THE ANNUAL INSPECTION. 



197 



increasing or decreasing, according to the increase or reduc- 

 tion of the number of the moths, especially along highways 

 or in cultivated lands and woodlands most frequented by 

 man. 



Each autumn, as soon as the foliage is well oif the trees, 

 the most experienced employees of the Board are organized 

 into squads, which are set to work examining such territory 

 within the infested towns as has not been recently inspected. 

 Many colonies have thus been found by careful search within 

 the region known in 1891 to be infested. Much time and 

 money have been spent in this search, but money enough 

 has not been provided in any year to make the search 

 thorough and complete. To provide against the spread of 

 the moth, more or less of this kind of work has been done 

 each year in the towns outside of the infested region. In 

 this outside search considerable time and money have been 

 expended, and only a few small colonies of the moth have 

 been found. These were all at a short distance outside 

 the boundary of the region known in 1891 to be infested. 

 Though this search does not at first sight appear to have 

 furnished results proportionate to the expense incurred, yet, 

 had the colonies not been found and stamped out of exist- 

 ence, any one of them might have increased and spread 

 like the original Trouvelot colony. 



As the prevention of the spread of the moth and its exter- 

 mination are the objects contemplated by the statute author- 

 izing the work, this search of towns adjacent to the infested 

 reo^ion must -continue so lono^ as the reg^ion continues to be 

 infested ; otherwise, there can be no absolute assurance that 

 the moths are not spreading beyond the limits of the region 

 in which the work is carried on. 



As the search extends farther away from the centre of the 

 infested region, the territory to be examined becomes greater, 

 increasing the expense, while the likelihood of its being in- 

 fested diminishes. Therefore, in towns next outside those 

 ! immediately adjacent to the infested region the search is 

 1 confined to those places which experience has shown are 

 ' most likely to become infested, mainly the villages and bor- 

 ders of highways. Especial attention is paid to all points 

 i which by reason of the character of the business of the resi- 



