No. 4.] THE GYPSY MOTH. 235 



The foregoing statements are all from people who witnessed the 

 earlier outbreaks of the gypsy moth in Medford. The following 

 statements are from residents of Boston who have seen the ravages 

 of the moth there in 1895 : — 



Statement of Mr. Wm. Tvner, 39 Sargent Street, Dorchester, 



Boston. 



Early in June of this year I discovered that a tree in my oak grove 

 was covered clear to the top with large hairy caterpillars. Under- 

 neath a squirrel house in another tree there was a great mass of these 

 caterpillars, which resembled a swarm of bees. My son turned the 

 hose on them and knocked them off, and they fell to the ground in a 

 great lump. I could not imagine what these caterpillars were, as I 

 had previously burned all the tent caterpillars on my ground. Upon 

 investigation I found that the trees at one end of the grove were 

 being stripped by these unknown caterpillars, which were later ascer- 

 tained to be those of the gypsy moth. 



I never saw anything like the sight presented by these caterpillars 

 in the succeeding days, before the employees of the Board of Agri- 

 culture arrived and began exterminating them. They were all over 

 the trees, collecting in bunches under the branches and wherever 

 there was a knot or other projection. Some 'were crawling up the 

 trunks and others down, but in addition there was always a collection 

 at the foot of the tree. You could not go into the grove without 

 getting caterpillars on your person. Their droppings fell so thickly 

 that a lot collected in the brim of my Panama hat one day as I passed 

 through the grove. At night-time you could hear very plainly the 

 steady falling of the droppings on the leaves, also the noise made by 

 the caterpillars eating the leaves. It sounded like a shower. 



These caterpillars would strip an oak tree down to the twigs in 

 three days' time. We set out a rose bush one night behind the 

 house, and in the morning the caterpillars had left nothing of it but 

 the stem and twigs. We killed a good many of them, but as fast as 

 we destroyed them others would take their places. They are very 

 tenacious of life. We scalded some with hot water. They would 

 crawl under the eaves and the steps and window sills, and into the 

 house if possible. My nephew found one in his bed. 



If the caterpillars had been allowed to go on one week longer, 

 there would not have been a green thing left. They had begun to 

 scatter, and were crawling through the grass on the lawn and across 

 the street on the day when the gypsy moth men arrived. The em- 

 ployees killed them in great numbers and burned many bushels in all. 



(Signed) William Tyneb. 



Dec. 31, 1895. 



