36 FIELD WOEK AGAINST GIPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



the town officials and the cost, not to exceed the above amount,, 

 may be levied and collected in taxes. 



The whole purport of the law is^ to divide the burden between the 

 property owner, the infested municipalities, and the State, and to 

 place the entire work under state supervision in order to secure 

 uniformity of methods and economy of expenditure. 



The law provided for an appropriation of 175,000 for the year 

 1905, $150,000 for 1906, and $75,000 for 1907. An appropriation of 

 $10,000 a year was also made for a period of three years to provide 

 for the expense of introducing the parasites and natural enemies of 

 these insects from abroad and for their propagation and dissemina- 

 tion in the infested district. The latter work was organized in co- 

 operation with the United States Bureau of Entomology under the 

 direction of Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau. 



On May 15, 1905, Mr. A. H. Kirkland was appointed state super- 

 intendent by Hon. W. L. Douglas, then governor of the State. The 

 wisdom of this appointment was soon apparent in the results secured 

 in organizing a most difficiilt piece of work and in training a skilled 

 force of men for efficient service, and the State was very fortunate in 

 being able to procure the services of a weU-trained entomologist, 

 who brought to the work a thorough knowledge of the conditions to 

 be met, high scientific attainments, and' rare executive ability — a 

 combination seldom secured. 



The work during the year 1905 consisted in organizing the moth 

 forces in towns in the infested territory and sending the most 

 expert men that could be employed by the central office into the out- 

 side districts to determine if the gipsy moth was present. As a result 

 of a hurried inspection it was determined that 124 towns, covering 

 an area of 2,224 square miles, were more or less infested, against 34 

 towns, covering an area of 359 square miles, in which the moth was 

 known to exist in 1900, when the state work was discontinued. The 

 gipsy moth was also found in several towns north of the Massachu- 

 setts line in New Hampshire, to and including Portsmouth, while 

 the colony at Providence, R. I., had increased to a considerable extent. 

 Practically the same methods were used as those adopted when the 

 old work was in progress, although, owing to the increased area 

 infested and the extremely bad condition of the central district, it 

 was necessary to abandon the idea of extermination and use all 

 possible methods to control the insect and to prevent its further 

 spread. The scouting operations which were carried on in the out- 

 side infested towns were, of course, done in a rather hurried manner 

 on account of the great pressure of other work and the necessity 

 for immediately taking active measures to destroy the moths in the 

 badly infested towns and cities. Much effort was necessary in 

 order to organize the work and secure a trained force of local men. 



