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THE GYPSY A1STD BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



In the first annual report of the Superintendent for Sup- 

 pressing the Gypsy and Brown-tail Moths, submitted Jan. 1, 

 1906, a somewhat detailed history of the moths in Europe was 

 given, and their introduction into Massachusetts, their escape- 

 and gradual spread, as well as the previous efforts of the State to 

 suppress them, were outlined. For this information reference 

 to the above report may be made. The former work of the 

 Massachusetts Board of Agriculture and the beginnings of the- 

 present effort to suppress the moths early in the summer of 1905 

 were also described in full. It should be borne in mind that 

 at the time the present State work against the moths began,, 

 the eggs had hatched and the caterpillars were already swarming 

 in the trees ; that the perfecting of an organization necessary to 

 carry out the present law required much time and effort, and 

 that but little in the way of effective measures could be accom- 

 plished in controlling the caterpillars during the season of 1905. 

 The same was also true of the efforts to approximately determine 

 the size of the infested district, a problem which at this 

 writing has not been definitely solved. While we know approxi- 

 mately the bounds of the area occupied by the gypsy and 

 brown-tail moths, to determine accurately the limits of the 

 infested district will require a larger expenditure than seems to 

 the superintendent warranted under the present condition of 

 State appropriations. These facts are cited merely to emphasize 

 the fact that the report on the seven months' work of last year 

 was in the nature of a preliminary one, and that only at the 

 close of the summer of 1906 were we able to complete a full, 

 year's work against the moths. 



