CHAPTER XXXI 

 CONTROLLING INSECT PESTS 



The next nine chapters will be devoted to a consideration of 

 the very important relations that the insects bear to our 

 material welfare, in their capacity as pests of our crops, 

 orchards and forests. It is estimated that the annual money 

 loss occasioned by insects in the United States is approximately 

 as follows: 



Cereals $300,000,000 



Hay and forage 66,500,000 



Cotton 85,000,000 



Tobacco , 10,000,000 



Truck crops 60,000,000 



Sugars 9,500,000 



Fruits 60,000,000 



Farm forests 11,000,000 



Miscellaneous crops 10,000,000 



Animal products 300,000,000 



Natural forests and forest products 100,000,000 



Products in storage 200,000,000 



$1,212,000,000 



This summary takes into account only those insects which 

 directly affect our crops or other products. We might well add 

 to this something of the financial loss caused by those insects 

 already discussed, that affect man himself, but this is a much 

 more difficult problem. It has been estimated, for instance, 

 that we pay more than $10,000,000 a year for screens for our 

 houses to protect us from mosquitoes and flies, and yet this af- 

 fords us only a small measure of protection. Such an amount 

 is comparatively insignficant when compared to the reduced 

 value in real estate because of the mosquitoes that infest 

 many regions making them almost uninhabitable, or to the 



403 



