GYPSY MOTH WORK. 305 



to Walnut Grove. Men were at once put at work there, and a 

 considerable area of brush cleaned up. Some eight hundred 

 more trees were banded in the vicinity and though much hunting 

 was done for caterpillars, only a few were found, and . most 

 of these were on trees between the house and the northernmost 

 extremity of water. Though the trees have since been examined 

 very carefully for egg-masses, none have been found. Not 

 even an old one has been -discovered. How the caterpillars 

 reached this place is a matter of conjecture, but it is possible that 

 an egg-mass or a portion of an egg-mass was blown across the 

 water on the ice. On the other hand, it is possible that one or 

 more egg-masses were laid at Walnut Grove in 1906 and escaped 

 detection. 



Infestation of Spruce Trees at the Stanton Place. 



During August, after the caterpillars had transformed, Mr. 

 HoUister, on looking into the top of one of the Norway spruces , 

 of which there are several on the Stanton place, noticed some 

 female gypsy moths laying eggs. This tree was immediately 

 given a thorough examination, and over fifty new egg-masses 

 were found. These were creosoted, and later the tree 'was cut 

 and burned. A similar number of egg-masses was found in 

 the other spruce trees in December, Although these trees were 

 all banded, few caterpillars were taken from under the bands, 

 and there was no indication that the trees were infested to any 

 such extent. The tops of the trees were thick and dark, and fur- 

 nished to the caterpillars all the protection necessary, hence they 

 did not descend to hide under the bands. The caterpillars had 

 eaten some of the leaves in the tops of the trees, but not enough 

 to be noticeable from the ground. The excrement even did pot 

 indicate their presence by dropping to the ground,' but was 

 caught and held by the thick leafy branches underneath. It was 

 an extremely difficult matter to find and destroy the egg-masses 

 on these trees, as some of them were at the extremities of the 

 branches on the small twigs, and nearly all on the under side. 

 In spite of the very thorough examination given these trees, some 

 egg-masses may have been overlooked, and a close watch must 

 be kept on them next season. No egg-masses were found on the 

 arbor-v.itae trees growing near by on the premises. 



