18 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



They [the caterpillars] were so numerous that when they clus- 

 tered on the trunks they would lap over each other. A neighbor 

 gathered in one day in my yard a peck of caterpillars, and poured 

 kerosene over them and set the mass on fire, but many neverthe- 

 less walked away from the burning mass. ... I used to scoop 

 them off the sides of the house and the tree trunks with a dustpan. 

 . . . Their eating in the trees sounded just like a breeze. Many 

 got into the house, and we could not open the windows. I found 

 them in the kitchen and in the bedrooms. I used to find them in 

 the beds when I turned down the blankets. (Mrs. Spinney.) 



In the summer of 1889 the gypsy-moth caterpillars attracted uni- 

 versal attention in Medford. They spread very fast over the town. 

 I believe there were enough that summer to have caused the destruc- 

 tion of all the green leaves in town by the following year, had 

 their spread not been checked. During the summer the caterpillars 

 were found in great numbers on South Street and in the eastern 

 section of the town. Myrtle, Park and Pleasant streets and 

 Magoun Avenue were overrun with the pests. Nobody knew what 

 these caterpillars were until they had been identified in Amherst. 

 They clustered on the bark of the South Street elms in multitudes. 

 From the ground clear to the tops of the trees they lay thickly in 

 the rough bark. (Ex-Selectman John Crowley.) 



The caterpillars were everywhere. They would get under the 

 doorsteps and on the window-sills and even into the house. We 

 found them under tables and even under the pillows. The windows 

 could not be opened unless guarded by a screen. . . . When the 

 caterpillars were full grown they would herd in great patches on 

 the trunks. I have seen the end of Mrs. Spinney's house so black 

 with caterpillars that you could hardly have told what color the 

 paint was. In moth time I have seen the moths (it almost seemed 

 by the bushel) crawling and fluttering around the bases of the 

 trees. (Mrs. Snowdon.) 



In 1889 the trees on South Street were full of caterpillars. 

 People did not know what they were at first. The four large 

 street elms in front of my house were covered with them. . . . 

 The sidewalk under one elm was covered with caterpillars which 

 had dropped off. They were so thick on the tree that they had 

 apparently crowded each other off. The front railing of Mr. 

 Archibald's house on South Street looked as if it was covered with 

 mud, the caterpillars were so thick on it. (F. E. Foster, 20 South 

 Street.) 



I remember being at Judge Hayes's, South Street, one evening 

 in the summer of 1889. Mrs. Hayes came in and said that she 

 " never saw such a sight" in her life as the caterpillars presented- 



