368 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



portion of the trees and clearing away the underbrush in a 

 wide circle around the original centre of infestation. Ninety 

 acres of woodland have been thus put into condition for 

 burlapping work in the larval season of 1900. Trees left 

 standing in this partially cleared space will average upward 

 of one hundred and twenty-five to the acre. They are 

 large, sound and smooth-barked, and can be quickly in- 

 spected. Probably it will be necessary to continue some 

 thinning in January over about forty acres more of wood- 

 land. Some portions of the ground should be burned over 

 with oil in the spring to destroy larvaa which may arise from 

 broken egg-clusters. The fall inspection of the woods sur- 

 rounding the colony has been extended on the north, south 

 and east for about half a mile, and for a shorter distance 

 on the west. Only 9 egg-clusters were found, all being 

 near the original infested tract. The finding and stamping 

 out of this rather compact colony before the larvte had 

 scattered very far or many eggs had been laid was most 

 fortunate. While it is to be presumed that some local dis- 

 tribution of the insect has taken place, from all indications 

 not many caterpillars will be found under the burlaps in the 

 summer of 1900. 



Lexington. — For the first time since 1895 a thorough in- 

 spection of the entire town was made during the winter and 

 spring of 1898-99. A few small colonies were found, all 

 of which are natural off-shoots of the woodland colonies 

 in Arlington and Winchester, which perforce were badly 

 neglected in the j-ears of diminished appropriations. These 

 small colonies have been put in good condition, and the bur- 

 laps inspected almost every day during the larval season. 

 It is apparent that the moth has been exterminated from 

 many of these colonies. The woodland colonies of the 

 south-eastern part of the town, once as badly infested as 

 any in the entire district, are now in excellent condition. 

 In one colony, in which 1,962 larvae were destroyed in 

 1897 and 353 in 1898, only 1 was found in 1899. In an- 

 other colony, where 57,444 larvae were destroyed in 1897 

 and 8,386 in 1898, but 626 were found in 1899. As the 

 entire town was inspected during the year, the conditions 



