The caterpillar of the Gipsy moth strips the trees of their leaves as completely as if they had been swept by fire.  Almost every variety of tree, as well as of farm or garden crop, is attacked by these worms, and the farmers in Eastern Massachusetts are terror-stricken over the army of them which yearly attacks their crops.

The history of the introduction of the Gipsy moth into this country is a somewhat curious one.

The moth is not a native of this country, but of Germany and Austria, where vast sums of money have also been spent by the governments in a vain endeavor to get rid of it.

In 1869 a French naturalist came over to this country and settled in Medford, Mass.

He had brought some Gipsy moth eggs with him from Europe, and intended making some experiments with them.

He had the eggs out on his table one morning when he was called away from his work.  He went out of the room, leaving the eggs lying near the window.

When he returned he found that a puff of wind had blown the whole paper of eggs out of the window.

He ran down into the garden and searched everywhere for the lost eggs, but in their flight through the air they had become scattered, and he was unable to find them.

He well knew the dangerous character of the worm which hatches out of these eggs, and he went all round the village, explaining to every one, warning every one, and imploring every one to be on the look-out for the caterpillars when they should appear.

The inhabitants of Medford thought he was a crazy Frenchman, and took no notice of his warning.

It was twenty years after this before the people began to suffer from the ravages of the caterpillar, though for several years the neighbors of the old naturalist had been annoyed and puzzled at the way in which their gardens were eaten up.

In 1889 the worms became so numerous, and did so much damage, that the Legislature set aside a sum of money for their destruction, and appointed a number of scientific men to undertake the work.

Every spring since then the Gipsy Moth Commission has been at work.

One summer, policemen were pressed into the service.  They were stationed on all the roads leading out of the infected districts to examine every vehicle that drove through, to see that none of the caterpillars escaped into the surrounding country by clinging to the wheels or the body of the wagon.

That year there were such myriads of these caterpillars, that they would fall by hundreds on the vehicles as they drove under the trees.

The moth policemen were both necessary and useful.

The Commission starts in, this year, with several new inventions for destroying both caterpillars and eggs, and hopes to make good progress.

Thus far Massachusetts has spent nearly $1,000,000 in her effort to rid herself of the Gipsy moth.

GENIE H. ROSENFELD.