Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1905-09-11
THE SPRAY KILLED.
Report on the Massachusetts, Expert
ments Against Caterpillars.

against caterpillars of the gypsy and
brown-tall moths, recently made at
Wyoming for the Massachusetts Soci-
ETY. for Promoting Agriculture, has
been prepared by J. w. Pettigrew, SUI
perintendent of the Boston park sys-
| tenn, VINO conducted the work. Basing
its 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 and most effective method of de-
stroying the pest. The trial was made
on May % and continued for four days.
ment by an additional application Of
poison to prevent invasion from I'M
sprayed woods.
'''rhe piece Of land III Melrose select
ed for the eXperimnt, lila acres in eX-
tent" the committee says, was cover
ed with a growth of white pines, oaks,
beeches, apple trees, willows and hop
hornbaams, and with 1ense underground
of alders, sumachs, bar-berries, witch
hazel and Seeding trees of several
species. All the trees were badly in
tested with the nests of the brown
tail moth and the egg-clusters OF the
gypsy 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
On this land, which appeared to your
committee to be as badly infested as
any piece of land Of similar size that
could be found in the state.
"a careful inspection of the sprayed
area made on June showed that the
foliage had not been destroyed. Only
few half dead caterpillars, 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
neighborhood That had not been spray
ed, and Oh which no work of suppress.
sion had ben done, were on June en-
tirely 6enuded of leaves. So far, there
fore, as killing the caterpillars on this
piece of ground is concerned, the eX-
pertinent has been entirely successful.
Ttshows:
First, that it is practicable to ap-
ply poison to the foliage of trees
chowsled in woods in sufficient quanti-
ties insure toe death of all insects feed
ing on it and that it is not necessary
70 try other means of destruction if the
spraying is done effectively and at the
right time.
Second, that this method of destruc-
aion of the gypsy and brown-tall
moths is cheaper and more effective
than any of the methods which have
been in general use for the destruction
of these insects.
"Third, that this method makes pos
sible the preservation of the young
trees and shrubs necessary for the per-
netuation and beauty of the forest,
previous attempts to destroy the gypsy
moth on trees growing in woods being
dependent on the destruction of all
small plants able to afford them shelter
and retreat. Z
"Of the value of spraying against
these 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
cneap A comparison now OF some OF
the large 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 carfully and laboriously cleared
Of egg-clusters and nests, but the I'M
possibility of getting the last cluster
or the last nest is shown by the pres
ence on these trees of enough cater
pillars to defoliate them. The impos-
sibility Of destroying all the egg-clus-
tiers of the gypsy moth in any given
locality is we'll shown, too, at this time,
in the Middlesex Fells where thou
sands of the saterpillars can be seen
on trees in regions from which all
underground has been removed and
where it was believed every egg-cluster
| had been killed"
The committee report is signed by G..
S. Sargent, John Lowell and H. S. Hun
newell.
"The net cost Of first spraying" says
Superintendent Pettigrew "was $249.09,
or at the rate of $21.S7 per acre. With
the supplemental spraying of the
borders included, the net cost was
S33S.O4, or $29.65 per acre. The total
cost of the work was $394.34. This in
cludes cost of transport of equipment
to and fro, and for time lost by men
working so far away from home, which