August, 12] WOODWORTH: CALIFORNIA INSECTICIDE INDCSTRIES 359 



American Association of Economic Entomologists is almost strictly 

 an organization of investigators, the Pacific Slope Association numbers 

 among its charter members and specifically recognizes in its constitu- 

 tion, the manufacturers of insecticides. 



One of the most important results of this affiliation has been the 

 enactment of the California Insecticide Law, a measure demanded 

 by our leading manufacturers as well as by the fruit growers and which 

 takes advanced ground regarding the guarantee of the quality of the 

 goods offered for sale in this State. This law is sure to have a large 

 influence upon the legislation of other states, and if our prediction 

 of the dominance of California insecticide industries is well founded, 

 it will have a direct and positive influence upon the economic ento- 

 mology of the Pacific Coast. 



The distinctive feature of the California Law is the requirement of 

 the statement on the label of the composition of the insecticide. The 

 manufacturer or dealer must guarantee, and the law requires under 

 severe penalties, that he honestly guarantees, the composition of the 

 insecticide he offers for sale. 



The attitude of entomologists all over the country towards secret 

 preparations has been one of suspicion and distrust and the influence 

 of the dealers in such goods have in consequence been antagonistic, 

 often in the extreme. 



Entomologists have very generally held that secrecy is i^rima facia 

 evidence of fraud. Many cases have been investigated and rarely 

 have manufacturers of these preparations given full monej' value for 

 the material sold. The California law .strikes at the root of the evil 

 and has decreed that hereafter there shall be no secret preparations 

 offered for sale in this state. 



The enactment of this law has driven out of the market the prepara- 

 tion known as I X L compound, which has been sold to growers in every 

 13art of the state and in very large quantities for more than a score of 

 years, — a material fraudulent not because it was without insecticidal 

 value but because every means was used to give an exaggerated esti- 

 mate of its value, so that it was sold for far more than it was worth and 

 was applied at a strength at which it could serve no useful purpose. 

 This preparation was advertised as being at the same time patented 

 and secret. As soon as the law required an honest statement of its 

 contents, it ceased to be offered to the public. 



The number of preparations of an entirely fraudulent character 

 on the California market is not large. There are several hundred 

 manufacturers of insecticides, large and small, in California and very 

 few preparations have been withdrawn from sale since the law went into 

 effect, though in many cases the composition has been changed fundi- 



