166 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



fire close to their trunks. They may then be banded with 

 insect lime so that the caterpillars may find nothing on which 

 to feed, or they may be burlapped and the caterpillars caught 

 under the burlaps. This method will not injure the growing 

 timber, and if a cleared grove is desired the timber may be 

 thinned by cutting away the least valuable trees. This will 

 render the later treatment less expensive. 



In 1891 nearly all the trees were felled on a tract of more 

 than one hundred acres near Mj^rtle Street, Medford, where 

 the moths were first introduced. (See Plate XXX.) The 

 undergrowth was then burned by a running fire. The ex- 

 termination of the moths at that place was not then attempted, 

 but the work was done as an experiment in preventing their 

 increase and spread from a badh^ infested locality. As such 

 it was a success. A fire run through dry leaves and under- 

 growth before the middle of May will destroy the greater 

 portion of the young larvae if done when they are small, and 

 when the dry vegetation l:)urns with a quick heat. 



When worthless and badly infested trees are found in 

 orchards or elsewhere, the most efiectual and economical 

 method is to cut and burn them. Such trees are usually 

 full of holes, cracks and cavities, and in such hiding places 

 all forms of the moth are found in numbers. They can be 

 immediately disposed of by burning the trees, thereby ol)vi- 

 ating the necessity of further search and treatment. 



There is much waste land covered with undergrowth and 

 scrubby trees in the infested region. It receives no care 

 from its owners, being held, not for its productive value, but 

 for speculative purposes. Fire often runs over such land, 

 killing the bushes and young pines and injuring the larger 

 growth so that it is comparatively worthless. Such land 

 can be cut over with little or no loss to the owner ; indeed, 

 clearing may often enhance its value. It is not well to cut 

 the growth during the spring months, when the caterpillars 

 are upon it, as they will be disturbed by such work and 

 scattered in all directions. It is much better to cut over 

 such land in the fall, and burn the brush as it is cut or let 

 it lie on the ground until it is well dried and then run' fire 

 through it, destroying as many of the eggs of the gypsy 

 moth as possible. Then when the larvae hatch in the spring, 



