Insect Control Problem. 213 



saving timber from insects will have to depend, as the fire 

 problem now depends, upon Forest Rangers and field officers. 



Destructive insects cannot be exterminated any more than we 

 can hope to completely eradicate the cause of forest fires. It is 

 shown, however, that heavy loss can be prevented by the methods 

 of control demonstrated by the Bureau of Entomology. The 

 scientific study of forest insects and the work of determining 

 and demonstrating the best methods of controlling them is being 

 rapidly advanced by the branch of Forest Insect Investigations, 

 under Dr. Hopkins. 



It would be a waste of funds for this Bureau to maintain a 

 constant patrol for the location of insect infestation. The For- 

 est Rangers are probably the only men who see most of the 

 square miles of a National Forest during a season and upon 

 them must depend the work of locating and reporting evidences 

 of insect depredations, an essential part of good forest protec- 

 tion. 



Of course we cannot expect the Ranger to become a trained 

 entomologist any more than we expect him to be an expert land 

 surveyor or an authority on the Federal land laws. If a know- 

 ledge of technical entomology is required the average forest of- 

 ficer will probably fail to qualify. It does not require a specialist 

 to notice unhealthy or dying groups of trees, but it does require 

 some observation with a knowledge of the characteristic work 

 of the most important insect pests of forest trees. The scientific 

 nomenclature of the forest insect group will have to be handled 

 by the specialist. The timberman is attracted by the injury that 

 appears on the tree. He is not much interested in insects and 

 is not collecting them. If he is sufficiently interested to ascertain 

 the cause of the damage, he will soon learn to identify its 

 cause by the nature of the injury. The character of insect work 

 is usually a pretty good clue to the species that is causing the 

 damage. 



There is also need of more educational work by representatives 

 of the Bureau of Entomology on National Forests. A demon- 

 stration in the field is worth far more than a publication describ- 

 ing insects or insect work and is far more effective in arousing 

 the interest of the layman. 



As the use of National Forests develops, the problem of their 



