CONDITION OF THE REGION. 



81 



to the Legislature stated the condition of the infested region 

 as follows : — 



In ten of the outer towns the moth has been apparently extermi- 

 nated ; in five more it has been very nearly exterminated. More 

 than a thousand well-marked moth colonies have been stamped 

 out of existence. In all of the infested towns such sections as 

 have been worked over year after year by the employees of th-e 

 State Board of Agriculture are now nearly cleared of the moth, 

 and the general condition of the inhabited and cultivated lands 

 is better than ever before. Against this favorable condition of 

 such portions of these towns we must place the fact which has 

 been revealed by the inspection of the past season, — that the 

 woodlands in many of the towns are much more generally infested 

 than has been hitherto supposed. Scattered colonies of the moth 

 are known in the woods of Lexington, Winchester, Arlington, 

 Belmont, Stoneham, Medford, Wakefield, Melrose, Maiden, Lynn- 

 field, Saugus, Eevere, Swampscott, Lynn and Salem. 



This condition of the forested lands is due to the fact that there 

 has not been money enough to provide for destruction of these 

 colonies whenever found. It has been impossible, with the means 

 at om' command, to make a thorough search of all this woodland ; 

 but during the past season special efforts have been made to in- 

 spect it so far as was possible under the chcumstances, and enough 

 is now known to justify the presumption that colonies of the moth 

 are scattered through the woods from Lexington to the sea. Though 

 many of the colonies found have apparently had their origin within 

 two or three years, many others originated at least ten years since. 

 The woodland which is thus more or less infested probably covers 

 fifty square miles of the central and north-central portions of the 

 infested district. 



In the attempt to exterminate the gypsy moth it was early 

 ascertained that the species was spread over a region many times 

 greater than that which was at first known to be infested, and that 

 it was not confined to lands under cultivation, but had penetrated 

 to some extent into the woodlands. These discoveries made it 

 certain that extermination would be extremely difficult, requhing 

 years for accomplishment even under the most favorable condi- 

 tions. The best methods known and used at first were not effect- 

 ual in securing extermination, and the methods which later proved 

 effective were so expensive that they could not be carried out over 

 so large an area without larger appropriations than those which 

 have been granted. 

 Although the extent of the infested region, the existence of the 



