434 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Report of the Ft e ld Director. 



To the Committee on the Gypsy Moth. 



Gentlemen: — As it had been ascertained in 1897 that 

 the moths were spreading from the badly infested woodland 

 colonies in the central towns, thereby reinfesting the outer 

 towns, the plan of work for the season of 1898 contem- 

 plated the destruction, at any cost, of the moths in these 

 badly infested colonies. In pursuance of this plan, the 159 

 men who were in the employ of the Board January 1, were 

 nearly all kept at work in the badly infested woodlands in 

 Medford and Saugus. Three-fourths of the force worked 

 through January in Medford. They were employed mainly 

 in cutting decaying and badly infested trees, thereby re- 

 ducing the number of trees to be inspected, climbed, 

 scraped, burlapped, sprayed or otherwise treated during 

 the summer work. Millions of moth eggs were destroyed 

 by cutting and burning these trees, as well as by treating 

 e<rg-clusters with creosote. While this work was going on 

 in Medford, similar work was done during the cloudy or 

 snowy weather in the Saugus woods. The work of inspec- 

 tion, cutting and burning was confined entirely to these 

 towns and mainly to the worst colonies. There being no 

 money available for the work after February 1, the entire 

 force was laid off on that date. 



The Winter and Spring Work. 

 An emergency appropriation having been made early in 

 February, the force was again put at work. It had been 

 planned not only to destroy all the eggs possible in the 

 worst colonies, but also to make an inspection of the terri- 

 tory in the central towns immediately surrounding those 

 colonies. This work, which was begun in January, was 

 followed up so that all of Saugus and most of Medford were 



