JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



OFFICIAL ORGAN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS 



APRIL, 1910 



The editors will thanljfully receive news items and other matter likely to be of in- 

 terest to subscribers. Papers will be published, so far as possible, in the order of re- 

 ception. All extended contributions, at least, should be in the hands of the editor the 

 first of the month preceding publication. Reprints maj' be obtained at cost. Con- 

 tributors are requested to supply electrotypes for the larger illustrations so far as pos- 

 sible. The receipt of all papers will be acknowledged.— Eds. 



Recent years have witnessed a marvelous increase in our insecticide 

 batteries. Some of the newer or quicker acting- materials or prepara- 

 tions have already been sufficiently tested and have either been dis- 

 carded as worthless or otherwise accorded a suitable place in our 

 defensive campaigns. Last year we were confronted with statements 

 of injuries to fruit trees in the west by arsenical poisons. Other in- 

 vestigators have denied the sufficiency of the data to prove the thesis, 

 and have attributed the trouble to other causes without, so far as 

 can be seen by the uninitiated, adducing more convincing evidence in 

 support of their position. It is to be regretted that the latter parties 

 have not yet been able to make or at least to publish the results of 

 careful studies from the chemical standpoint. The problem is too 

 large to be disposed of quickly, and too .serious in its potentialities to 

 be ignored. Every possible factor should be the subject of careful 

 investigations, even though a final solution is not reached within a 

 decade. There is a grave question as to whether we are yet in po- 

 sition to discuss the ultimate effect of adding to orchard soils, an- 

 nually, quantities of a partially soluble arsenical compound. It should 

 be remembered, that spraying with poisons is comparative^ new. The 

 effect upon the soil of repeated insecticide applications, should be 

 well considered before the u.se of any material is advised as a part 

 of the regular orchard management. It seems timely to at least raise 

 a doubt as to advisability of using large amounts of poison simply to 

 obtain results quicklj^, unless the latter are necessitated by peculiar 

 local conditions. We would suggest for the present, placing more 

 emphasis upon thoroughness in an endeavor to secure the maximum 

 benefit with a minimum application. 



