410 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL.84 



The circumstances connected with Swezey's appointment are in- 

 teresting. Koebele had been instructed to find parasites of the sugar 

 cane leaf-hopper. He came to Washington, knowing that I had a card 

 catalogue of the host relations of the parasitic Hymenoptera, and 

 asked me for some indication as to the parasites of leaf-hoppers 

 known in different parts of the world. As it happened, a short time 

 before, Mr. Swezey, then working at the Ohio Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station at Columbus, had studied a leaf -hopper parasite belong- 

 ing to the Proctotrypoid family Dryinidae, and I told Koebele that he 

 should go to Columbus and talk with Swezey. He did so, and offered 

 Swezey a place in Hawaii which he accepted. Since that time he has 

 proved to be one of the very best men in the service of the Sugar 

 Planters' Association, and has remained there all these years. 



Following the death of Alexander Craw, E. M. Ehrhorn, who had 

 succeeded him in the inspection work at the port of San Francisco, 

 again succeeded him in Hawaii and has since remained in Honolulu. 



After the appearance of the Mediterranean fruit-fly in Hawaii and 

 its rapid spread over the islands, it became very important to protect 

 California against its possible introduction from that source. Conse- 

 quently Dr. E. A. Back, a trained entomologist from the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College, was sent over by the Federal Horticul- 

 tural Board of the United States Department of Agriculture and 

 remained in Honolulu five years studying this insect and inspecting 

 all shipments of fruit destined for United States ports. He was suc- 

 ceeded in 1918 by H. F. Willard, who is still engaged in this work, 

 assisted since 1926 by A. C. Mason, a well-trained entomologist. 



All of the insect pests of agriculture in Hawaii have been intro- 

 duced accidentally. The mild and changeless climate of the islands 

 and the fact that they are islands render parasite importation more 

 effective than elsewhere. Therefore much work of this kind of very 

 striking value has been done, practically entirely under the auspices 

 of the Sugar Planters' Association. The extraordinary results of 

 some of these importations will be described in another chapter, but 

 this is the place to state that the wonderful results reached by the 

 entomologists employed by the Association have been very gratefully 

 appreciated and the men engaged have been not only amply com- 

 pensated during their active work but also cared for in a princely way 

 when they have been forced by ill health to retire. Koebele went 

 back to Germany on full salary, remaining there until his death in 

 1924. R. C. L. Perkins was retired on full salary in 19 13 and is still 

 living, in England. Frederick Muir was also retired on full salar)'- a 

 short time ago, and has gone to England to live. 



