32 THE GYPSY MOTH. 



condition, which has since varied from time to time, accord- 

 ing to the amount of work that could be done there. In 



^3 



1894 Everett was in very fair condition ; but in 189.">, owing 

 to the pressure of work elsewhere, comparatively little work 

 was done there, and the moths increased rapidly. During 

 the past summer Everett has been burlapped, the burlaps 

 carefully attended and the infested localities examined during 

 the fall. More caterpillars were taken there than in any 

 other city or town, and it is now in much better condition 

 than in 16 9f>. 







Medford, the original home of the gypsy moth in this 

 country, was found very badly infested from the first, and 

 much work was done there in the early part of 1891. Dur- 

 ing the winter of 1891-92 a srrcat deal of careful work was 



c^ 



done in the city, and everything possible with the resources 

 provided has been done there since. Xo burlap was put on 

 in Medford in 1890, on account of the lateness of the appro- 

 priation; but the work of 189") was so well done that only 

 here and there in the centres of population were the rnoths 

 troublesome in is'.Mi. They have increased greatly, however, 

 in the Medford woods within two vears. This tract contains 



V 



a large part of the Middlesex Fells reservation and other 

 woodlands. This woodland centre has been necessarily more 

 or less neglected, owing to lack of means year by year to 

 attend properly to all the woodland in the infested terri- 

 tory. During the past two years several swarms of the 

 rnoth have developed in the Medford woods, while many of 

 the older colonies have increased so rapidly as to menace all 

 the surrounding country. In 1896 many trees were stripped 

 in two localities on the borders of the metropolitan park 

 reservation. Most of the men working in that section of 

 the infested region were concentrated in these woods during 

 the first of the autumn before the leaves had fallen from the 

 trees, and again in December, when the snow tall made the 

 inspection of outer towns and careful cleaning work there 

 unprofitable. During the winter of 1896-97 the work should 

 be pushed to the utmost in these woods, otherwise there is 

 danger that considerable injury may be done in the metro- 



