Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-03-07
HOW TO CONTROL
THE MOTH PESTS

The depredations of the gypsy and
the brown-tail moths on the fruit and
shade trees have not been SO serious
during the past season as in previous
years. Diseases and introduced para
sites have attacked the caterpillars
of these moths and have caused at
least a temporary check on two most
dangerous pests. However, certain
new territory has been infested and
the department of agriculture still
considers it of vital Importance that
aggressive measures be continued to
control these dangerous insects. 1t
is therefore now issuing Farmers
Bulletin No 564, entitled 1.-THE Gypsy
Moth and the Brown-Tail Moth,
With Suggestions fer Their Control"
The gypsy moth is capable of caus-
ing enormous injury to tree-groWers.
In the area in New England which
has suffered most thousands of trees
are dead as a result of being deprived
Of their leaves by this pest. Apple
and oak trees have been injured most;
pines have also suffered severely. 1t
spreads rapidly and in Europe, where
it has been longer in evidence, it has
become seriously injurious to many
sections. The damage it causes is
ordinarily not so severe as is that
resulting from gypsy moth infection
because the broWntail moth does not
have so wide a range of food plants,
and because the bulk of this feeding
is done early in the season so that
the trees have an opportunity to re-
cover before midsummer, In the terri
tory where both in%cts exist the
caterpillars of the gifsy moth supple
ment the work which is done by those
of the brown-tail moth, and the in
jury is therefore greatly increased.
One of the best methods of con-
trolling the gypsy moth is to treat the
egg culture of the insect between
August l and April l with creosote
"A small amount of lamp black is
added to discolor the treated eggs,
and it is sold in the gypsy moth in
tested district under the name of
"gipsy moth creosote." 1t is applied
with a brush and penetrates the clus-
ter rapidly, destroying the eggs. Greco
sote may be obtained in small guam
titles from nearly all the large hard
ware or seed stores in the infested
district, where it usually sells for
about 35 cents a gallon. If secured
in larger quantities a much lower
price can be obtained.
The browntail moth can be con-
trolled by cutting off its winter webs
and burning them before the cater
pillars begin to emerge i'm April
These webs should be destroyed by
fire, for if they are simply cut from
the tree and left on the ground the
caterpillars will emerge and no BEN
eft will result from the work which
has been done.
In orchard practise it is sometimes
inadvisable to cut the winter webs,
for where an infestation is bad it is
likely to leave a poorly shaped tree.
Spraying in the spring is not a salts
factory remedy unless the infesta-
ton is very light, because the cater
pillars, when they occur in large
numbers, do not allow the tree to
put out sufficient foliage to hold the
spray material. The most effective
method is to spray the trees before
the middle of August, using from six
to ten pounds of arsenate of lead to
100 gallons of water Before spraying
operations of this sort are attempted
care should be taken to determine
whether the trees are well infested
with egg masses OF the browntail
moth, for if the infestation is very
slight ii will be more satisfactory to
cut and destroy the webs.