280 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the latter condition involved the destruction of all large colonies wherever 

 they occurred, and would thus prevent the successful breeding of parasites. 

 Such insects would require the most favourable conditions in order to 

 become acclimatized, and this would necessitate the preservation of large 

 colonies of the gypsy moth as food for the parasites. Should the work of 

 extermination be abandoned, a careful study of the natural enemies of the 

 gypsy moth in its native home would be advised. 



At the request of Professor Fernald, Director Forbush gave an 

 account of the progress made in the gypsy moth work and its present 

 condition. He said that when this insect, which was introduced into 

 Massachusetts more than twenty-five years ago, first became seriously 

 destructive, a commission was appointed by the Governor to " prevent 

 its spreading and secure its extermination." This commission found that 

 the territory infested by the moth was much larger than had been sup- 

 posed. The commission was superseded the next season by another, 

 which in a short time was abolished, and the work was then turned over 

 to the State Board of Agriculture. 



The work was begun under a grave misconception of the amount of 

 territory infested. As soon as the State Board assumed the direction of 

 the undertaking, it was found that the infested territory extended, not, as 

 believed by the first commission, over a small and well-defined area, but, 

 instead, over some thirty cities and towns. The size of the infested ter- 

 ritory as considered by the first commission, compared with the actual 

 area later found to be infested, was very aptly illustrated by the comparison 

 of the size of a silver dollar with that of a broad-brimmed hat. 



With a region of two hundred and twenty square miles to be exam- 

 ined and cleared of the moth, the appropriations made the first two years 

 proved entirely insufficient to do more than to destroy the larger swarms 

 of the insect and clear them from a few of the towns on the periphery of 

 the region. The two years' work demonstrated, however, to those in 

 charge that the moths could be cleared from any given territory provided 

 ample appropriations could be secured to organize, equip and train a 

 sufficient force of men. The season of 1892 was rather unfavourable for 

 the multiplication of the moths, and so much progress was made during 

 that year that ten towns appeared to have been entirely cleared of the 

 moth. The committee in charge of the work believed the time had come 

 to strike a decisive blow. The Director and the Entomologist went care- 

 fully over the ground and estimated the cost, recommending in their 



