6 THE GYPSY MOTH. 



sented at the first available opportunity, ten days in advance 

 of the time required by law, so that the Legislature might 

 have every opportunity for the most speedy action. 



In March, the appropriation of 1895 being exhausted, and 

 the Legislature having taken no action, most of the men 

 were discharged. This delay was a repetition of the expe- 

 rience of past seasons, except that the loss of time was 

 greater. This lapse of the spring work was unfortunate in 

 the last degree, and was productive of most serious results. 



An emergency appropriation of $10,000, to continue the 

 work until the Legislature should provide for the work of 

 the season, was finally granted, and became available April 

 28. AVith this amount good work was done during the 

 month of May, in burning over the ground in infested locali- 

 ties in the woods, thereby destroying the moth eggs con- 

 cealed upon the ground or near it, and putting much of the 

 territory into such condition that little damage was done by 

 the moth (luring the season. In several of these places no 

 caterpillars have since appeared. This appropriation was 

 not sufficient, however, to do one-half of the work that was 

 absolutely necessary at that time, and many large colonies 

 in forested land, in the inner towns, were necessarily neg- 

 lected. There the caterpillars hatched and later in the sea- 

 son became very destructive. The appropriation of $90,000 

 for the work of the season, less than one-half the sum rec- 

 ommended by the Board, finally became available June 4. 

 It was then too late to carry out the plans made for the 

 season's work. This delay, together with the small amount 

 of the appropriation, necessitated a complete change in those 

 plans. Moreover, extra work was made necessary by the 

 hatching of the eggs, which it had been planned to destroy 

 in the spring had the appropriation been available at that 

 time. Burlap was purchased and applied as quickly as pos- 

 sible to the trees in all of the outer towns of the infested 

 region, and in Everett, which had been necessarily somewhat 

 neglected the previous year. Before the burlap had all been 

 put on in these towns the caterpillars had begun to cluster. 

 In order to do the necessary w r ork it was imperative to in- 

 crease largely the force of men at once, and to put all hands 

 at work killing caterpillars under the burlaps in the outer 



