The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-01
WINTER WEBS or TIE
BRONN-Z AHNOZH
OH WGLLH OAK
BY FRANKLIN a. WENTWORTH.

By FRANKLIN a. WENTWORTH.
That the browning glory of the old
towns In which their fathers were born
those grand old elms which were planted
mayhap by their fathers own hands
should actually have their existence
threa tened by vulgar insect: this is too
much for the equanimity of the New Eng
land man and woman.
The thought that in a few years the
beautiful interlacing branches which
cover the streets in which they played
as children shall be swept away with
their grand old supporting bolcs, and the
streets themselves become as bare and
unbeautiful as those of d boom town
this inspires a kind of frenzy
And yet for nearly 40 years the gypsy"
moth has been laying her eggs, her cater
pillars increasing In geometrical progress
sion, until today the people stand aghast
at their destructive work, and the legis-
lature has paused long enough In its
granting Of public favors to private cor
porations to declare the gypsy moth
public nuisance" But the gypsy moth
does not seem to mind legislative con.
formations, and since 1t has been Joined
In Its work Of devastation by the brown
tail moth, the area Of its operations has
Increased in extent a thousandfold. Whole
patches OF beautiful woodland are so
stripped of foliage by The end of June
that they bear the aspect of November
Orchards are eaten clean of leaf and bud,
destroying all possibility of fruit. and
even the rugged white pine is fed upon
by these caterpillar pests until 1t withers
unto death. and stands blackened and
stripped Of bark as by blast of lightning.
Only those prairie people of the West
who remember the years In which cloud
or grasshoppers dnrkened the sky and
passed, leaving not a spear of grain 10
harvest; only such have any parallel by
which to imagine the destruction that
New England now faces.
The gypsy moth caterpillar will attack
all fruit. shade and woodland trees. al
though II shows a preference for the
apple, OAK and elm. 1t will devour on
occasion nenrly every useful grass, plant,
mower. shrub. vine. bush, garden or field
crop that grows Throughout the already
infested portions of Massachusetts II
swarms and drags its loathsome length
along The walk, upon the house fronts and
verandas. and does not even leave the in
terror of dwellings free from It's hated
presence.
1t Is usually conceded that the natural
list Is a superior person. The nearer n
man comes to understanding natural oh
JectS and phenomena the more likely ia no
to confer some sort of lasting benefit upon
the race But no rule was ever forum
lated without at least the concept Of its
exception occurring to somebody; and so
the naturalist who introduced the gvpsv
moth from Europe into this country is at
present remembered only for the harm ba
has done.
As far back as authentic records exfs+
the gypsy moth has been n destructive
pest In the Old World, at times increas
Ing enormously and disastrously, then for
other periods decreasing, only to Increase
again and renew its extensive ravages.
At the present time 1t is most numerous
and destructive in Southern Russia. Up
to the year 1868 1t was unknown in the
western hemisphere. 1t was in that
year the insect was brought from Eurone
by an experimenter living in the town OF
Medford, Mass. The experiment of Its
propagation in America was distinctly
successful Numbers of the moths es-
capped from their captivity and spread
into many cities and towns of Eastern
Massachusetts, and. increasing enormous
ly. became by 1890 so serious a pest
that the state began exterminative work |
against them
This was continued for 10 years and the |
propagation of the pest so hindered there |
by that the people forgot about 1t and re- |
taxed their vigilance. No sooner. how (
ever. bad the state ceased its systematic
operations than the moth began rapidly |
to gain Roadway. and today 1t occurs in |
enormous numbers over a vastly larger l