December, "08] JOUKXAL ov ECONOMIC i:.\ roMOLOG\ 351 



with this preparation one is, in reality, dependent to a great degree 

 upon the specialists who are devoting their lives to the scientific study 

 of insects. The average land owner is not equipped by either training 

 or experience for carrying out the ideas of the economic entomologist. 

 He requires a specialist who can accomplish the desired end. Unless 

 injurious insects are checked our fruit trees, many of our ornamental 

 trees, and, in New England, our forest trees, will be largely destroyed. 

 The scientist, chemist, and trained workman, must all combine forces 

 if the loss to agricultural interests is to be reduced. 



No one should undertake a business of this description without sup- 

 plementing his entomological training with a knowledge of some 

 affiliated subject, such as Horticulture, Forestrj^, or Tree-surgery. 

 His work of fighting insects, as a rule, covers only a short season, and 

 must necessarily be carried on Avith the least possible delay. In the 

 East, unfavorable weather conditions may deprive him of all his 

 profits. On the other hand, very favorable conditions will give him 

 most remunerative returns. Thus, he should make one of the above- 

 mentioned branches the basis of his business, using his entomology 

 as his speculative step toward the success of his enterprise. 



As an illustration : A man owns a valuable orchard which is being 

 stripped by the canker worm. He calls in a contractor, who recom- 

 mends spraying with an arsenical poison.' The season is so wet while 

 the insect is feeding that it is impossible to do any spraying, and, 

 consequently, the job is lost. If the contractor is equipped for horti- 

 cultural work, he can benefit the orchard in other ways, even though 

 he was unable to check the. ravages of the insect. He wall secure 

 immediate results by pruning, fertilizing, and improving the general 

 health of the trees, thus making them better able to resist insect 

 attacks. 



This is one instance where he has lost nearly his entire spraying 

 season, which happens about once in seven or eight years. The 

 strongest argument against his depending on entomological work 

 alone is the necessity of his having skilled men. In fighting insects, 

 a very high standard of trained laborers is required to obtain the 

 best results. It is impossible to hold such men without giving them 

 steady emploj-ment. To do this, work must be secured which can 

 be held over, without injury to the tree, to be carried on at the con- 

 venience of these workmen. Tree-surgery or affiliated branches make 

 this plan possible. 



The business of caring for trees has made a tremendous advance- 

 ment in the last ten years, but we still have many problems to solve. 

 The least progress has been made in handling the various insects, as 



