Department of Entomology cxv 



more. At the present time the graduate students are scattered about. 

 Some are working in the Insectary, far removed from the library and 

 the collections, some are in the roof garden, and some are in corners 

 of badly congested laboratories where it is impossible to have the quiet 

 necessary for satisfactory research. 



For one class — that in The Farm, which numbers 480 students — the 

 Department has been unable to find any laboratory quarters. At the time 

 the course was announced, arrangements were made by which the head- 

 house of the conservatory was to be used for v/ork in stormy weather ; 

 but later this was found impracticable.- It is therefore necessary to con- 

 duct that work entirely in the field, whatever the condition of the 

 weather. This may not be a serious matter for robust young men ; but 

 it does not seem wise to require young women, of which there are many 

 in the class, to run the risks of such exposure. 



In order to provide for the laboratory work in General Biology and 

 for that in Parasitology, it has been necessary to have sections in the 

 forenoon as well as in the afternoon. This has made it very difficult 

 for students to schedule their work. The forenoons should be left free 

 for lectures and for other class work, much of which, in the case of 

 freshmen and sophomores, is taken in the College of Arts and Sciences. 



A second recommendation that the writer begs leave to make is that 

 more adequate provision be made for conducting the extension work 

 of this Departmenl;. The control of insect pests is one of the more 

 important of the subjects in which there is a demand for extension work. 

 The members of the stafl:* of the Department have shown their ability and 

 willingness to carry on researches in the field of economic entomology. 

 But it is not wise to ask a professor to leave his classes in order to go away 

 from Ithaca for extension work. Our first duty is to those who have come 

 to Ithaca for instruction. The only suggestion which the writer can make 

 for the solution of this problem is that a man should be appointed who 

 can devote his time to extension work. Such a man should be well fitted 

 by training and experience for this work, and should be a good popular 

 teacher. 



J. H. COMSTOCK, 

 Professor of Entomology. 



