ITS EARLY HISTORY. 



7 



made at first by birds alone on the comparatively small num- 

 ber of caterpillars would have been sufficient to hold them in 

 check. Fly-catchers secure many of the moths also ; other 

 birds destroy the pupae. The restraining influence exerted 

 by birds and predaceous insects would be greater in propor- 

 tion when the moths were comparatively few. 



3. Forest or brush fires. The locality in which the moth 

 was first liberated was favorable for its unnoticed increase 

 and spread, as there were many forest trees and a dense 

 undergrowth in the vicinity, which afibrded it a liberal food 

 supply. Undoubtedly it was somewhat checked in this waste 

 land during the first few years by fires, which frequently oc- 

 curred in the woodland near the Trouvelot house. Such 

 fires destroy some eggs of the moth which are deposited near 

 the ground, and are also very destructive in the spring to the 

 young larvge. Mr. John Crowley, formerly one of the select- 

 men of Medford, speaks of these fires as follows : — 



Glenwood, twenty-one years ago, was a thinly settled district 

 and consisted largely of brush land. There were brush fires there 

 every year. The fire department was called out twice in one year 

 because dwellings were in danger. I think the frequent brush 

 tires held the moth in check for many years, and will explain why 

 they were so slow in making their appearance in the orchard and 

 shade trees of other sections. 



The First Destructive Appearance of the Moth. 



After the first ten or twelve years following their intro- 

 duction the moths increased so rapidly that the larvse did 

 considerable damage in the immediate vicinity of Mr. 

 Trouvelot's house, according to testimony of people in the 

 neighborhood. During the first few years of their abun- 

 dance the insects spread along Myrtle Street and into the 

 woodland and swamp at the south, across the railroad, but 

 did not for some years become numerous or destructive north 

 of the street. 



That the moth did not increase faster and spread more 

 rapidly to other parts of Medford is largely due to the efibrts 

 of certain residents of Myrtle Street, who for ten or twelve 

 years persistently fought the pest on their own property. 



