56 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



fits were purchased, and the capacity of each was doubled 

 by improved appliances. Each outfit with the accompanying 

 squad of men was under the immediate charge of an inspect- 

 or. When the apparatus had been tested and the men had 

 gained the skill necessary for its intelligent use, the entire 

 force was sent to the periphery of the region then known to 

 be occupied by the moth and ordered to work toward the 

 centre. The infested area was thus sprayed until the middle 

 of July. At that date numbers of caterpillars were fully 

 grown and had stopped feeding ; some had pupated and 

 others were wandering from tree to tree. Other means 

 were then used for the destruction of both caterpillars and 

 pupae. 



Consideral)le opposition to the use of Paris green for 

 spraying was manifested by many people living in the in- 

 fested towns. A mass meeting of opponents of the spraying 

 was held in Medford. One citizen, who attempted to cut 

 the hose attached to one of the spraying tanks, and threat- 

 ened with violence the employees of the Board who had 

 entered upon his land, was arrested and fined. Others neu- 

 tralized the efi<ects of the spraying by turning the garden 

 hose upon trees and shrubs that had been sprayed, and 

 washing off the solution. The opposition to the spraying 

 afiected the results of the work unfavorably to a consider- 

 able extent. In June a bulletin of information was issued 

 by the State Board of Agriculture, containing quotations 

 from Professor Riley and other economic entomologists as to 

 the lack of danger to man or beast attending the use of Paris 

 green. This bulletin was distributed freely among the people 

 of the district, but it failed to allay the popular prejudice 

 against the spraying. 



During the spraying season Professor Eiley and Mr. Sam- 

 uel Henshaw (at that time an entomological agent of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture) visited the dis- 

 trict and inspected and criticised the operations in the field. 



It became evident before the close of the season that the 

 spraying, while reducing the numbers of the moth, could 

 not be relied upon as a means of extermination, for many 

 caterpillars survived its eftects. In June, when the cater- 

 pillars had reached the fourth molt and begun to cluster in 



