218 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The number of men employed as given in the above list 

 includes only the number actually at work each week. The 

 number of employees on the pay roll is usually from ten to 

 twenty more than those actually at work. For instance, from 

 July 1 to July 6 there were three hundred and sixty-four 

 employees on the pay roll, while the number actually at work 

 was only three hundred and forty-six, eighteen persons being 

 either ill, disabled by accidents or absent from other reasons. 



Summary of the Year's Work. 



By the table given below it will be seen that more than 

 14,300,000 trees have been inspected, — more than twice as 

 many as were inspected last year. This is accounted for by 

 the greater number of men engaged in the work and the lar^e 

 amount of forest land that has been gone over in the inspection 

 of 1895. The number of different forms of the moth found 

 and destroyed by hand is larger also than in any year since 

 1891. More than 2,500,000 caterpillars have been destroyed 

 and over 511,000 egg-clusters have been killed. These egg- 

 clusters might have produced 250,000,000 caterpillars next 

 season had they all been allowed to hatch. The great increase 

 in the number of caterpillars and egg-clusters was made pos- 

 sible by the lapse of the spring work, necessitated by the lack 

 of resources, occurring as it did in a season particularly favor- 

 able for the moth's increase. At least seventy-five per cent, 

 of these insects were killed in localities which it had been 

 planned to visit, inspect and clear in the spring had the means 

 been provided. A report of the number of the different forms 

 of the moth killed by hand does not always indicate the real 

 increase of the moth or the amount of work accomplished, as 

 ordinarily great numbers of the eggs are killed in the spring 

 by burning and many caterpillars are killed by spraying, and 

 it is evident that no account can be kept of the numbers of 

 eggs or caterpillars destroyed by these methods. This season, 

 however, very little burning or spraying could be done, owing 

 to the lateness of the appropriation ; therefore a larger number 

 of men was required to attend to the burlaps, more burlapping 

 was done, and a greater number of caterpillars were killed by 

 hand than in any of the three previous years. 



