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.