No. L] GYPSY MOTH, 221 



thorough and continuous work on the part of property owners 

 in that section prevented all the trees in that district from 

 being defoliated. Thousands of quarts of caterpillars were 

 gathered by hand and destroyed. tSpraying was freely resorted 

 to, and the morning inspection of the trees became a household 

 duty, which took precedence over all other matters. The 

 remains of the old woodland colonies in the northern part of 

 the town j)reviously referred to have now increased to such an 

 extent that about three hundred acres all told were practically 

 defoliated the past year. The beautiful Pine Banks region in 

 the Metropolitan Park was completely devastated, and hun- 

 dreds of young pines killed outright, in spite of the earnest 

 and faithful endeavors of the employees of tlie Park Commis- 

 sion. Gen. S. C. Lawrence, one of the largest i3roj)erty owners 

 in the city, found it again necessary, as in recent years, to 

 employ a large force of men in combating the moth on his 

 woodlands. Many thousands of dollars were so spent by this 

 public-spirited citizen, but with only a partial measure of 

 success, owing to surrounding infestations on neglected wood- 

 lands. The numbers of egg clusters now existing in Medford 

 are truly formidable, and constitute a serious omen for the 

 season of 1905. 



3felrose. 



1899. — The moth colonies in Melrose at the close of 1899 

 were few in number and widely separated. Near the Maiden 

 line in the woodlands a few colonies of importance had devel- 

 oped, but not over an acre of woodland had been defoliated. 

 The residential section was practically free from the insect. 

 In fact, throughout the town the average observer might travel 

 for days without finding a single specimen of the moth in any 

 stage. 



1904. — Melrose to-day is nearly as badly infested as Maiden. 

 The woodland near the Maiden and Saugus lines in the southern 

 and eastern parts of the city was practically defoliated, and the 

 residential district in that section suffered severely from the 

 moth. At Melrose Highlands a large colony, occupying per- 

 haps fifty acres, has appeared. Another occurs in the western 

 part of the town, near the Stoneham line, and over this area 

 nearly all the trees were stripped. At the time the work 

 stopped, in 1899, Melrose was in a condition where two years' 

 work on the part of a small force could have exterminated the 

 insect from the city. To-thiy ;iii outlay of many tliousands of 



