2. 



sufficient now merely to add a brief explanatory statement. 



The Middlesex Fells, as the name is popularly understood, includes 

 not only the lands acquired by this Board but also those acquired by the 

 various water boards. The work of thinning the trees and underbrush upon 

 about 175 acres of the water-shed of Spot Pond has been done by the Metro- 

 politan Sfater and Sewerage Board who have control of those lands and who 

 have reached their conclusions in the matter independently of this Board. 

 The work upon about 275 acres of the land under the control of this Board 

 has been done by its direction because of the conclusion, based upon its 

 own experience and that of others and upon expert advice, that, in addi- 

 tion to the ordinary methods of creosoting, banding and spraying which 

 have been diligently pursued to the full extent of the appropriations for 

 several years, it was necessary to thin the trees and remove the under- 

 brush in regions seriously infested by the gypsy moth if, under the exist- 

 ing circumstances, the increase of the moth and the consequent increase in 

 the destruction of trees was to be controlled. The conclusion to do this 

 work having been reached by this Board, its landscape advisers were asked 

 to designate the trees to be removed so that, as far as possible, only 

 such might be removed as were unsound or "suppressed" trees and such as 

 were injuring other trees or hiding portions of the landscape which, in 

 their judgment, were of unusual value. The underbrush was removed solely 

 to aid in the contest against the gypsy moth and would not have been re- 

 moved for landscape or any other practical reasons. The thinning of the 

 trees was also necessary in the contest with the gypsy moth and would have 

 been equally extensive if the landscape architects had not been employed, 

 so that, the only reason for employing the landscape architects was in 

 order that the result might be one which would finally be an improvement 



