28 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



The caterpillars ate almost everything, feeding on small fruits 

 and shrubbery as well as the trees. (Almon Black.) 



Our blackberry and raspberry bushes were badly eaten, and we 

 got but little fruit from them that summer [1890]. (J. W. 

 Harlow.) 



After eating the foliage of the trees, the caterpillars would at- 

 tack the vegetables. (J. G-. Wheeler.) 



The caterpillars even ate the grape-vine to some extent. 

 (William Taylor.) 



How THE People fought the Moth. 



No doubt the citizens of Medford did all that the people 

 of any community would have done individually in fighting 

 the pest. Many of them owned their homes, and gave much 

 attention to the care of their grounds. Each householder 

 had a small lot of land, and most of them had gardens or 

 small orchards to protect from insect ravages. There were 

 many people in a given area each of whom had an interest 

 in protecting his own slnall portion of that area. Many of 

 these people spent most of their leisure time during the sum- 

 mer months in fighting the caterpillars, killing great numbers 

 of them. The number thus killed on Myrtle, Spring, Wash- 

 ington, Park and Cross streets during a summer must have 

 checked considerably the increase of the moth. Many peo- 

 ple banded the trunks of their trees with tarred paper, to 

 which they applied tree ink as a protection against the mi- 

 grating worms. This was a partial success, if the bands 

 were carefully watched and the caterpillars which gathered 

 below them killed in time to prevent their crossing the bands 

 by mere force of numbers. A considerable part of the fruit 

 crop was saved in some orchards in this way, the tree ink 

 having the eff"ect of turning many caterpillars away from 

 banded trees to those left unhanded. Yet, in spite of all 

 checks, the moths on Myrtle Street increased and spread so 

 as in time to overwhelm the town. It is known that people 

 there fought them with fire, water and coal oil from five to 

 eight years before they became prevalent in other parts of 

 Medford. 



Extracts from statements graphically describing the meth- 

 ods used are given herewith : — 



