No. 4.] INSECTS AND BIRDS. 163 



be understood as inii:)uting blame to those in charge of the 

 work, for we know too well its difficulties, particularly under 

 the present system. Nor would we be understood as in any 

 sense retreating from the i)osition which we have held from 

 the outset of the resumption of the work, indeed from the 

 discovery of the gypsy moth in Massachusetts, — that every- 

 thing possible should be done by the State to suppress it. 

 We would simply point out that the work, excellent as it has 

 been, has suffered, and still suffers, from the defect of being 

 only partial, that all has not been done, because it could not 

 be done, that should have been if the work of suppression 

 was to be a certain success. Suppression is only half-way 

 work at best ; the only certain suppression is attempted ex- 

 termination; and we say again that to point out this is not 

 to criticise those in charge of the work, or to argue for its 

 abandonment or for the relaxing in any way of the efforts 

 now making by all the agencies in charge of the work. 



The scouting operations carried on under the direction 

 of the superintendent of the work during the early part of 

 1908, when nearly 100 trained employees were engaged in 

 searching for the moth beyond the borders of the known in- 

 fested district, showed that the insect had become established 

 in small colonies as far west as Springfield. We are in- 

 formed that many of these small infestations now appear 

 to be stamped out. We heartily approve of the policy of 

 thoroughly examining the outlying towns and cities, as an 

 incipient colony, if found, may often be exterminated in 

 a single year, and at a small expense, whereas if the colonies 

 are allowed to grow until they are forced to the attention of 

 the authorities, an annual outlay of several thousand dollars 

 is necessary in most cases. 



We have noticed with regret the increasing devastation 

 by the gypsy moth in the woodlands of low valuation near 

 the metropolitan district. These woodlands, held often for 

 speculative purposes, and usually covered with scrub growth, 

 have suffered severely by the gypsy moth, and naturally 

 serve as breeding places from which the insects may be trans- 

 ported into sections previously clear of the moths. The 

 thinning or spraying of jirotective belts on the borders of 



