REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 11 



The force of men was necessarily reduced in August by 

 the discharge of one hundred and twenty-five men, and all 

 work was suspended for two weeks in September, therefore 

 it was impossible to inspect thoroughly all of the colonies 

 when the burlap was taken off. The known colonies in the 

 Saugus woods were inspected in the latter part of Septem- 

 ber and in October, and the eggs on the trees destroyed. 

 This having been done, the men in that section were put 

 at work inspecting the known colonies in Lynnfield, Salem, 

 Marblehead, Swampscott and Peabody, and destroying the 

 few eggs which could be found in these towns. The rest 

 of the force was concentrated in the Middlesex Fells region, 

 in Medford, where the moths had been hardly held in check 

 by the work of the previous winter, spring and summer. 

 Here a force of ninety men was kept at work destroying 

 the eggs of the moth until December, when, the appropria- 

 tion having been nearly exhausted, a large proportion of the 

 men were discharged. 



The result of the year's work is, that where there were 

 three badly infested colonies of a thousand acres each in the 

 woods of the infested region there now remains only one 

 such colony. In that one the increase of the moths has now 

 been checked, but they are more widely scattered there than 

 they were in 1896 ; therefore the cost of treating this Middle- 

 sex Fells region will be greater another year than it would 

 have been had sufficient means been provided in 1897 to 

 check the increase and spread of the moth there. The 

 known colonies in the outer towns have been attended to, 

 and their favorable condition, as reported last year, has 

 been maintained and in many instances improved. Only 

 one new point of infestation outside of last year's lines has 

 been discovered, and this place, situated in the town of 

 Lincoln, has been promptly and carefully attended to. It 

 was discovered in woodland at some distance from the high- 

 way. From all indications, it has been infested for several 

 years. It would have been found long before had sufficient 

 means been provided for a thorough inspection of all the 

 towns near the infested region . 



o 



The reports of past years have stated that there were large 

 woodland colonies of the moth in the central part of the in- 



