2 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture. 



foliated completely during early summer, and the caterpillars 

 swarmed into houses, making themselves a general nuisance 

 throughout the community. In some sections it was impos- 

 sible to rent property on account of the abundance of the 

 caterpillars, and real estate values declined rapidly. For 10 

 years a desperate battle was carried on by the State of Massa- 

 chusetts to exterminate the insect, and during that period 

 it was found to occur in greater or less numbers throughout 

 30 towns and cities, principally toward the north and west of 

 Boston. This work reduced the infestations to such an extent 

 that many citizens who, during the first part of the period, 

 had been seriously annoyed by the pest, or had suffered 

 severe loss from it, came to the conclusion that because it was 

 seldom seen the work was unnecessary and no harm would 

 result if measures for its control were discontinued. 



In 1897 another foreign pest, namely, the brown-tail moth 

 of Europe, was discovered in Somerville, Mass., and the 

 effort to bring this insect under control added to the State's 

 financial burdens. The caterpillars of this moth are pro- 

 vided with hairs which cause severe itching and urtication 

 when coming in contact with the human skin, producing an 

 eruption which is known by those who have experienced the 

 trouble as the " brown- tail rash." Thus, while the gipsy-moth 

 caterpillars were a nuisance on account of their large size and 

 disagreeable appearance, the presence of caterpillars of the 

 brown-tail moth in large numbers was actually unbearable on 

 account of the poisoning which resulted to the residents. 



Enough pressure was brought to bear, however, in the fall 

 of 1899 to cause the discontinuance of State appropriations 

 for the control of these insects. The residents soon found 

 that this policy did not work as anticipated, for both insects 

 increased at an alarming rate, and in the course of three or 

 four years the infestation had become so bad that many citi- 

 zens were forced to attempt control measures. The work 

 which was done was not carried on in a systematic manner, 

 and while a few exerted every effort to protect their property 

 from the depredations of these insects and to keep their trees 

 free from the caterpillars, many totally neglected to attend 

 to the work, and the result was a general clamor for a sys- 

 tematic and thorough effort to abate the nuisance. During 

 this period many acres of woodland became infested seri- 

 ously and in the years which followed thousands of acres 



