WHOLE VOL. APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY HOWARD 173 



these species were collected by European travelers in America and 

 how few were sent over there, for identification, by local workers. 



Contrasting these conditions in 1875 with the conditions that ex- 

 isted in 1925, it is evident that there has been a change that is little 

 less than startling. America has assumed a commanding position in 

 the field of applied entomology, and in the so-called more strictly 

 scientific aspects of the study has gained a very high rank. This is 

 not the place to search for the cause of this extraordinary happen- 

 ing, yet it cannot be gainsaid that it has happened. 



At present there are numerous large and fairly competent public 

 collections of insects in different parts of the country — Cambridge, 

 New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Chi- 

 cago, and San Francisco — ^while the collections of many of the uni- 

 versities and colleges have assumed commanding rank, notably those 

 at Cornell, University of Illinois, Massachusetts Agricultural College, 

 Kansas State Agricultural College, Stanford, and the University of 

 Minnesota. There are more teachers of entomology in the universi- 

 ties and colleges of the United States than there are in all the rest 

 of the world put together, and there are almost as many publishing 

 entomological societies in our country as there are in all Europe. 



Perhaps the basic reason for this rapid change has been our cry- 

 ing need for relief from the enormous damage done by insects. This 

 need has led to a demand for economic entomologists. The eco- 

 nomic entomologists once found, these men in their work at once 

 felt the need for consulting taxonomists, for large permanent col- 

 lections. And as the multifarious projects opened up it became evi- 

 dent that the workers needed a broader and sounder training and that 

 very many more workers were needed. And so the college training 

 improved and the classes grew larger until at the present time it 

 would seem that there are perhaps more entomologists than workers 

 in any other field of biology in the United States. 



But more workers are needed. The conditions of life, our methods 

 of growing crops, the tremendous upset we have given to the balance 

 of nature has resulted in such an increase of insects as Mother Nature 

 herself never expected. And many more trained and capable men 

 are needed in this field. Perhaps we need them just now more than 

 any other country. Surely we appreciate their need more than any 

 other country. And that is the reason why the United States stands 

 at the head in applied entomology. 



The great advances in general entomology have been as follows : 



(i) The publication of many books and monographs. 



(2) The building of a large number of great collections. 



(3) The founding of numerous entomological societies. 



