162 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 1 



discussion of methods of work is an exceedingly fruitful line of effort, 

 and it is a pleasure to give in this number a summarized account of 

 the note system which has proved of such great service in the extended 

 investigations upon the boll weevil. No one system is perfect, and un- 

 doubtedly there are a number of our readers who have some methods 

 of work which would prove of great service to others if they were only 



made known. 



A rather pessimistic article on the future of Economic Entomology, 

 from the pen of H. T. Femald, appeared in Popular Science Monthly 

 for February, 1908. There is much to be commended in this sum- 

 mary, though we prefer to take a somewhat optimistic view of the sit- 

 uation. While it is true that many farmers in certain sections of the 

 country disregard the recommendations of the economic entomolo- 

 gists, the situation is by no means so discouraging as some would have 

 us believe. This condition is bound to right itself in the near future, 

 since it is only a question of economics. As soon as the agriculturist 

 can see a substantial gain by the adoption of improved methods for 

 controlling insect pests, a sweeping change will result. Such has come 

 about in a number of the more progressive fruit growing sections of 

 New York, and there is a marked tendency toward the adoption of bet- 

 ter methods for the control of insects in other portions of the state. 

 The prejudice against the use of insecticides and the disinclination 

 toward the preparation of apparently complex mixtures of insecticides 

 and fungicides is rapidly disappearing, since the less aggressive learn 

 readily from their progressive neighbors. We are far from being dis- 

 couraged at the outlook. It seems to us distinctly much more prom- 

 ising than ever before. The remarkable progress made in the last 

 decade is an earnest of what may be expected in the near future. It is 

 only necessary to mention such pests as mosquitoes, tsetse flies and cat- 

 tle ticks to call to mind how the impossible of yesterday has become 

 the thoroughly practical of today. It is true that such destructive leaf 

 feeders as the gypsy moth in Massachusetts and the boll weevil in the 

 South are still serious enemies of the agriculturist. The aim of the 

 economic entomologists is control rather than extermination, and the 

 fund of valuable information respecting both of these species shows be- 

 yond question the possibility of controlling them and demonstrates its 

 practicability under most conditions. Furthermore, the outlook is 

 most encouraging in that the fundamentals underlying the control of 

 insect pests are being studied as never before. The work with the 

 parasites of the gypsy and brown-tail moths has been conducted on a 

 hitherto undreamed scale. The investigations of the parasites of the 

 boll weevil not only show the species which prey upon this pest but 



