64 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



teams. It was in this manner that the moths had been dis- 

 tributed in former years. Wherever large trees near high- 

 ways had been cleared of eggs, they were banded with tree ink 

 or with ' ' Raupenleim " (^'insect lime") to prevent the cater- 

 pillars ascending them from the ground. This was intended 

 to keep the moth out of such trees for the season. Very 

 little spraying was done during 1892. Two spraying outfits 

 were kept busy for a short time, and were sent from place to 

 place wherever the caterpillars appeared in considerable num- 

 bers. The trees in such localities were sprayed when the 

 caterpillars were small, and many of the latter were killed. 

 This served to lessen the dissemination. The method of 

 burlapping trees was used in place of spraying, and was ex- 

 tensively employed over most of the infested region. The 

 force of employees, numbering two hundred and thirty-four 

 during the spring inspection, was afterwards reduced, but was 

 again increased during the inspection of burlaps. The ap- 

 propriation was not sufficient, however, to provide enough 

 men to thoroughly examine the burlaps. Notwithstanding 

 this disadvantage, burlapping and hand-killing during the 

 summer disposed of nine-tenths of the gypsy moths in the 

 places known to be infested, and in many localities they 

 were exterminated by this work alone. 



During the fall inspection an attempt was made to search 

 the country thoroughly, but again the lack of money was 

 felt, and it was found necessary soon after the first of Sep- 

 tember to discharge a large proportion of the force. Only 

 about forty of the most expert men could be retained. It 

 was impossible with this number of men to make a thorough 

 examination of the entire infested region. A great deal of 

 efibrt was devoted to determining whether the moth iiad 

 spread farther than had been reported in 1891. A consider- 

 able proportion of the later expenditure of the year was thus 

 used in the towns immediately surrounding the infested 

 region. But the moth was not discovered in any other 

 towns in 1892. 



The infested region was so well covered by the distribu- 

 tion of the force that no serious outbreak of the moth 

 occurred in 1892. Enough had now been learned of the 

 condition of the infested territory to convince the committee 



