spray
ed, and on which no work of suppress
sion had ben done, We're on June 7 en-
tircly dpnudcd of leaves. SO far, there.
fore as killing the caterpillars on this
piece Of ground is concerned, the eX-
pertinent has been entirely successful,
IShoWs.
First, that II is practicable to APP
ply poison to the foliage OF trees
chowled IN woods in sullicint Quanti-
tics insure tae death Of all insects feed
ing on Il and that II is not necessary
20 try other means Of destruction II the
spraying Is done effectively and al the
right time.
Second, that this method of destruc-
alon of the gypsy and hrown.tail
moths IS cheaper and more effective
than amy of the methods which have
been in general use for the destruction
OF these insects
Third that this method makes pos
siblc the preservation Of the young
trees and shrubs necessary for the per
nciuatiun and beauty of the forest,
previous attempts to destroy the gypsy
moth on trees growing in woods being
IdvD"udent ON the destruction OF all
small plants able TO afford them shelter
and retreat
"Of the value Of smayinG against
,hcsc insects on isolated street or
orchard trees there can be no ques,
ton. For such trees no matter what
their size may be, it is effective and
cacap A comparison now Cf some of
the liuge elm trees on the sprayed
territory on Wyoming avenue with the
elm trees of similar size on many
streets Of The infested district Will
SHOW the value Of arsenical poison. In
many cases these street trees have
been cnYfully and laboriously cleared
Of egg.clusters and nests, but the i'm,
IpusstSilty of getting the last cluster
or the last nest is shown by tue pies
ltuCe on these trees Of enough cater
Illllars TO defoliate them, The impos-
sibility Of destroying all the Cgg .clus.
ters OF the gypsy moth in any given
locality is we'll shown too, at this time,
IN the MiddleseN Fells where thcu-
snnIS of the saterpillars can be seen
ON trees in regions from which all
underground has been removed and
where Il was believed every egg,cluster
had been killed
The committee report Is signed by G,
$. Sargent John Lowell and H Hun.
newell.
"The net cost OF llrst spraying, SAYS
Superintendent Pettigrew was $4,000
or at the rate of s2t,ST per acre. With
tho supplemental spraying of the
borders included. the net cost WAS
sSaS .o4, or $50 IS per acre. The total
cost Of the work was SS94Si This in
. cludes cost OF transport Of equipment
, Ia ana fro. and for time lost BY men
working 50 far away from homo, which