No. 4.] THE GYPSY MOTH. 441 



stone heaps presents one of the greatest difficulties to be en- 

 countered in the extermination of the gypsy moth. The best 

 method yet found for destroying the eggs in such places is 

 that of spraying the stones with fuel oil. If this work be 

 properly done at a season when the weather is not too cold, 

 the oil spreads rapidly among the stones, penetrating the 

 egg-clusters and destroying the life within the eggs. To 

 treat thoroughly walls and ledges in this manner, it is 

 necessary first to burn away with a cyclone burner the 

 leaves around and among the stones, then spray the stones 

 completely with the same machine. When carefully done 

 this is the least expensive and most effective means known 

 to-day of destroying the eggs in such hiding-places. This 

 spraying was begun in July and continued until well into 

 October. The greater part of it was done in Maiden, Med- 

 ford and other towns in the Mystic valley. Although 

 several miles of stone walls and also many stone heaps and 

 ledges were sprayed in this manner, the work was unfinished 

 when the frost came. As it cannot be done to advantage in 

 cold weather, it should be finished in the warmer days of 

 March and April, 1899, before the eggs hatch. 



The Fall Inspection. 



When the moths had laid their eggs, an inspection of all 

 the burlapped trees was begun. Not only were the burlaps 

 looked over and the eggs of the moth found beneath them 

 destroyed, but the trees themselves were given a quick 

 examination, and all the eggs in sight were killed with creo- 

 sote. The most expert men were then employed in con- 

 tinuing the inspection (which had been ended only by the 

 hatching of the eggs in the spring) of those towns which 

 had not been examined entirely for two or three years. 

 Fifteen towns, including most of those worst infested, were 

 inspected during the summer or fall, partly in the burlap- 

 ping season and partly during the search for eggs after the 

 leaves had fallen from the trees. In some of these towns 

 a few small new colonies were found, but in most cases 

 they were found in season to prevent any wide distribution 

 from them. While the inspection was going on, those 



