54 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 7 



aspects of insects and to those of more technical interest. This he 

 attempted to carry out, and, using his own words, his effort was really 

 a survey of the economic entomology of New York, covering the whole 

 range of injurious insects, as recognized by him, attacking the different 

 agricultural crops. The merit of Fitch's writings is that they bring 

 together existing knowledge dealing with the economy of insects, which 

 is supplemented by his own observations. The correct identifications 

 and descriptions of insects and his orderly arrangements of facts 

 contrast strongly with much of the information given by practical 

 agriculturists of his day, which was often inaccurate and therefore 

 misleading, if not worthless. 



As in New York, the beginnings of entomological work by state aid 

 in Illinois and Missouri can be traced to the agricultural societies of 

 these states. Early in the history of its organization the IlHnois State 

 Agricultural Society,^ through its executive committee, declared that 

 a considerable part of the losses by insects in this commonwealth could 

 be saved through the labors and investigations of a competent entomol- 

 ogist, and that it was the duty of the legislature to provide at an early 

 date for a thorough investigation for destructive insects for which not 

 more than $2,000.00 per annum should be appropriated. Resolutions 

 embodying these ideas were endorsed over a period of several years 

 by the state agricultural and horticultural societies and the Society of 

 Natural History, which led eventually to the appointment of a state 

 entomologist — an office that has ever since been maintained and 

 "which ^ stands second in point of origin and first in point of service on 

 the hst of the state agencies of scientific and economic research." 



In Missouri, legislative support to entomology was brought about 

 by the activities of the State Board of Agriculture. In outUning the 

 needs of this organization in order to increase its efficiency and use- 

 fulness for the farming interests, its Secretary in 1866 called attention 

 to the desirability of having at command of the Board the services of an 

 entomologist. In the proceedings of this body in 1867 a resolution was 

 adopted calling for the appointment of a state entomologist as well as a 

 state geologist, and for an appropriation by the legislature of S5,000.00 

 per annum in order to carry out the proposed projects. Successful in its 

 plans respecting entomology, the Board of Agriculture appointed Riley 

 in 1868, from which year there began his masterly reports on the 

 "Noxious, Beneficial and Other Insects of the State of Missouri." 



The period commencing with Fitch's appointment in New York and 

 the conclusion of Riley's service in Missouri is in several respects a 

 noteworthy one in the history of entomology in the United States. 

 Each of the workers during this period achieved great success in his 



1 Transactions of Illinois State Agricultural Society, Vol. 5, p. 34, 1861-64. 



2 Dr. S. A. Foibes, Extract from Trans. 111. State Acad. Sci. Vol. 2. 1909. 



