36 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



A petition for legislation for the extermination of the 

 gypsy moth was presented to the Legislature by the select- 

 men of Medford, Jan. 15, 1890. Other towns joined in the 

 movement. On January 21, the selectmen of Arlington pre- 

 sented a petition. Soon after, petitions were presented by 

 the boards of selectmen of Everett, Winchester, Stoneham 

 and Wakefield, and by city officials of Maiden and Somer- 

 ville. A petition was presented from the State Board of 

 Agriculture, headed by President Goodell of the Agricultural 

 College ; also one from the Essex County Agricultural So- 

 ciety. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society took an 

 active part in the movement, petitioning the Legislature as 

 follows : — 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, recognizing the dan- 

 gers threatening the agricultural interests of the State by the sud- 

 den appearance in the town of Medford of a dangerous insect pest, 

 petitions the Legislature, in support of the petition of the citizens 

 of Medford and adjacent towns, for State aid in stamping it out. 



The joint standing committee on Agriculture of the Massa- 

 chusetts Legislature visited Medford early in 1890, and saw 

 the masses of egg clusters on the trees.* Public interest 

 having in the mean time been aroused, an act appropriating 

 twenty-five thousand dollars ' * for the extermination of the 

 Ocneria dispar or gypsy moth" was passed. f This was ac- 

 complished mainly through the influence and untiring efibrts 

 of Mr. J. Henry Xorcross of Medford, then a member of the 

 House of Representatives, aided by hearty co-operation of 

 Representatives from the neighboring towns. The act was 

 approved March 14, 1890, and is here given in full : — 



[Chapter 95.] 



An Act to provide, against depredations by the insect known 

 as the ocneria dispar or gypsy moth. 



Be it enacted, etc., as follows : 



Section 1. The governor by and with the consent of the coun- 

 cil is hereby authorized to appoint a commission of not exceeding 

 three suitable and discreet persons, whose duty it shall be to pro-, 



* " The walls and almost every tree were almost wholly covered with nests." 

 (Ex-Senator Low, before the legislative committee on Agriculture, Feb. 27, 1894.) 

 t Dispar has now been referred to the genus Porthetria, 



