ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 



the eggs. For the destruction of the caterpillars, Prof. Forbush reports that " the method 

 of banding the trees with burlap is the most eflfective one yet devised to dispose of this 

 form of the moth. The burlap offers them a convenient shelter, and if it is put on all 

 infested trees, and frequently examined, many caterpillars will be caught that v?-ould 

 otherwise escape notice. One hundred and tifty thousand yards of this material were 

 purchased. It was cut into strips and applied to the trees in infested localities. It is 

 necessary to examine the burlap bands once each day, or at least once in two days, to 

 be sure of securing all the caterpillars which gather beneath them." 



In view of the great difficulties which the commission had to face in solving the 

 problem of the extermination of the Gypsy moth, the immensity of the work, the impos- 

 sibility of forming a true estimate of the extent of the infested country or of the money 

 required and, as it turned out, of the habits of the insects and the best reuiedie?, too 

 great credit cannot, I think, be given to those who have so wisely and ably directed the 

 efforts to stamp out this dire enemy. 



It will, indeed, be short-sighted policy, if the Legislature of Massachusetts does not now 

 provide the funds necessary to finish up this good work. For nothing is more certain than 

 that, if the amount estimated by the director with all the experience of the past three 

 years, as absolutely necessary, be not forthcoming, not only will all the good work already 

 accomplished be nullified, but at some time in the future it, and much more, will have to 

 be doiie over again at a far greater expense. In concluding his last report, Prof. Forbush 

 says : " The statute under which the committee is appointed, calls for extermination. 

 The cost of extermination is great. It certainly costs more to search for the last egg- 

 cluster, caterpillar or moth, than it would to destroy the majority of them and thus 

 prevent both dissemination and damage for the time being. But if larger sums of money 

 than those already appropriated can be secured and the extermination of the moth can be 

 accomplished, an expense will be stopped, which must otherwise be continunlly increasing 

 and which must bo borne annually for an indefinite period, either by the State or by all 

 residents of the country over which the moth would extend its constantly widening range. 

 Encouraging progress towards extermination has already been made with manifestly 

 insufficient funds and in the face of many obstacles. The numbers of the moth have 

 been so reduced that no material damage has been done by it during the past two years. 

 It has been exterminated first from single trees, then from orchards, woodlands and entire 

 towns. More than 800 infested localities have been entirely freed of its presence. This 

 work was begun on the borders of the infested region, and has progressed toward the 

 centre until the moth appears now to have been exterminated from more than one-third 

 of the region infested in 1891." 



This was written in February, 1894. In Prof. Fernald's report, published in the 

 same volume, are statements from six of our most prominent official entomologists, all of 

 whom testify to the admirable way in which the 'I'ork has been carried oi^t. Prof. 

 Packard says : " It seems to me that the work is practical and thorough throughout." 

 Prof. Weed, of New Hampshire, says : " I have never seen a series of similar experi- 

 ments carried on in so large a scale or in so thoroughly scientific a manner." Dr. Fernald, 

 of Pennsylvania, says : " A careful consideration of the methods used and of the results 

 already obtained, has convinced me that the extermination of the Gypsy Moth is not only 

 possible but certain, if the work be prosecuted for a sufficient length of time." Prof. John 

 B. Smith says : " The force has accomplished wonders, and I feel that there is very good 

 reason for the belief that the Gypsy moth can be exterminated, provided the means are 

 furnished." Dr. Lintner, of New York, says : " How a work of such magnitude, extend- 

 ing over so large a territory, could have been accomplished was a wonder and an enigma to 

 me, until I became acquainted with the means by which it had been brought about." 



