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Show BROWN-TAIL MOTH WAR j ON AGAIN IN NEW ENGLAND Injurious Insect Ravasinj; in Massachusetts, New Hamp. siiire and Maine Adjacent States Also Suiter. New England is again at war. Her historic hills are ringing with the sounds of combat, and her verdant valleys are volleying defiance to a ;ommon enemy. The brown tail moth is the invader that the farmers and scientific men of New England are battling, and although the state of Massachusetts alone has spent more ihan $7,000,000 in the war against aim and his terrible brother, the 3ypsy moth, the human forces have :hus far met nothing but defeat. Like ;he Gypsy, the brown tail moth works nis havoc in the saterpillar state. Each mother moth lays about 300 eggs, and ?ach caterpillar converts several hun-ired hun-ired leaves into skeletons in the ;ourse of a season. At first the scientists thought the caterpillar were partial to pear leaves, out they soon discovered that while the vermin always asked for a second Dr third helping, of Bartlett buds or leaves, they would also pass up their plate for more when on jieach, cherry. Dak, maple, elm or any other old tree except the evergreens. . "Aha," cried the deep-thinking scientists when they made this discovery, "the brown tail moth ceterpillars will not harm) the conifers! That at least is a victory! But the owner of an orchard that is being rapidly skinned by the industrious industri-ous caterpillars may be pardoned if he does not jubilate over that fact. It is, of course, consoling to know that 'the pesky brutes will not eat pine cones, but how about the orchard or-chard ? Just at present the brown tail moth is pretty well spread over Massachusetts, Massachus-etts, New Hampshire and Connecticut, Mrs. Brown Tail has them, and uses them very well. She is a dissipated young thing, too, for she always flies by night, and often telegraph poles and the sides of houses will be literally liter-ally whitened in the latter part of July. The time of flight is from the 1st to the 20th of July, and as the prevailing winds in New England are from the southwest, the spread of the pest has been mostly toward the northeast. The moths begin laying their eggs soon after their flight is commenced, and the larvae hatch in the early part of August. They begin eating as soon as they are hatched, first feeding on the leaves where they were brought to light, and later wandering all over the tree. At night, like, well-trained little ones, they return to their original orig-inal leaf. When they are hatched they are about one-twelfth of an inch in length, and in five or six weeks shed their first skin. Eater in the season t)iey molt again. Along in September the caterpillars begin to spin tfyeir' winter webs by drawing together a number of leaves with cilken threads of their own manufacture, and when the weather becomes real cold, form colonies of 200 or 300. enter their nests or "webs," as the experts call them, and close the holes after them. They are then about one-quarter grown. In the spring, as soon as the buds appear, the caterpillars emerge from their winter quarters with a six months' appetite, and proceed to eat the farmer out of his orchard. The caterpillar by dint of rapid and continuous con-tinuous eating reaches full size, a R8gS:' 4S4 J t Ivv-lfe- Caterpillar of the Brown Tail Moth. Enlarged About Five Times. and has appeared here and there in Rhode Island and Maine. The old Bay state, however, has received the brunt of the attack and hundreds of square miles of forest and orchard have been devastated within the boundaries of Massachusetts. Just trifle over an inch in length, early in June. During t;he latter part of June it spins its cocoon, transforms itself into a pupa, and remains in that state for 20 days. Then it comes out a moth in July, flies to more congenial orchards, and starts the work of multiplication mul-tiplication and devastation anew. Female Brown Tail Moth. where and when the scourge was ini ported is not definitely known. It is believed, however, that it was first brought from Holland or France on some rose bushes to Sbmerville, Mass., In 1890. When one considers the remarkable industry the caterpillar displays, its Dutch descent seems probable. It was not recognized, however, by the scientific sharps until 1S97, when the residents of Somerville and Cambridge Cam-bridge found the strange caterpillar feeding upon their pear trees. The Gypsy moth commission of the state, which was then fighting its hopeless battle with the larger and better known caterpillar, was at once notified, noti-fied, and the identity of the immigrant was established. It had been known for 200 years all over Europe, where It had operated from the Mediterranean Mediterran-ean to Sweden. By the close of 1905 the brown tail had spread pretty well over New England Eng-land from lower Massachusetts to the While mountains,- and was still spreading. Mrs. Brown Tail is a traveler, trav-eler, which makes her a great deal more dangerous than Mrs. Gypsy. The latter has wings, but cannot use them. |