X 



PEEFACE. 



tant results attained by the State Board of Agriculture in 

 the work of exterminating the gypsy moth as could be in- 

 cluded within the limits of the space allowed to the report. 

 Part II., besides giving the bibliography of the moth and 

 instances of its injuries in Europe, deals especially with the 

 *' scientific facts ascertained," and chronicles many of the 

 more important experiments made with a view of finding 

 means to check the ravages of the insect and secure its 

 extermination. 



The authors are well aware of many shortcomings in the 

 work. The}' have lalDored under the disadvantage of resid- 

 ing in difierent parts of the State, and therefore have not 

 had opportunity to consult together and compare notes as 

 often as was desirable. All responsibility for error in 

 either part will be assumed individually by the author to 

 whom that part is accredited. Other duties which were 

 imperative in their demands upon our capacity for labor 

 have at times prevented that painstaking revision which 

 such work requires. Much valuable information has neces- 

 sarily been excluded for lack of space. It was impossible, 

 for instance, to quote fully from accounts of injuries com- 

 mitted by the moth in Europe. For the same reason, one 

 hundred and forty-six statements in regard to the ravages 

 of the moth, from residents of the infested district in Mas- 

 sachusetts, have been omitted. Extracts from some of them 

 are given, however, in Part 1. Most of that portion of 

 Part I. which is devoted to spraying was prepared in 1894, 

 and cannot be considered as up to date, as spraying has not 

 been one of the chief methods employed in the field work 

 of the last two years. 



The Appendices relate largely to the views expressed by 

 certain eminent entomologists in regard to the work of ex- 

 termination. Appendix F, on the dangers attendant on 



