STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
417 
thus have it on record within thirty years after the first settle¬ 
ment of Massachusetts, that 1646 and 1649 “were caterpillar 
years,” and that in 1658 “ caterpillars did great harm to fruit 
trees” (Flint’s Agricult, of Mass. 2d report, p. 33). Without 
specifying other years which have been similarly distinguished, 
I would state that during the past twenty-five years I have never 
seen these insects a fourth as numerous as they have been the 
present year, 1856; and they appear from accounts to have been 
multiplied to an unusual degree all ’over our country. And it 
would seem that those seasons which favor the growth of fruit 
also favor the increase of these insects, our orchards having never 
been so overloaded with fruit before as they were in the year 
1855. 
The eggs from which these caterpillars come are placed near 
the ends of the twigs, in clusters, forming a ring or rather a 
broad thick belt, surrounding the branch entirely or in part, as 
represented (diminished in size) in the annexed cut. In these 
belts I have counted from three hundred to three 
hundred and thirty eggs. They are about three 
fourths of .an inch in length and the tenth of an 
inch thick. 
The eggs are of a short cylindrical form with abruptly 
rounded ends. They are about 0.04 long and two-thirds as 
broad. The shell is of a very tough leathery texture and of 
'■ an ash-gray or white color, the inside having a bluish tinge, 
somewhat resembling that of mother-of-pearl. The eggs are 
placed perpendicularly upon the twig, to which they are 
firmly glued, the lower end being indented to give it a more 
secure attachment'to the bark. They are also arranged side 
by side somewhat symmetrically in rows, their sides being slightly indented 
or moulded to each other and firmly glued together in one mass. Those eggs 
which are at the ends or margin of the mass are placed in an inclined position 
and the outermost ones are laid horizontally upon the bark, in order to pro¬ 
duce a gradual slope from the surface of the mass to that of the bark. 
The eggs are covered over with a thick coating of glutinous 
matter which entirely hides them from view and protects them 
from the weather. This matter is slightly transparent, and full 
of small air bubbles, giving its surface the appearance of net 
work. Its color varies from black to pale, but it is commonly 
darker than the bark, and its outer surface is smooth and shining 
as though coated with varnish. Although moisture cannot dis- 
