No. 4.] THE GYPSY MOTH. 257 



The Present Condition of the Infested liegion. 



The autumnal inspection of the outer towns of the in- 

 fested region was so interrupted by snow-storms that it still 

 remains uncompleted, and therefore no accurate report of 

 the condition of the entire rc<::ion can be made at this time. 

 The ten outer towns which had previously been infested 

 were apparently cleared in 1893. A close watch has been 

 kept of these towns during the year, and a few caterpillars 

 or effo'-clusters have been found at some time durino; the 

 year in most of them. Every vestige of the moth found in 

 these towns has been destroyed, leaving them, with the 

 exception of Lynnfield, still in the list of cleared towns. 

 The discovery of these few moths in these towns emphasizes 

 the need of keeping them under surveillance for a few years 

 after they have been apparently cleared, and so long at least 

 as there are moths in any of the adjacent towns. A pro- 

 tracted search of the wooded portion of southern Lynnfield 

 has resulted in the discovery of several colonies heretofore 

 unknown. As it will probably require two or three years' 

 time to clear this woodland, Lynnfield must l)e retained in 

 the list of infested towns. Woburn, on the other hand, 

 which has been infested until recently, now appears clear, 

 but it must be carefully watched. 



The moths have now been very nearly cleared from 

 Swampscott, Salem, Peabody, Lexington, Soraerville, Lynn 

 and Winthrop, but there are still several localities in each 

 of these towns which will require attention for some time to 

 come. Each town ought also to be inspected thoroughly 

 over its entire area in each of the few years next ensuing, 

 to guard against the appearance of the moth in new locali- 

 ties. The condition of the towns in the central reaion as 

 regards the numbers of the moth is as a whole considerably 

 improved over that of last year. There are localities, how- 

 ever, in Maiden, Medford, Chelsea, Saugus, Melrose, Arling- 

 ton, Winchester and Stoneham, which should have received 

 far more attention than it was possible to give them. In all 

 of these towns there are large areas which are now practically 

 clear of the moth. Larije tracts of woodland in the north- 

 central towns are believed to l)e more or less infested. 



