Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-03-14
By Allen Chamberlain.

Things are certainly looking up in the
gypsy moth war. 1t is a joyful specta-
Gle to see the State forester standing
before a committee of the Legislature
and asking for a reduced appropriation.
and it is no less cheering to hear the
Federal Governments entomologist say
ing that the imported parasites are ac-
tually beginning to give an account of
themselves This does not mean that
the day has been saved and that We
can lay down our arms in the near fu-
ture and let the .'bug'' go hang, but i
does indicate that the seven years of
persistent effort, and the expenditure of
more than two million dollars of State
money, together with fully as much
more of municipal and private funds,
has beens to some purpose, and that the
greatest danger has been passed.
From this time on the parasite work
will be conducted entirely by the Federal
authorities in the interest of all the
States infested, and the State forester
is of the opinion that if the cities and
towns will only do their full duty here
after land it is entirely in the power of
the governor to compel this under the
law,) the situation can be easily main
tanned III It's present. StIci SeANiE'AtAN
tory condition, and the cost steadily re-
dueed year by year. The taking over OF
the parasite laboratory by the Federal
Government. will relieve Massachusetts
of an annual outlay of $4,000 and added
to this saving the forester feels justified
in undertaking his remaining work in
this field with $4,000 less than he has had
in the past. and to scale this down an
nually at the rate of $4,000 until by 1915
Chat year in which all good things are
expected to come to pass for this regionl
he will require but 100000 of State
money to handle the problem.
A Successful Fight.
This may seem reckless to some, mas
much as the moth manages to extend its
territory more and more each year, but
these occasional instances of breaking
out of bounds will have to be a good
deal more numerous and severe to stag
ger the organized forces which the State
can now bring TO bear upon them. 1t
must not be forgotten that our field
forces have been learning thing or two
about lighting the moths during the
years they have been at it. The period
of cropping experimentation has passed
When an outbreak now occurs the or
ganization knows at once what must be
done, and it does it promptly and effec-
lively. Very likely gypsy moths will be
more or less known in all parts of the
State before many years. but the danger
that they will eat us out of house and
home. or utterly ruin us through costly
warfare, is no longer the bugaboo that it
was little while ago. Better and more
economical methods of control have been
developed by the foresters and the
United States forces, and the city and
town organizations have been greatly
perfected, and largely freed from the
ignorant and costly political Interference
which at one time was general handi-
cap upon the whole work At all events
so conservative judge as DIR. l.. o.
Howard, the entomologist of the De-
partment of Agriculture, under whose
direction the parasite work, as well as
a good deal of hand suppression work
throughout New England has been con-
Quoted, states in his annual report that
the heavily infested sections of this State
are in better condition than for a long
time, for even at the height of the cater
pillar season only occasional patches of
stripped woodland could be SEEN He
does not appear to feel any alarm be-
cause the moths have been found this
xear> in several towns where they had
not formerly-been known. 1t must be
understood in this connection that a
town is added to the infested list sim
ply because a single egg cluster, or a
lonely caterpillar has been found some
where across the political border line of
that township.
Probably the greatest general encour-
agement will be found in Or. Towards
statements relative to the progress of
the work of introducing insect enemies
of the moths. They are not boastful
words that he writes, and he indulges
in no prophecies, but the whole tone of
the report is something more than hope
full. For instance, it was decided in the
summer of 1910 that it was no longer
necessary to import European brown
tail nests for the development of the
parasitic insects they contained, and the
past seasons Investigations in the field
show that this course was fully justi-
fled since the parasites thus secured IN
the past have multiplied and spread in
a satisfactory manner.
How the Parasites Have Worked.
This years survey of the field by the
entomologists to determine how the little