40 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



[Jan. 



Falmouth. 



Framingham. 



Gloucester. 



Groton. 



Groveland. 



Hamilton. 



Harvard. 



Hingham. 



Hudson. 



Ipswich. 



Leorninster. 



Littleton. 



Marlborough. 



Melrose. 



Merrimac. 



Methuen. 



Natick. 



Needham. 



Newbury. 



Newburyport. 



North Andover. 



Northborough. 



Orleans. 



Quincy. 



Reading. 



Rockland. 



Rowley. 



Salisbury. 



Sandwich. 



Scituate. 



Southborough. 



Stoneham. 



Sudbury. 



Swampscott. 



Tewksbury. 



Townsend. 



Truro. 



Watertown. 



Wayland. 



Wellesley. 



Wellfleet. 



Wenham. 



West Newbury. 



Westborough. 



Westford. 



Weston. 



Weymouth. 



Winchester. 



Yarmouth. 



METROPOLITAN WATER AND SEWERAGE BOARD, 

 BOSTON, Jan. 25, 1909. 



LEON H. WORTHLEY, Esq., Acting Superintendent. 



DEAR SIR : - - In reply to your request that our Board should furnish 

 you with a brief statement of its work against the gypsy and brown-tail 

 moths and other pests on lands under its supervision during the past 

 .year, I submit the following : 



During the year 1908 a sum amounting to about $7,500 was expended 

 for the purpose of protecting trees on the lands of the metropolitan 

 water works from injury by the gypsy and brown-tail moths, the elm 

 beetles and the pine tree weevils. This sum was about $3,200 less than 

 was expended during the previous year, as the thorough work done on 

 the property at Spot Pond during the past few years has materially 

 reduced the cost of keeping the gypsy moths under control. 



The methods followed have been the same as in previous years, 

 namely : painting the egg clusters of the gypsy moths with a mixture of 

 creosote and fuel oil; cutting off and burning the nests of the brown- 

 tail moths; banding the trees with tanglefoot early in the spring, to 

 prevent the caterpillars from ascending the trees; spraying with arse- 

 nate of lead all trees which were found to be infested with moths ; and 

 banding with burlap the trees in places where moths were known or 

 suspected to be present, and destroying the full-grown caterpillars which 

 collected under the burlap. Trees infested with elm beetles were sprayed 

 with arsenate of lead, and the trees were scraped from the ground to a 

 height of 8 or 10 feet. 



The numbers of the gypsy moths have decreased, but the brown-tail 

 moths ami the elm beetles have increased in large numbers, as compared 

 with the previous year. Gypsy moths have, however, been found in 



