442 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



members of the force who were not expert at this work 

 were employed in cutting decaying trees and underbrush, 

 or destroying the eggs of the moth in the worst-infested 

 localities. Large tracts of woodland in Medford, Maiden, 

 Winchester, Saugus and other towns were cleared by the 

 brush cutters of the abnormal sprout growth due to the 

 wet season, and were put in good condition for the work of 

 1899. 



Much of the critical examination of the towns of the in- 

 fested region is still undone, on account of the delay in 

 making the appropriations. This sort of work requires the 

 services of expert men. The number of this class to be 

 obtained is comparatively small. For this reason the time 

 lost in the spring could not be made up in the latter part of 

 the year. But, if a sufficient appropriation can be made very 

 early in 1899, thereby preventing delay and the loss of ex- 

 perienced men, this work can probably be completed before 

 the eggs hatch. The men engaged in killing eggs in the 

 worst-infested localities found very few where, in the spring, 

 they had destroyed them by thousands. Still, many egg- 

 clusters were found scattered through the woods in Maiden, 

 Medford and Melrose. Much work has been done there, 

 but much remains to be done before the eggs hatch in the 

 spring. It became evident during the season that, to secure 

 the extermination of the moth in these woodlands of the 

 central towns, a great amount of work would have to be 

 done in 1899. Most of this woodland is of such value that 

 the trees growing upon it cannot be cut, except such as may 

 be removed where a judicious thinning is required. These 

 trees, therefore, must be reckoned as an annual expense, for 

 they must be burlapped, climbed and otherwise treated, until 

 the moth is exterminated from these woods. For this reason 

 it became necessary to reduce the number of trees in the 

 infested woodlands of the outer towns, so that in 1899 they 

 would require so little attention that the greater part of the 

 force could be concentrated in the woodlands of the centre. 

 A gang of wood-choppers was organized and put at work 

 cutting underbrush and thinning out the woodland in the 

 central towns, until the great snow storm of November 26 

 made thorough work of this sort impossible. These men 



