No. 4.] THE GYPSY MOTH. 381 



diameter. In the period mentioned its ravages assumed a 

 most formidable character, and fruit and shade trees were 

 devastated by millions of hungry insects. The control of 

 the insect was practically delegated, by common consent, to 

 the efforts of the individual property owners. Each energetic 

 sufferer attempted, by the outlay of time and money, to 

 destroy the caterpillars which swarmed over his property ; 

 each shiftless neighbor allowed the insects to multiply and 

 run riot over his place, thus setting at naught the efforts of 

 the more enterprising members of the community. This 

 state of affairs continued to grow worse, until in midsummer, 

 1889, the town, and later, in 1890, the State was called upon 

 for aid. What warrant have we to believe that similar con- 

 ditions would not in a few years follow the abandonment 

 of the work against the gypsy moth? We know that the 

 moth has lost none of its prolificacy or voracity, — witness 

 the recent colony at Georgetown, illustrations from which 

 appear in this report. Has human nature so changed that 

 all members of an afflicted community would now work 

 together to control this pest? That they would not is 

 evident from past experience. As a matter of fact, they 

 could not if they would, because of the great expense involved 

 in such an undertaking. 



The test of a method is the result obtained. Individual 

 efforts under the prevailing conditions of society were not 

 successful in coping with the moth. Has the work against 

 the gypsy moth under State auspices been a success ? The 

 answer to this question may be fairly sought in a contrast 

 of the conditions prevailing at the inception of the work 

 and those that obtain at the present time. When the State 

 work against the moth began, the foliage of the trees in a 

 large part of Medford and in parts of Arlington and Maiden 

 had been destroyed, and, as a result of the devastation in 

 previous years, hundreds of trees were dying or dead. 

 Serious outbreaks soon appeared at Swampscott and other 

 places along the north shore. Large colonies of the moth 

 developed in the woodlands near the infested district, while 

 the pest was known to be disseminated in varying numbers 

 through at least thirty cities and towns. At the present time 

 damage by the moth has been brought down to a minimum, 



