Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1895 — The Gypsy Moth Migration. [ARTICLE]

The Gypsy Moth Migration.

The voracious caterpillar of the gypsy moth, imported from Europe some twenty-five years ago, has already cost the State of Massachusetts several hundred thousands of dollars in attempts to destroy and keep the pest within moderate limits, but it is now said that it has passed the boundary Jine and appeared in Dorchester, outside of the supposed infested territory. The imported elm leaf beetle is certainly a great pest, and from present indications will eventually destroy all the American as well as the foreign species of this tree. Even this would not be a very serious matter, because we have plenty of other and more valuable kinds of trees, but the gypsy moth does not discriminate and attack any one or a half dozen species, but sweeps the forests of foliage, and is therefore as destructive as flood or fire. The advent of such .a pest should be guarded against through constant watchfulness, for it may soon appear where it is least expected and get beyond the control of human efforts elsewhere besides in the old Bay State. For several years the State of Massachusetts has been spending thousands of dollars annually merely to keep the gypsy moth within certain limits, and, perhaps, crowd it out of some of the old haunts. This policy is open to reasonable criticism, Sor it is likely to be a continual drain upon the taxpayers with no apparent limits, whereas if the advice of entomologists was followed there might be an end of the annual appropriation. Professor Fernaid, a widely known entomologist, suggests that it would be much better to ap propriate enough money to annihilate this pest in the next three or four years than to continue to appropriate just enough to keep this insect in check, without, to any considerable extent, reducing the total number. People outside of Massachusetts and only fearful that the pest will escape from its present limits and forests may be defoliated and destroyed. Just as long as this insect remains feeding in the forests of Massachusetts, those of other States are in danger, and not a park, public or private, is safe.