40 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



Arlington, Everett, Cambridge and Chelsea. In November 

 the force was slightly increased, and an inspection was made 

 of certain parts of the infested territory. The cavities of 

 some trees along the highways were closed with cement. 

 On December 6 all men in the employ of the commission 

 were discharged, and the field work of 1890 closed. 



The Abundance and Desiructiveness of the Moth in 1890. 



Referrino^ to the work of 1890 and the numbers of the 

 moth, Mr, E. J. Cadey, an ex-employee of the commission, 

 said : — 



At the time when the commission first started I saw the eggs of 

 the moth on trees in such numbers that the trees had a spongy 

 appearance, and the men who gathered them used large-sized pails, 

 holding about a peck. Some days we filled these pails twice and 

 occasionally three times. Especially was this the case at the Wel- 

 lington willows, in Glenwood, where the moths originated. The 

 walls of an old shed were one yellow mass of eggs. Early in the 

 summer, previous to the spraying season, on sixteen acres of 

 woodland and brush on land of Mr. Pinkert near the Boston & 

 Maine Railroad, there was not a green leaf to be seen. We after- 

 wards cut these sixteen acres. There were five or six willows on 

 the corner of Spring and Magoun streets that were so thickly 

 covered with pupse that the bark could not be seen. In 1890 I do 

 not think there was a whole leaf in Medford, and the people com- 

 plained of a very disagreeable stench. 



Mr. William Enwright, who was also employed by the 

 commission in 1890, writes : — 



I was sent to Glenwood to the brick yards. Here I found the 

 bricks completely covered with the caterpillars. Nearly opposite 

 here, on Lawrence Street, there was an old barn literally covered 

 inside and out with nests and caterpillars. Trees were com- 

 pletely stripped. The streets and sidewalks were so covered that 

 it was almost impossible to step without crushing some of the 

 caterpillars. In the fall of the first year, when we were cleaning 

 the nests from the rubbish, we used shovels to shovel them into 

 cans. You could not walk in the woodland without being covered 

 with caterpillars. In 1890 Mr. Bradley drove his horse through 

 the woods, and the horse's mane and tail were covered with 

 caterpillars. 



