1907]. PUBLIC DOCUMENT- -No. 73. 145 



tions care has been taken to cut the stumps close to the ground, 

 in order to eliminate as far as possible favorite nesting places 

 of the moth. 



Roadside Clearing. 



Our New England roadsides are proverbially rock-bound. 

 In the walls bordering our highways the gypsy moth finds an 

 ideal nesting place. Thus for example, at Woburn this year a 

 roadside wall yielded moth nests by the thousand, as many as 

 50 or 60 egg clusters being found on single stones not over a 

 foot in diameter. Hatching in such secure places, caterpillars 

 swarm to feed on the ever-present brush, and later ascend the 

 street trees and from them spin down in swarms on passing- 

 vehicles, to be transported often many miles to establish new 

 colonies. It is an absolute impossibility to stop the spreading 

 of the moth and the consequent increase in area of the infested 

 district so long as the roadsides are infested. This necessitates 

 the cutting and burning of roadside brush (leaving at suitable 

 intervals trees for shade) as one of the first preliminary steps 

 in destroying the moth. 



Next, in severe cases of infestation the walls are burned out 

 and the ground burned over with an oil flame. Whether this 

 burning is done or not, the caterpillars, as they appear, are 

 driven for food to the remaining trees, there to be intercepted 

 by bands of sticky material, to be caught under the burlap, or 

 to feed on well-sprayed foliage. To those who do not appre- 

 ciate how thoroughly and persistently roadside brush fosters 

 and retains moth colonies, such growth is one of the most beau- 

 tiful things in nature. But if the spread of the gypsy moth 

 is to be checked, many of our brush-bordered roadsides must 

 be sacrificed. After the necessary moth work has been accom- 

 plished, nature will soon replace the plants and shrubs which 

 formerly delighted the eye. In any event, it would be far 

 better to have bare roadsides for a long term of years than to 

 permit the gypsy moth to continue its spread into non-infested 

 territory, there ultimately to work as great harm as it has done 

 in eastern Massachusetts. 



