59 
were short pamphlets, but were ably prepared, and were undoubtedly 
productive of very considerable good. 
With the founding of the State Agricultural Experiment Station, 
under the Hatch Act, Prof. C. H. Fernald, professor of zoology at the 
Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, was appointed ento- 
mologist to the station. Prof. Fernald's work has been practically like 
that of most other station entomologists, and he has published several 
important bulletins. The ones for which there has been the greatest 
demand are So. 5 on household pests, which was the ontgrowth of 
original studies which Prof. Fernald had made in this direction, and 
Xo. 12 containing the work upon the bud moth, spittle insects, and 
several other injurious species, all based upon original observation. 
The most important portion of his work has not yet been published. 
It comprehends the scientific results of his observatk ns as entomo- 
logical adviser to the gypsy-moth committee of the State board of agri- 
culture. That these results will prove of great value the writer is in 
full position to assert, as he has had the pleasure of seeing many of 
Prof. Fernald's experiments in the course of procedure, and has been 
greatly impressed by the ability and care with which they are being 
carried on. Prof. Fernald has also for some years held the position of 
entomologist to the State board of agriculture. 
The work upon the gypsy moth, by the way, which has been done by 
the State of Massachusetts since 1889 is one of the most remarkable 
pieces of work, judging by results, which has yet been done in economic 
entomology. The operations have been carried on b\- a committee of 
the State board of agriculture and the means have been furnished by 
large annual appropriations by the State legislature. Three hundred 
and twenty -five thousand dollars have already been appropriated. A 
territory comprising something over 100 square miles was infested by 
the insect, which occurred in such extraordinary numbers as to destroy 
many trees and almost to threaten the ultimate extinction of living veg- 
etation, not only within the infested territory, but in all localities to 
which it might spread. It is unnecessary to detail the steps by which 
relief was brought about. Mistakes were undoubtedly made at first, 
and it is to the work of the preseut committee that the main credit is 
due. The infested territory has been reduced by one-half, and within 
the districts in which the gypsy moth at present exists it is, practically 
speaking, a comparatively rare species. The future of the insect is, 
however, problematical. The continuance of sufficiently large appro- 
priations from the State legislature to enable the work to be carried on 
on its present scale is doubtful, and yet those in charge believe that 
still larger appropriations are necessary to bring about extermination. 
They are confident, however, that with sufficient means the insect can 
be absolutely exterminated from the State of Massachusetts. With the 
legislature disinclined to continue the large appropriations, the methods 
of the committee at present pursued will have to be seriously altered. 
