No. 4.] THE GYPSY MOTH. 275 



that you could not have told what kind of paint was on it. It was 

 impossible to keep them entirely out of the house. The women 

 had to shake their clothing when they went into the house. Peo- 

 ple used lo come from other parts of Medford to Myrtle Street, 

 just to see the ravages of the insect. The State should not drop 

 the work of extermination under any consideration. Myrtle Street 

 has been nicel}'^ shaded this year. Onl}' four years ago the trees 

 were bare. The work of the department has been very effective. 

 The men have done great work in our section. 



(Signed) J. C. Clark. 

 Feb. 13, 1893. 



Copy of Statement of Mrs. Wm. Belcher^ 29 Myrtle Street^ Medford^ 



Mass. 

 Mr. Trouvelot, who is said to have introduced the gypsy moth 

 into this country, was a next-door neighbor of ours. The cater- 

 pillars troubled us for six or eight years before they attained to 

 their greatest destructiveness. This was in 1889. They were all 

 over the outside of the house as well as the trees. All the fobage 

 was eaten off our trees, the apples being attacked first and the 

 pears next. They ate nearly every green thing in my yard, kill- 

 ing my rose bushes and doing much damage to the vegetables. 

 No one who did not see them at that time can form any idea of 

 what a pest they were. They got into the strawberry bed (al- 

 though they did not eat the leaves), and I used to go out with a 

 dust pan and brush and sweep them up by the panful. It seemed 

 to us absolutely necessary to go out daily and make an effort to at 

 least lessen their numbers. We killed many with boiling hot 

 water and would then dig a hole and bury them so as to prevent 

 a stench. Mr. Belcher was poisoned by them. AVhile killing 

 them upon the trees they would get upon his neck and poison 

 it. It was impossible to stay long in the garden, for they would 

 crawl all over one. We fought them for two or three years before 

 the commission took hold. When they hatched out in the 

 spring our fence would be one living mass. My sister and myself 

 blistered the paint all oft' the fence with the scalding water that we 

 poured on. When they were small it was almost impossible to 

 keep them off one's person. It is a fact that we have scraped a 

 quart of eggs at a time off the trees. We did the best we could to 

 keep them down, but we could not get them all, for many would 

 hide away and lay their eggs. To show how the caterpillars seem 

 to strike instinctively towards a place where food may be found, 

 my sister cried out one day, " They are marching up the street." 

 I went to the front door, and sure enough, the street was black 



