324 ANNTJAL REPORT SMITHS ONT AN INSTITUTION, 1942 



The following figures are carefully considered estimates of average 

 annual losses due to the most injurious species of a long list of insects 

 that attack cereal crops : 



hisect 



Corn earworm 



Hessian fly 



Chinch bug 



Grasshoppers 



European corn borer 



Sorghum midge 



Rice stink bug 



Rice weevil 



Other stored-grain insects 



Crops affected 



Annual losses 



Corn $79, 200, 000 



Wheat 13, 018, 000 



Corn, wheat, rye, oats 15, 000, 000 



Cereal and forage crops 25, 701, 000 



Corn 5, 000, 000 



Sorghums 6, 401, 000 



Growing rice 500, 000 



Stored corn, wheat, and rice 65,042,000 



All grains 300, 000, 000 



Total $509, 862, 000 



Very few satisfactory estimates of the value of crops saved through 

 the application of control measures have been made. Definite figures 

 on this subject are extremely difficult to obtain. They are available, 

 however, for a few Federally supported and organized programs to 

 protect crops from certain insect pests. For instance, in 1934 it was 

 estimated that through a combined Federal and State expenditure of 

 $1,212,776 in a cooperative effort to control the chinch bug, at least 

 $25,500,000 worth of corn was saved from destruction. Thus, for each 

 dollar expended approximately $21 worth of corn was saved. 



Publicly supported grasshopper-control campaigns also afford ex- 

 amples of the crop savings realized from insect control, as shown by the 

 following figures on recent operations. 



Bait used-- tons, dry weight.. 



Estimated total expenditures by all cooperating 



agencies. .-dollars-. 



Estimated value of crops lost.. -.-dollars.. 



Estimated value of crops saved dollars-- 



Value of crops saved per dollar spent 



1939 



153,811 



5, 609, 322 



48, 803, 370 



128, 438, 725 



$22. 90 



1940 



66, 765 



2, 079. 790 



22, 897, 786 



42, 039. 513 



$20.05 



1941 



21,041 



801,020 



23, 822, 713 



35, 583. 136 



$44. 42 



These savings have been largely due to Federal and State research 

 work on the development, improvement, and application of grass- 

 hopper-control measures and serve to illustrate the value of such 

 research. An average of $2,229,714 has been expended annually by 

 the Department of Agriculture during the fiscal years 1938 to 1942, 

 inclusive, in research directed toward the control of the insects af- 

 fecting man and his food crops. At this rate it thus becomes evident 

 that the value of crops saved in the single year 1939 from grass- 

 hoppers alone has repaid for more than 57 years of research work 

 conducted by the Department on all the great variety of noxious in- 

 sects that beset us. Moreover, with the application of insect-control 



