The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-07-30
ATLANTIC COAST !
TREES IN D.A|| \ 6. [. !
Automobiles and Trolley Cars Re
sponsible for Dissemination Of d
Destructive Moths
FjI|GHT THEM WITH PARASITES A IS ] Is
Plague las Passed Beyond Stage
when Spraying Can Stop
Y ~ Progress.

: . b
E8 (Fron Our Regular Correspondent.)
WASHINGTON y. c.. July 29--Tho
@DepartmentEof Agriculture has awakened
H to the fact that the fruit and forest
trees Of tho entire Atlantic coast are In
Imminent danger of destruction,, land that
the orchards niId forests Of the rest Of
the country are moro remotely threat
&ened. I = The information which the depart
8ment has received to the effect that the
gypsy moth,sln its caterpillar stage, has
appeared as far south rs Trenton, n. -,
has startled tho department. and VIII
startle orchardsts and lumbermen along
the entire coast when they learn Of the
Southern march Of the pest. ~ 1t
"a DR.. u Gland Howard, Of the department,
says there Is no known method Of stop
ping the raYages of the brown-tail moth,
and that there Is but little Indication SO
far Of t1eameasure OF success which
Imported parasites will have In $exter-
Sminating thetgYpsy moth. The 5llnpotcncy
of science to- discover a method of$killins
off the pestslspresents IN alarming cit
%untlon. The moths extended their ravngcs
EtoFcveryg Statesof New England sthlsly
killing orchards and forests In their path,
and this latest information that they
arc coming southwark Indicates that they
mean to attack the farms and forests
9of tho country generally III
Travel in Autos and Trolleys.
Dr.. Howard says that the automobile
ana tho trolley car are Jointly respon-
sible for the dissemination OF the moths
with such rnpidity5 and over such an
extended area It is somewhat remark
able that the department has been Eun-
able to ascertain that HI railway M trains
have carried fthe caterpillnrs, especially.
n,
furnish ready means Of transporting
the moths from one section to another
%far6tlistant.
The spread Of the caterpillars from
which the moths come by means OF
electric cars and automobiles makes the
K success of efforts to exterlninate them
gbymeans of parasites all the more prob
&lematical The efforts which the depart
mont has been making for some time to
provide q parasite which would feed
upon the moths or the larvae have not
yielded n measure OF success which is
calculated to make tho scientists In
charge Of the work very hopeful. &
The gypsy moth was brought to this
country by Professor y. Trouyelot. ento-i
8mologst OF Harvard College, in 1863. lie
was animated by a desire to { evolve a
more valuable species of sllkwormT than
was then known by crossing the moth
with the one which produced tho silk
worm generally known. While expert
8menting withanE ogg-cluster OF the gypsy.
moth in his laboratory at Maiden, Mass,
ia 1860. It blew out Of the window OF
his laboratory, and lie was never able to
recover It, The eggs Matched. and the
moths proceeded to work out their own
salvation. without any of the scientific
restrictions imposed by the professor,
They succeeded to- a degree far beyond
the ambitious dreams OF the scientist.
q The moths Increased with wonderful
srnpidlty, to the great disgust of the
people Of Maiden, and the extent OF tho
gravnges Of the Insects in twenty years
was great enough TO call for public meas
ure OF relief 1t was discovered that tho
pest had spread until one hundred square
miles were embraced within the terrl-
tory Of It's ravages,
Orchardists Alarmed.
e The orchardists OF New England, es-
$pecially, and all others owning trees of
any character became thoroughly alarm
ed, and In the course OF tile next ten
years legislatures voted constantly In.