established in one of the infested regions near Boston, and here the work of rearing and studying the parasites will be carried on. It is the intention of the Massachusetts authorities to send out broadcast to all the infested regions such parasites as may be found efficient, and the people of Rhode Island may hope, therefore, that, should anything be discovered, the benefit thereof will accrue to the interest of our citizens as well as to those of neighboring States. However, as anyone will note by reading the letters of Superintendent Kirkland, Dr. L. O. Howard, and others, which are copied in whole or in part on pages 64 to 73, the problem of securing efficient parasites is still unsolved, and it is not wise for the people of this State to wait until such a time as it may be determined whether insect parasites can be introduced or not, because the cost of taking up the work of suppression at such a time will be far larger than will be the cost of keeping it in suppression, or even exterminating it, at the present time.

IMPORTANCE OF THE GYPSY MOTH AS COMPARED WITH OTHER INSECT PESTS COMMON IN THE STATE.

It has seemed to a number of people during the past year or two, and it is often expressed, that the gypsy moth has not been unduly destructive, and many feel that the elm-leaf beetle, the scale, the tussock-moth, the elm-caterpillar, etc., are much more serious pests at present than the gypsy moth. This latter statement was undoubtedly true for this season. The elm-leaf beetle especially, in many parts of Providence as well as other cities in the State, was very destructive during the past summer, defoliating trees in many cases. The egg clusters of the tussock moth have also been very numerous, and as they are likely to be even more readily seen than those of the gypsy moth, people are led to think that this insect is much more numerous than the pest against which the State Commissioner has been working. These conditions, however, should not mislead anyone. The abovementioned insects are natives of this country, or, with the exception of the San José scale, they have been here long enough to have a num

ber of parasites which serve to keep them in check. They are also subject to various diseases, and their vitality and life history is such that large numbers often perish owing to unfavorable climatic conditions.

This desirable balance between the insect and its foes thus established has already been briefly explained on page 30, and need not be repeated here. The gypsy moth has no such checks, and there are no natural means to keep it from increasing until its food supply is exhausted; and this is not a condition which promises any relief, as it has an omnivorous appetite in contradistinction to the other insects mentioned, which are limited to one or a few food plants. If not fought by man, therefore, it is capable of increasing until it assumes the proportions of a veritable plague, and that it will do this is amply illustrated by its history in Massachusetts.

Among the specimens sent into the office or pointed out to the Commissioner or his inspectors as gypsy or brown-tail moths the past season the following insects may be mentioned. Many of them bear no resemblance to the pest in question, and some of them would perhaps not have attracted attention if it had not been for the interest aroused in plant pests. Some of the species mentioned, notably the elm-caterpillar, elm-leaf beetle, and white-marked tussock-moth, were very numerous and perhaps for that reason were suspected of being the notorious pests. Occasionally people seemed to,think that we ought to deal with all injurious insects, and sometimes insisted that a certain insect must be the gypsy moth because it was very injurious, and that we should look after it.

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METHODS OF FIGHTING THE GYPSY MOTH.

During the many years that the State of Massachusetts has fought the gypsy moth, its habits and life history have been quite fully recorded. No insect has ever been so closely studied, and the published results of such studies, issued by the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, are monumental in their thoroughness and extent. This is especially true of a special report issued in 1897 and written by E. A. Forbush and Dr. Fernald. All known methods of fighting insects were tried, and everything in the way of apparatus and materials which had ever been used for similar purposes were obtained