BEGINNING OF WOEK BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 37 



This large area, which included thousands of acres of badly infested 

 woodland, was in a much worse condition than in 1904 and it soon 

 became evident that heroic measures must be taken and an enor- 

 mous amount of work done if any appreciable progress was to be 

 made in preventing widespread injury. 



A single case will serve as an illustration of the loss to owners of 

 timber caused by the gipsy moth. A tract of woodland near the 

 Bedford and BiUerica town hne, belonging to the Hosmer estate, 

 was sought by- a portable saw mill operator in 1907, who offered 

 $6,000 for the wood and timber, but, as the owners wanted $6,500, 

 the trade was dropped. The following winter, owing to the presence 

 of the moths in large numbers, the lot was sold for about $3,000, and 

 immediately cut, resulting in loss to the owners of at least 50 per cent 

 in one year. At the time the state work ceased in 1900 this prop- 

 erty was 4 miles outside of the infested area. 



In 1906 the Massachusetts legislature added $150,000 to the appro- 

 priation already made for that year and united with the other New 

 England States in an appeal to Congress to furnish aid. 



The brown-tail moth was found to be present, in 1905, as far west 

 as central Massachusetts. It also occurred in the southern counties 

 hi New Hampshire and along the coast, specimens having been 

 reported from Eastport, Me., and St. John, New Brunswick. A 

 single iusect was found at Providence, R. I., during the year. 



BEGINNING OF WORK BY THE NATIONAL GOVEBNMENT. 



The spread of the gipsy and brown-tail moths caused much alarm 

 in the New England States, and in the fall of 1905 an appeal was 

 made to Congress to assist in the work of controlling these pests. 

 The movement was supported by delegations from Maine, where 

 the work of the year had shown that an area of approximately 4,000 

 square miles was infested with the brown-tail moth and where ener- 

 getic measures were being taken to control the insect; by New Hamp- 

 shire, which was seriously infested with both pests ; by Massachusetts, 

 where heroic measures were being taken to control the situation; 

 and by Ehode Island, where a serious infestation of the gipsy moth 

 existed. 



On December 4, 1905, a bill was introduced by Representative 

 Ernest W. Roberts, of Massachusetts, providing for an appropriation 

 of $250,000, to assist in preventing the spread and securing the con- 

 trol of these pests. The urgent necessity for action was forcibly 

 brought out by a report from Dr. W. E. Britton, state entomolo- 

 gist of Connecticut, in March, 1906, that a few egg clusters of the gipsy 

 moth had been found in Stonington, in that State. 



Owing to the fact that approximately 300 square miles was thickly 

 infested in eastern Massachusetts, ample opportunity was offered for 



