354 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. [Pub. Doc. 



to fight the insect liimself when it reaches his premises. To 

 determine this question, we have only to consider that the 

 vakie of the taxable property in this State is $2,429,832,- 

 966, and an appropriation of $200,000 is a tax of less than 

 one-twelfth of a mill on a dollar. A man having taxable 

 property to the amount of $5,000 will have to pay a tax of 

 only 41 cents and 6 mills for this purpose. If we suppose 

 a man on a $5,000 farm should have to pay this tax annually 

 as long as he carries on the farm, say, forty years, the sum 

 total of his tax during all those years would amount to 

 $16.64, which is far less than it would cost him to clear the 

 gypsy moth from his premises in a single year. Such a 

 farmer in the western part of the State can look upon this 

 tax as a premium paid to the State to protect him from 

 damage by the gypsy moth, in the same w^ay as a premium 

 paid an insurance company protects him from loss by fire. 

 If, however, the Legislature continues to adopt the rec- 

 ommendations of the gypsy moth committee till the pest is 

 exterminated, this tax will continue but a comparatively 

 few years. 



The Action of the Legislature. 



The only uncertainty at the present time about extermi- 

 nation is the action of the Legislature. There are members 

 of this body who have taken time to investigate the gypsy 

 moth work thoroughly. They have gone over the infested 

 territory and studied the problem very carefully from every 

 point of view, with the result that they realize the full 

 gravity of the situation ; the great destruction that this in- 

 sect would cause if allowed to spread over the State ; the 

 impossibility of extermination or of successfully dealing 

 with the pest by individuals or even municipalities ; and 

 they are also convinced that the State can and ought to 

 furnish the means necessary for the absolute extermination 

 of this insect. There are others wdio, unfortunately, have 

 had neither time nor opportunity to investigate this work, 

 and they may not be familiar with such problems. I am 

 not surprised that such persons should think it impossible 

 to exterminate the moth, for several noted economic ento- 

 mologists held the same opinion before visiting the infested 



