Il8 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



FIELD WORK FOR THE YEAR. 



Scouting for egg clusters of the g}'psy moth was begiui 

 early in the year and was continued until time for burlapping. 

 Five bales of burlap were used in this work and over 800,000 

 caterpillars were taken and destroyed during the months of 

 June, July and a part of August. The spraying operations were 

 carried on more extensively than ever before. Seven tons of 

 arsenate of lead were used with the most gratifying results. 



The summer work finished on Sept. 15. Owing to lack of 

 funds it was necessary to stop all work until Oct. 15, when the 

 scouting was again begun and continued until Dec. 15. The 

 scouting operations resulted in the finding and destroying of 

 1,273,860 tgg clusters. In this work over 600 gallons of creo- 

 sote were used. 



Forest fires in the western part of the state have destroyed a 

 great many of the caterpillars. In addition to the spraying work 

 done by the state. South Berwick, San ford, Kennebunk, Gorham, 

 Yarmouth, \\>lls and Lewiston have done a great deal with the 

 machines owned by the towns and cities, mentioned. There are 

 now known to be 189 towns infested with the gypsy moth. 



CORRESPOXDENCE. 



In addition to the work at the laboratory and in the field, a 

 great deal of correspondence has been carried on by the field 

 agent. During the year 1564 letters have been received and 

 answered, all of which related to the proper methods of hand- 

 ling the gypsy moth, many of them reporting new infestations. 

 In such cases an inspector has been sent to the person making 

 such report with the purpose of educating such persons in the 

 proper methods of taking care of the pest. By this method we 

 have enlisted the support and help of a great many people and 

 I believe that this service is the best that can be rendered to our 

 citizens, as it helps them to take care of their orchards and shade 

 trees in the best possible manner. 



COLORED POST CARDS. 



Having had a large number of colored post cards left from 

 last year, the same have been sent through the mail to all parts 

 of the state. These cards show the life history of gypsy and 



