176 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 332 



only are located in each yard or along the street bordering it, and 

 frequently these trees are tall; thus in the matter of spraying, not 

 only is a strong, expensive apparatus necessary for doing the work 

 properly, but in addition, the services of at least two men are re- 

 quired. One of these men should have a proper knowledge of spray- 

 ing materials and of their application, and in this day, when labor 

 is scarcely to be had at any price, the securing of specially trained 

 labor is quite beyond consideration. It is only in instances where 

 individuals have large lawns and employ regular labor that the 

 operation of private spraying rigs becomes practicable. 



In controlling a few of the shade tree pests, however, as will be 

 seen from a study of their life histories and habits, the individual 

 householders may render very pronounced assistance with no great 

 expenditure of either time or money. 



Taking the problem as a whole, after a number of years of 

 observation, the writer is firmly convinced that the matter of insect 

 control in cities and towns is not one of individual endeavor, but 

 that it justly belongs to the municipality. The matter of fighting 

 the noxious insect pests of a city should be considered in the same 

 light as that of fighting her fires, since the two have many points 

 in common. Long since have we passed the way of thinking that 

 each man should be responsible for the control of fires on his prem- 

 ises or that the pioneer development of the bucket brigade or 

 civilian hose company was adequate for the purpose. Now we take 

 pride in our highly-perfected equipment and our specially trained 

 corps of men to handle it. With respect to the control of noxious 

 insect pests, however, in most cities of the State the matter has not 

 even reached the bucket brigade stage. 



While the problems of insect control and fire control have many 

 points in common, in one respect at least, they are highly dissimilar. 

 A building may burn and within a year may be replaced by another 

 even greater and better, simply through the expenditure of a few 

 thousands of dollars, whereas if a magnificant tree is lost, no amount 

 of money can replace it immediately, but a century of time and 

 attention may be required to produce another to equal it in size 

 and beauty. 



PROPER LEGISLATION THE FIRST STEP NECESSARY 



In order to afford a basis for the foundation of a department 

 of municipal insect control, the first essential is the enactment of 

 legislation to authorize and regulate its activities. The city of 

 Cleveland after about 10 years' experience with ordinances of this 



