BEGINNING OF WORK BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 



39 



active operations in the field. Mr. Vinton had served for several 

 years on the gipsy moth work when it was being conducted by the 

 Massachusetts state board of agriculture, and from his long experience 

 and thorough knowledge of the pest and the proper methods of treat- 

 ment, as well as his familiarity with the infested region, it was possible 

 to begin active operations without delay. 



Several trunk roads in Melrose, Saugus, and Wakefield which ex- 

 tended through badly infested woodland were selected, and active 

 cutting operations begun. Crews of men were employed to cut out 

 the brush and worthless trees and to thin the sound timber on a strip 

 100 feet wide on each side of the highway. The brush was then 

 burned and the egg clusters on the remaining trees and ledges 

 were creosoted. (See fig. 10.) Very little if any work was planned 



Fig. 8.— Equipment for roadside work against the gipsy moth, used by employees of the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology. (Original.) 



or has been carried out up to the present time in residential parts 

 of the infested district, as the town and city officials, acting under 

 state law, usually keep the trees in such sections fairly free from 

 infestation. The cutting out of these roadways is simply for the 

 purpose of preparing the way for a thorough and economical treat- 

 ment. It is usually necessary to carefully prune many of the trees 

 in the treated area, and in some cases where they are of special 

 value the cavities in hollow trees are closed with cement, covered 

 with zinc, or sealed vdth a wooden plug, so that egg clusters can 

 not be deposited in such places, where it is extremely difficult to treat 

 them. In the spring the trees are banded, and burlaps are often used 

 for this purpose. Another method which has come into favor since 

 the gipsy moth work was resumed in Massachusetts is to apply a band 



