40 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 14 



We have also failed, in the writer's opinion, to recognize and apply 

 sufficiently broad principles of insect prevention or "entomological 

 hygiene." In most problems of this character workers in other lines 

 must be called into consultation or even active participation. The 

 prevention of insect outbreaks invariably involves questions of crop 

 rotation in which the agronomist is concerned or practices of pruning or 

 orchard managem.ent with which the horticulturist is concerned and not 

 infrequently problems of fertilization, soil management and plant 

 pathology are involved. A broader viewpoint and more liberal practice 

 in these matters are much to be desired. 



3. Major Projects 



Developments within recent years have made it necessary for entomol- 

 ogists to engage in imdertakings involving the services of many individ- 

 uals. Problem_s in plant quarantine service, the control of a serious 

 pest over a large area, the eradication of introduced insects, which have 

 become established: all call for organizations of workers far in excess 

 of what was even dreamed of by the entomologists of twenty years ago. 

 These big undertakings have come upon us quickly, in some cases almost 

 overnight, and we have not yet reached a standardized plan or basis 

 of organization for them. The handling of such problems is not unlike 

 that of handling a big factory, with its various departments, or a big 

 commercial enterjorise. Organization in entomological work is only 

 in its beginning and it is a subject to which we must give careful thought. 



A major project in any branch of applied entomology must have the 

 moral support of the public, or at least that portion of the public directly 

 affected by it. No organization, for example, could hope to eradicate 

 an insect enemy of a staple croj^ unless the effort were supported by the 

 producers of the crops subject to attack. Public support arises from a 

 knowledge on the part of the public of the merits of the undertaking. 

 Sometimes these are recognized through a threatened calamity, the 

 nature of which is known to all. In other instances this knowledge 

 is the direct result of education but there must always exist a conviction 

 that the undertaking is a necessity. 



Ample resources in the way of funds for carrying through the proposed 

 program, together with adequate laws and police regulations are prime 

 necessities. 



Public confidence in entomological work has frequently been seriously 

 impaired bv failiu-e of the workers themselves to eliminate the possibility 

 and probability of insect pests being disseminated by their own activi- 

 ties. It is always difficult for a property owner to understand why it is 

 unsafe for him to do certain things when it is "all right" for an entomol- 



