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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 21, 1981
PAGE 15
hallucinogenic mushrooms. That's California for
you!} Governor
Brown, had
he known it, had only two real alternatives--pray or spray. Or rather, pray
and 2!1,, or spray. ("Bring the full tithes into the storehouse •..! will re
buke the devourers for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your
soil"--Malachi 3:10,11, RSV.)
In the end, pressure by the federal government forced the governor to spray
infected areas with malathion. It will be a very tough fight. Officials are
optimistic at the moment while they wait to see if they interrupted the fly
in the infected Stanislaus County region in the middle of its 30-day breed
ing cycle. The Medfly is indeed a formidable foe. It is specially designed,
it seems, to do its destructive work. Experts call it "the shark of the
insect world.
11
On America's east coast, gypsy moth cateroillars wrought a record amount of
damage in 1981.
The pests ate the leaves off trees covering at least nine
million acres from Maine to Maryland--twice the defoliation of the previous
year. "This is the greatest defoliation or infestation that has ever been
recorded in the Northeastern United States," says a U.S. forestry official.
Next year will be as bad or even worse. There have been indications lately
that the gypsy moths were spreading across the nation, with minor infesta
tions reported in Virginia and West Virginia.
Trees affected by the moths grow back their leaves next year, g1v1ng a false
impression of recovery. However, the trees are weakened by the initial at
tack, making them subject to disease and other pests. Note Deuteronomy
28:42--"All your trees and the fruit of your ground the locust shall pos
sess." (And it might be good to read the first chapter of the book of Joel.)
--Gene
a.
Hogberg, News Bureau