388 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT. 



Full power and authority are hereby given and granted to the 

 general court to prescribe for wild or forest lands such methods 

 of taxation as will develop and conserve the forest resources of 

 the commonwealth. 



Control of Gipsy and Brown-tail Moths. 



G. — The control of the gipsy and brown-tail moths was turned 

 over to the forestry department in 1909, and, as is indicated 

 under "Administration," by the relative size of the appropria- 

 tions, this work has naturally assumed greater proportions than 

 the regular forestry work of the department. Besides the state 

 appropriation of $315,000, the cities and towns spend on this 

 work $350,000, property owners pay as a special tax between 

 $150,000 and $200,000, and there is spent on state parks and 

 other public lands nearly $200,000, so that altogether nearly 

 $1,000,000 a year is spent in Massachusetts in the suppression 

 of these insects. Of recent years the United States government 

 has cooperated with the state in this work. The total expen- 

 ditures in the state from May, 1905, to January, 1910, were: 

 State, $5,500,000; United States, $417,763.84. As stated under 

 "Administration," the moth work is organized under fifteen 

 divisions. All of the various methods of suppression are used, 

 but binding the trees with burlap and tanglefoot for the gipsy 

 moth is not as much in use as formerly, owing to the great 

 expense of putting it on, and tending it. Spraying in residential 

 sections against both insects has been confined mostly to wooded 

 roadsides, private property, and small wooded areas, where the 

 infestation menaced orchards or shade trees. Arsenate of lead 

 has been extensively used, and with great success. 



Perhaps the greatest hope of the final control of these disas- 

 trous insects is by the introduction of natural enemies. Many 

 thousands of parasitic insects have been planted in various 

 localities. Several varieties of insects have been tried and have 

 successfully survived our winters. The most promising varie- 



