80 JOURXAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 4 



organs, etc. Such statements in our judgment tend towards working 

 up interest among non-technical students. It is sometimes possible 

 that by such simple methods an occasional non-entomologically 

 inclined student will become aroused from his apathy in ''bugs" and 

 ^'bug lore" and gain an interest sufficient to lead him into life-history 

 investigations on his own account, and later to the adoption of entomol- 

 ogy as a study. Of course when once started he will go on and become 

 a "bug crank" of whom it will be said, ''When in college he studied 

 and collected bugs" and perhaps in after fife choose to occupy some 

 of his leisure time in studying some group of insects as a pastime. 



Ln Nebraska we have seldom obtained our special students by trust- 

 ing to their coming in and choosing the study by themselves. In most 

 instances our students have been "discovered." Such "discoveries" 

 were made during visits to farmers' institutes, teachers' association 

 meetings or while addressing some of the high schools and other 

 organizations out over the state. We have even "discovered" a 

 few special students through correspondence concerning some of the 

 many insect enemies which are to be met with over the state. Occa- 

 sionally young men have become sufficiently interested in some 

 peculiar appearing insects that they have come across in their wander- 

 ings, or special insect attacks, to write to the entomologist concerning 

 them. In our replies to these letters for information a little ingenu- 

 ity often creates a desire for further information that leads the young 

 man to begin investigations of his own. After we have learned of such 

 an interest on the part of the various young people, they have often 

 been induced to enter the University and take up studies in this 

 department. In this way we have chosen men who were really inter- 

 ested in the study of nature in several of its branches before they came 

 to us. After the choice was made, and the student had arrived, it 

 then became our duty or at least an effort was made to provide 

 the means whereby the student could pursue the desired studies 

 without permitting him to feel that he was making too great a 

 sacrifice of time and energy. Once the student has entered the 

 department with the intention of becoming an entomologist, and 

 has gone through with his general courses and had a little 

 other training sufficient to be of aid to him while pursuing indi- 

 vidual investigations, he is encouraged to take up special or 

 research work. It has been our experience that nearly every 

 young man has in mind some particular line of the work that he 

 would prefer to follow in preference to others. Everything else being 

 equal it would be best, therefore, for him if he could choose in a line 

 with his desire. Should the student choose to specialize in forest 

 .entomology he is accordingly encouraged to learn some general prin- 



