342 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pul). Doo. 



were burned over, and no evidence of the moth has been 

 discovered on this ground since. In another colony, in 

 which caterpillars have been abundant during the past two 

 summers, your agents cut off the wood from about ten 

 acres. The ground here was burned over wherever cater- 

 pillars appeared in the spring, and only two egg-clusters 

 have been found in this lot since the burnino;. In the 

 south-eastern portion of the town, liordering on the Middle- 

 sex Fells reservation, is a tract of farm land where there 

 have been strips of badly infested woodland. Most of this 

 was cut or cleared up in the spring of 1897, and vast num- 

 bers of the eggs were destroyed by fire. This work and 

 the burlapping of the summer has greatly reduced the 

 moths in this section and prevented their distribution to 

 other parts of the town. 



Although Winchester has been more carefully examined 

 during the burlap season than last year, the number of cater- 

 pillars killed was much smaller. The numbers killed were 

 as follows: in 1896, 243,639 ; in 1897, 130,221. 



Most of Winchester has been inspected quite thoroughly 

 within three years, either in the burlapping season or during 

 the fall, winter and spring. 



As a whole, Winchester is now in better condition with 

 regard to the gypsy moth than it has been at any time dur- 

 ing the past few years. 



Winthrop. 

 All the colonies in Winthrop in which any form of the 

 moth was found in 1896 were burlapped in 1897. The trees 

 were climbed and carefully inspected. Only 23 caterpillars 

 and 3 pupte were found. An inspection of the infested locali- 

 ties was made when the burlap was taken off, but no eggs 

 were found. The entire town was very thoroughly inspected 

 in 1896, and nearly all the trees in the town were burlapped 

 for three years in succession. The results reached are largely 

 due to a liberal use of burlap. The moth appears to be 

 nearly exterminated from Winthrop, but, as there is much 

 driving there during the summer from Maiden, Medford and 

 other infested towns, it is probable a few caterpillars will be 

 distributed there annually so long as they are to be found in 

 numbers in these central towns. 



