248 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



crevices of the bark. In 1893 no caterpillars appeared, 

 and no form of the moth has been found since 1892 upon the 

 tree. In the inspections of the tree every care has been 

 taken to go over it thoroughly, from its highest branches to 

 the base of the trunk. The dead limbs have been removed 

 and holes have been covered, but no other work has been 

 necessary at the regular inspections. Plate XXX YI. shows 

 men at work in the inspection of the tree. 



The extermination of the moth from many orchards was 

 accomplished without much difficulty. Plate XXXYH. shows 

 apple trees which were seriously injured during the season 

 of 1891 by the gypsy moth. They were cleared of the moths 

 and so treated that in 1892 they regained a large part of 

 their foliage (Plate XXXYHI. ) . They have borne very little 

 fruit, however, since 1891. 



Having learned that it was possible to clear the moth 

 from any tree, it remained to be proved whether the creat- 

 ure could be cleared from orchards or entire estates. 

 Although in 1891 many estates appeared to have been 

 cleared, there was still some doubt that the moths were 

 exterminated from them. But the estates were examined 

 again and again in succeeding years, and no moths were 

 found except in a very few instances. The number of 

 infested estates from which the moths had been cleared 

 increased annually. Xot only were estates cleared, but 

 infested localities consisting of many estates were entirely 

 freed from the moth. 



More than a thousand colonies in the infested region, some 

 of them covering man}^ estates, have been entirely cleared 

 of the moth and have remained clear, until it has become an 

 established fact that wherever the moths are found in open 

 and cultivated lands, they can be exterminated. The diffi- 

 culty of exterminating the moth in woodland has been found 

 to be much greater. Yet, despite all obstacles, some of 

 which at first seemed insurmountable, the moths have been 

 cleared from certain infested localities in the woods. The 

 destruction of all vegetation by fire will accomplish exter- 

 mination in woodlands. But much of this infested woodland 

 is retained by the Commonwealth for park purposes, and the 

 destruction of the trees is out of the question, however much 



