30 FIELD WORK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



RESULTS OF DISCONTINUANCE OF THE WORK. 



During the years 1900 and 1901 little notable injury was caused 

 by the gipsy moth and little attention was paid to it. 



In the winter of 1902 a small pamphlet was issued by the state 

 board of agriculture setting forth the fact that the moth was increas- 

 ing to an alarming extent in many of the wooded districts and 

 predicting that unless all signs failed enormous injury would result. 

 Mention was also made of the fact that about 4 square miles had 

 been found infested in Providence, R. I., during the summer of 1901. 

 This was the first infestation found outside the State of Massachu- 

 setts, and from its location it was believed that the insects had been 

 purposely liberated by some malicious person. 



At this time the brown-tail moth had spread rapidly in a northeast 

 direction throughout eastern Massachusetts and into New Hampshire 

 and Maine. Already many persons were being poisoned severely by 

 the caterpillars, especially in the sections around Boston, where the 

 moths were becoming abundant. 



During the next two years the gipsy moth increased to such an 

 extent that thousands of acres of woodland were defoliated. The 

 caterpillars appeared in such swarms as to denude the orchards and 

 ornamental trees in most of the sections which were previously 

 infested. Large areas of pine timber died as a result of the work of 

 the pest, and real estate values rapidly depreciated in the worst 

 infested sections. 



Valuable shade trees were killed outright or injured to such 

 an extent that they had to be cut down, owing to their unsightly 

 appearance. 



The caterpillars swarmed into the houses, covered fences, and spun 

 down from the trees upon the clothing of pedestrians, so that they 

 became an unbearable nuisance. Some of them fell upon teams or 

 automobiles and were carried long distances and served to establish 

 new colonies. Stories of the immense numbers of caterpillars seem 

 almost incredible. On several occasions trolle}^ cars were prevented 

 from running until the tracks were cleared of the crushed and swarm- 

 ing insects. The following spring it was necessary for many of the 

 motormen to wear veils to keep their eyes and faces free from the 

 caterpillars which swarmed from the trees. Acres of forest died as 

 the result of the ravages of the caterpillars, the injury including both 

 hardwood trees and conifers. In fact, the conditions which existed 

 in Medford in 1890 were very mild compared with those in the area 

 infested in 1904. To make matters worse, the brown-tail moth 

 appeared at this time in alarming numbers. Thousands of persons 

 were poisoned by the hairs of this insect, and young children espe- 

 cially suffered severely. Physicians reported many cases of this 



