had with both of these gentlemen to discuss plans for the work, and they have given freely of their time and of their fund of experience gained in more than a decade of stubborn fighting of the gypsy and brown-tail moths in Massachusetts.

There are many others who could readily be mentioned as having contributed in various ways toward the success of this work, but as the preface is already quite lengthy, further acknowledgments will be given whenever possible in the body of the report.

The writer now begs to present a more or less personal statement in order that his relation, as well as the relation of the Rhode Island College, a member of whose faculty he has the honor to be, to the work may be a little more clearly understood. It is the modern conception of agricultural colleges, and especially those that have established extension departments, that they should seek to promote the agricultural interests and welfare of their respective states in so far as it lies within their power. Not the least of this work in Rhode Island has consisted in the dissemination of knowledge regarding plant pests of various kinds. The Rhode Island College of Agriculture has been fully aware of the presence of the gypsy moth, and it was President Butterfield's instruction, at the very beginning of the writer's work in the extension department, to do everything possible toward fighting the pest. Unfortunately no funds were available for any active work and all that could be done was to visit the infested region, watch the spread of the insect, and seek to enlighten the public in regard to its dangerous character. Numerous visits were made to the infested region, at the request of residents, for the purpose of determining whether the pest was present on their grounds, and information was given orally and by letter of the best way of dealing with it if found.

It was a surprise to the writer when the appointment as Commissioner came, but as it was clearly in the line of duties of an agricultural college, not only according to the principle of service already mentioned, but also from the precedent established in many other states when similar work has been undertaken, the task was ac

cepted. It has had its drawbacks and its recompense. It has imposed a great deal of additional care and labor for which no remuneration could be expected; and yet as it has been in line with the writer's only hobby, if it may be so called, of plant-pest study, the work has grown in interest as its various problems have presented themselves. Only a beginning has been made, and whether the State will deem the recommendation to continue the fight worthy of approval, and whether, if an appropriation is made, his past record will justify that he be delegated to continue the work, the writer will always have a deep interest in the grave agricultural and economic problem which the importation of this insect has forced upon New England, and, unless it is checked in its present range, upon the whole country.

* HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GYPSY MOTH INTO THE UNITED STATES.

The history of the introduction of the moth is quite well known to those who have been interested in the fight that Massachusetts has been making against the pest. To many of the people of Rhode Island, however, who have not until recently realized that this State may have to face a similar problem before so very long, the history is probably not so well known. It is, therefore, desirable that a short account should be given, in this report, of the time and manner in which this pest was introduced.

The exact time of the introduction of the gypsy moth has not been determined, but it is known that Mr. Leopold Trouvelot, a Frenchman who was employed as an instructor in astronomy at Harvard, and who was also somewhat of a naturalist, imported, sometime during 1868 or 1869, a number of egg clusters of this insect. His object in so doing was to attempt the breeding of a hardy silkworm. It is well known that the common silkworm is subject to a great many diseases and that, therefore, it is rather difficult to rear. The socalled "American silkworm" is also subject to a great many parasitic enemies. What Mr. Trouvelot's plans were for attaining his purpose is not exactly known, but it is supposed that he intended to make an attempt, by crossing, to produce a new and hardy insect, either from the common silkworm or from the American form, and that for this purpose he imported the gypsy moth. There is no doubt that he selected the gypsy moth for this purpose because of its well-known hardiness in its native habitat.

It is not necessary to dwell upon the fact that so far as hardines is concerned the insect was well chosen for the object he had in view New England people of to-day fully realize that the gypsy moth extremely hardy and subject to but few parasitic enemies, and tha were it really useful as a silk-producing insect or otherwise, it migh be a great source of income to the section of the country in which is found.

At the time that Trouvelot was doing this work he lived at No. 2 Myrtle street, Glenwood, Medford. It is known that he was full aware of the destructive nature of the insect which he had importe and that he sought to keep it confined. By some accident the inse escaped; just how is not absolutely known, as he had returned France before the people actually began to realize the dangero character of the insect. He announced the escape in a number entomological papers and called attention to the fact that effor should be made to destroy the insect at once. A few of the entomo ogists of the country, notably C. V. Riley, then State Entomologi of Missouri, recorded the appearance of the insect in this country 1870 and stated that it was a very destructive pest in its nati habitat. People generally, however, paid no attention to the pro ence of the insect, and it seems to have been forgotten almost entire until about 1889, when the caterpillars became so numerous th specimens of the insect were sent to Dr. Fernald, Entomologist the Massachusetts Agricultural College, for identification. Dr. F nald was absent at the time, but his wife, who is also an entomolog traced the insect in the entomological literature and found it to the gypsy moth so well known in Europe.

During the twenty years which had elapsed since its introduct the insect had been slowly increasing and spreading from the dist in Medford where it was first introduced. It had been found in tain localities in destructive numbers, but people generally fought it without any definite idea of what kind of an insect it speaking of its larvæ as the "caterpillars" or "worms." It was ta by some to be the Army worm, outbreaks of which occur from t