136 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 12 



spring. I tried to trace up the origin of these, thinking that if they 

 came from the onion I would certainly be able to follow up the scent, 

 but I was not able to find where they came from. However, I hope 

 they have not located there permanently. 



Vice-President E. C. Cotton: The next paper is "Organization 

 for Insect Suppression," by Mr. A. F. Burgess. 



ORGANIZATION FOR INSECT SUPPRESSION 



By A. F. Burgess, Melrose Highlands, Mass. 



With the reconstruction and rearrangement of activities which must 

 necessarily accompany the period immediately following the Great 

 War, it seems timely to consider briefly what methods and organiza- 

 tions have proved workable and satisfactory when applied on a large 

 scale. It is not the purpose of this paper to deal with insect suppres- 

 sion which may be handled along the lines of extension work, although 

 it is possible that some of the ideas conveyed may be applied directly 

 to the management of these activities. 



For over twenty years the entomologists of the United States have 

 been face to face with serious insect problems. Some have been local 

 while others were general in their scope. During the first part of this 

 period little organization seemed necessary, as the workers were few in 

 number and the importance of the problems was not brought home to 

 the public and emphasized enough so that their full meaning was ap- 

 preciated. 



Twenty years ago the Jersey mosquito was a standing joke. It was 

 considered by the public as one of those nuisances that must be endured 

 and very few entomologists were courageous enough to boldly advo- 

 cate exterminative measures on a large scale. Careful investigations 

 of the habits of the mosquito family brought to light the serious men- 

 ace of permitting these insects to continue their increase unchecked, 

 and today public opinion recognizes that they are not only obnoxious 

 on account of their irritating habits but that some of the species are 

 positively dangerous because of their ability to spread disease. The 

 same is true of many other insects which annoy and make life uncom- 

 fortable for man and beast. 



It cannot be claimed that control measures have been put into opera- 

 tion, except possibly over limited areas, that have completely reheved 

 this undesirable condition; but when we compare present conditions 

 with the apparent hopelessness of the situation twenty years ago, we 

 must conclude that progress has been made. 



No insect, up to the present time, has caused such widespread con- 



