16 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 3 



I have given some of the requirements of the ideal official entomolo- 

 gist. Few of us, I fear, can meet them. Nevertheless, in spite of all 

 his shortcomings, the official entomologist is often of great practical 

 value to the state. For instance, in case of a local outbreak of a 

 serious insect, if there is an authorized entomologist with forces 

 already organized and a small fund at his disposal, the pest may be 

 not only kept from spreading, but perhaps actually exterminated in 

 that locality, thus saving great losses of crops as well as tremendous 

 expenditures of money to later subdue the pest and get it under con- 

 trol, if that is even possible. 



The experience of the New England states with the gypsy moth, 

 Porthetria dispar Linn., and the shipment into this country of nests 

 of the brown-tail moth, Euproctis chrysorrJuBa Fabr., on nursery stock 

 last year, in the absence of any system of Federal inspection, would 

 seem to make it not only expedient but ahnost necessary for the safety 

 of property and other interests, that each state not having such a 

 department should at once organize one. An instance from my own 

 state will serve as an example : On December 14th, 1909, I learned 

 that the gypsy moth had been reported from the town of Wallingf ord. 

 That very day we verified the report, and the following day had men 

 at work destroying the egg-masses, getting 2,000 the first day. Since 

 then the work has been continued, and over 5,000 egg-masses have been 

 destroyed. The infestation is a bad one, covering at least three quar- 

 ters of a square mile, but the pest must be exterminated. It is need- 

 less to say that any prompt and effective suppressive measures would 

 be out of the question in a state without funds available for the pur- 

 pose and an organized entomological force ready to act. 



There are still many farmers in each state who have never heard 

 of their own agricultural experiment station or even of the Federal 

 Department of Agriculture, — but their number is growing less and 

 less — and these institutions are now more firmly entrenched in the 

 minds and the work and lives of the people than ever before. The 

 taxpayer may have borers in his squash vines, San Jose scale on his 

 fruit trees, or lice on his cattle; he likes to have some central bureau 

 of the state or Federal government where he can apply for information 

 entomological and feel that he will receive the best of advice. 



Having just mentioned some of the qualifications of the official 

 entomologist and the proper development of his department for effi- 

 cient service, it now behooves me to say a few words about the ideal 

 farmer, or member of the entomologist's constituency. He is often 

 a hard working man, with little time for study, and his interest has 

 never been aroused in the living things around him. He is too often 



