Februar}', '21] newell: organization in economic entomology 37 



The present status of work in economic entomology, taking the United 

 States as a whole, must appeal to the student of organization as being 

 somewhat chaotic. Various state agencies, such as experiment stations, 

 boards of entomolog}- and horticulture, state departments of agriculture 

 and plant boards are working on entomological problems; in many 

 instances without adequate funds and in most instances in ignorance as 

 to whether the same problem is being investigated by other state workers, 

 by the Bureau of Entomology or by both. At the same time we find 

 the Bureau of Entomology establishing field laboratories throughout 

 the country for the study of various insect problems, some of the latter 

 almost national in scope but many of them also local in character. The 

 state entomological workers in the states where these laboratories are 

 located are not infrequently in ignorance of the particular objects sought 

 by the federal investigators and may even be ignorant of the major lines 

 of effort or the problems being pursued. It may easily happen that both 

 state and federal entomologists may work upon the same problem, 

 entirely without co-operation. Is this condition conducive to securing 

 the maximum of efficiency and useful results with a minimum expendi- 

 ture of time and resources ? 



The speaker is convinced that there is room for vast improvement 

 along these lines and, what is more important, improvement must be 

 made in this direction if the entomologists are to maintain a prestige 

 which will compare favorabl\^ with that earned by workers in other lines 

 of agriculture. 



The entire question of organization and all that it implies is a ver}^ 

 broad one and we cannot hope to do more, in this brief essay, than to 

 direct your attention to some aspects of organization in the entomologi- 

 cal field. This we propose to do with reference to (1) the, individual 

 worker, (2) workers in other lines of agriculture, (3) major projects and 

 (4) the relationship between federal and state workers. 



1. The Individual 



It is not our purpose to discuss the work of the teacher of entomology 

 for the same pedagogical principles apply here as in the teaching of other 

 biological subjects. Neither do we include in our field of discussion 

 the entomologist 'per se, meaning by this the person who pursues the 

 study for the priman- purpose of securing entomological information 

 without particular regard to its economic application. The primary 

 requisite for such an entomologist is time in which to pursue his labors. 



It is with the organization of entomological work of an economic 

 nature that we are now concerned, for our profession takes on certain 

 aspects of business in that the information we seek or impart is to be 



