62 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 7 



uses. The work now projected by the Extension Departments of the 

 agricultural colleges, of which the County Expert project is a part, 

 should, if conducted by men with adequate training and experience, 

 yield results of great significance, especially along the lines of field 

 demonstration experiments based on trustworthy and well-established 

 facts; and in the compilation of bulletins giving useful information 

 on the more destructive species of insects. It is obvious that if the 

 farmers generally can be taught by this new movement to take better 

 advantage of such assistance as well as of the information which is 

 available, the efforts of the workers on the instructional and investi- 

 gational corps would be more constantly directed to the proper duties, 

 and to that extent their efforts should prove more productive. 



Limitation of Field of Individual Effort Necessary 



Speaking for the experimentalist and investigator generally, there 

 is real need for some relief from certain of the present demands on 

 his time and energy if he is to conduct his studies most efficiently and 

 produce results that are comparable to the best work in similar insti- 

 tutions elsewhere. Experimental and investigational efforts are de- 

 manding much more concentration of effort, besides requiring a greater 

 outlay for their maintenance. In these respects the work of today 

 differs greatly from that of the pioneer entomologists who largely 

 employed the methods of observation and description, and in their 

 publications often resorted to considerable compilation. The reasons 

 for these differences are plain. As the more simple problems are 

 solved, new and larger ones loom in view, many of which alone afford 

 opportunity for the full exercise and application of the worker's inge- 

 nuity and knowledge. With some problems which have been handed 

 on unsolved from the past, experimental and observational verifica- 

 tion is surrounded by immense practical difficulties which will not be 

 overcome except by dogged and thoroughgoing investigation. Field 

 experiments, formerly very limited in scope, are now being conducted 

 on a more extensive scale. These often are not confined alone to 

 small plats on individual farms, but they may extend over large areas, 

 even whole counties and tiers of counties. Future efforts will place 

 greater emphasis on the importance of cooperation. There are pro- 

 jects involving the control of certain injurious insects which will find 

 their final solution when conducted as community enterprises, aimed 

 to advance the well-being not of any particular individual or interest, 

 but the community as a whole, which acts as a unit in carrying out 

 an entomological measure. Such undertakings, which av'11 more and 

 more characterize the work of entomology in succeeding years, calls 

 for undivided attention on the part of those engaged in such projects. 



