12? (JYi^aY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. [Jan. 



The largest number of men engaged in the work at any time 

 during the year was slightly over 2,400, — a larger force than 

 has ever been similarly employed. There has been manifest 

 on the part of property owners in general a commendable spirit 

 of co-operation, particularly in the districts where the brown- 

 tail moth was the principal insect to be combated. As might 

 be expected, in sections where the insects have been reduced in 

 numbers so that the damage by them is no longer noticeable, 

 a certain degree of apathy on the part of property owners is 

 beginning to be apparent. This is a repetition of the condition 

 of affairs a decade ago. It is the present danger which we 

 fear, — not the one through which we have safely passed. We 

 believe that this attitude is an entirely wrong one, since it 

 should be borne in mind that even a few gypsy moth egg clus- 

 ters or a few brown-tail moth webs, if neglected, will within 

 a few years increase to such numbers as to become a very 

 present danger. 



With the approval of the Governor, this office has contrib- 

 uted $20,000 to a fund of $50,000 which has been used in 

 suppressing the gypsy moths in the north shore woods, in an 

 effort to treat in its entirety this valuable section of woodland. 

 The balance of the fund, $30,000, has been raised through the 

 energetic efforts of Col. William D. Sohier. A detailed ac- 

 count of the expenditure of this fund and the work accom- 

 plished will be found later in this report. 



The work of importing and propagating parasites during the 

 year 1908 has been prosecuted as vigorously as heretofore, with 

 even better results, both in the laboratory and in the field. 

 By the aid of the experts kindly furnished by the Bureau of 

 Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture, work- 

 ing under the direction of Dr. L. O. Howard, many difficult 

 and important problems in the life histories of these valuable 

 insect allies have been worked out, and with certain species the 

 method of their easy and rapid multiplication has been greatly 

 simplified. Large numbers of the parasites of both the gypsy 

 moth and the brown-tail moth have been liberated in various 

 suitable localities, and are known to have become established, 

 although, as might be expected, no practical results on a large 

 scale have been perceived as yet. 



