12 GYPSY xVND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. [Jan. 



to he subjected to that devastation which one would have a 

 right to anticipate from these reports. ... It appears to 

 us that the fears of the farmers throughout the State have 

 been unnecessarily and unwarrantably aroused, evidently 

 for the purpose of securing the effect of those fears upon 

 the matter of the annual appropriations. . . . We do not 

 share these exaggerated fears, and the prophecies of devas- 

 tation and ruin are unwarranted, and in the most charitable 

 view are but the fancies of honest enthusiasts." 1 While the 

 committee recommended the continuation of the work on 

 lines somewhat similar to those of the present act, the prac- 

 tical result of this report was the refusal of the Legislature to 

 make any appropriation, and the State work was brought 

 to a close. 



UNRESTRICTED INCREASE or THE MOTH. 



As would have been expected, during the years 1900 and 

 1901 but little notable damage was caused by the gypsy 

 moth, although evidence was not wanting to the trained 

 observer that it was rapidly multiplying in woodlands and on 

 neglected private estates. It was apparent that non-resident 

 property owners particularly paid practically no attention to 

 the increase of the insect, and that farmers and others own- 

 ing infested woodland areas were unwilling, because of the 

 expense, to fight the pest. In 1902 numerous estates were 

 severely injured throughout the central district, while wood- 

 land colonies of some magnitude had developed from which 

 the insects were swarming in all directions. The summer 

 of 1903 showed that the moth had established itself again in 

 alarming numbers in various parts of the infested district. 

 Serious colonies had developed in the woods of Arlington, 

 Medford, Saugus and Maiden, and the Lynn Woods colonies 

 had assumed notable proportions. In 1904 it was apparent 

 to all that the gypsy moth had developed to a remarkable 

 degree, rein tested the areas from which it had been cleared 

 and even extended its bounds into previously non-infested 

 territory. The caterpillar outbreak was sufficient to con- 



1 From report of special committee appointed to inquire into the state of the work 

 of exterminating the gypsy moth. House, No. 1138, March, 1900. 



