546 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the insects of this class at Washington or at the field laboratories of 

 the Bureau they are carried on incidentally to other work. 



The Avork of the specialists of the Bureau, to which annual refer- 

 ence has been made, in the determination of specimens sent in by 

 state entomologists and other workers in practical entomology has 

 again increased. The interest in the study of insects from the prac- 

 tical point of view has grown enormously in recent years, and Wash- 

 ington, by virtue of its large libraries and large force of entomolo- 

 gists, has become the center for this determination work, which could 

 hardly be done as well elsewhere. Much time is occupied in this 

 work, but not only can this hardly be avoided, but it has a very im- 

 portant bearing upon the practical work of the state entomologists, 

 the teachers of economic entomology, and others engaged in prac- 

 tical work. During the fiscal year more than 2G,000 specimens Avere 

 examined in this way. 



The correspondence of the Bureau continues to increase, and, in 

 addition to correspondence by circulars, more than 22,500 letters have 

 been written. 



The publications of the Bureau have increased in number, fifty- 

 three new publications having been issued during the fiscal year. 



PROPOSED WORK FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1911. 



With the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth work for the fiscal 

 year 1911, some changes in methods are being considered. Continued 

 effort will be made to reduce the cost of the methods in use along 

 woodland roads, and continued experimentation will be made in the 

 hope of finding some means of caring for woodland regions. An 

 improvement in the method of inspecting products shipped by the 

 railroads from infested regions will be made, and a larger force of 

 permanent inspectors will be established from among the more intel- 

 ligent of the men at present on the rolls. 



With the importation of the parasites of the gipsy moth and the 

 brown-tail moth, the time has arrived to reduce the large bulk of 

 the importations, and in the future to bring over only those species 

 which have not yet been received in sufficient abundance to establish 

 perfect colonies. At the time of this writing an agent is in Europe 

 studying the best methods of bringing this about, and is looking into 

 the question of the autumn life and probable methods of hibernation 

 of some of the species involved. More time will be spent upon the 

 study of the species already introduced, in order to secure a more 

 accurate idea than we have at present of what is to be expected of 

 them in the next few years. 



With the cotton boll weevil, investigations along the same lines 

 reported upon for the year 1910 will be continued. The work in the 

 Mississippi Valley continues to be the most important work, but it 

 may be necessary during the coming winter and spring to establish 

 observation stations farther east, on account of the continued eastern 

 spread. Experimental field work, however, will be continued 

 throughout the whole infested area. The work upon tobacco insects, 

 sugar cane insects, and rice insects will be continued as outlined in 

 this report, as well as the studies of the cotton red spider and the 

 cotton root louse in South Carolina and adjoining States. 



