50 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 14 



heavily worked that it would be best not to expect continued reporting 

 from them, but information secured in each county, when it would be of 

 value, was sent to the county agent with the names of the fanners or 

 horticulturists giving the information. 



l^'As in crop reporting, two types of schedule are sent out. The first 

 requests general information in regard to the insects affecting the princi- 

 pal crops listed in the blank. This results in information concerning 

 a wide variety of insects and is particularly valuable for the field ento- 

 mologists working on insect epidemics. 



When certain insects become numerous or particular kinds of control 

 measures are being tried out in various parts of the state, the second 

 form of report is used, which is a special questionaire relating to a parti- 

 cular insect or control measure. This past season in Wisconsin such a 

 questionaire was used in regard to the prevalance of army worms, the 

 number of farms in the county which suffered loss, control measures 

 most commonly used, and their effectiveness. With this same schedule 

 was included a similar one referring to grasshoppers and another to 

 potato leaflioppers. These special reports may in turn be of two types: 

 one for wide distribution in which suggestions for control can be included 

 and which can well be distributed to every member of an agricultural 

 association or every grower of a particular kind of a crop. The second 

 and more detailed type of special report blank need only be sent to forty 

 or fifty correspondents in various parts of the state upon whose state- 

 ments regarding dates of injury, adequacy of control, etc., particular 

 reliance can be placed. 



The results of the first season's trial in Wisconsin have been at least as 

 good as was expected, but as the list of correspondents is worked over 

 can undoubtedly be im.proved. The value of such reports for both of 

 the purposes for which the service was established depends entirely on 

 three points: First, whether the reports are received from a sufficient 

 number of widely distributed growers; second, whether they are 

 accurate and complete enough to be of value, and third, whether they 

 are received with sufficient promptness for quick action. 

 P The general reports asking for information on grains, potatoes, other 

 farm crops, truck crops, orchards and small fruit were returned 

 from forty-five out of seventy-one counties of the state. If we add the 

 general information secured through the crop reporting service with 

 respect to the common insects, we find that sixty-two of the seventy-one 

 counties sent in information regarding pests. 



A most valuable suggestion received from the Bureau of Crop Esti- 

 mates was that of dividing the list of reporters and sending blanks on 

 alternate weeks or fortnights. If there are four correspondents to the 



