OP THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 23 



placed on the entomological work that is being done in the Mississippi 

 Valley may be partly inferred from the constant references to it at the 

 meetings of our horticultural societies, farmers' clubs, and in the ag- 

 ricultural papers ; but only those who have had opportunity can pro- 

 perly judge of the sympathy and encouragement constantly tendered 

 by private parties who have been pecuniarily benefited by the reports 

 made to the States mentioned. 



The producers of Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and Kansas 

 are all taking steps to get the office of State Entomologist created, 

 and bills to that effect are already pending in the Legislatures of some 

 of these States. 



Thus the good work proceeds ! These States will, doubtless, in the 

 end, succeed in following the example of Illinois and Missouri ; for, in 

 our broad and fertile valley, the voice of the tiller of the soil is now 

 heeded in our legislative halls. Our agricultural interests demand 

 protection from the numerous enemies which threaten them, and the 

 indifference with which the farmers' requests have been listened to 

 in the past is incompatible with that intelligence which should ele- 

 vate his calling, and which is absolutely necessary to enable him to 

 carry it on profitably. Nor is the day far distant when our agricul- 

 tural colleges will awaken to the necessity of paying more attention 

 to the subject. Nothing will so surely give to these colleges the dis- 

 tinctive character which their name implies, or prevent them from 

 degenerating into ordinary institutions of learning, as increased atten- 

 tion to the applied sciences, of which Economic Entomology is by no 

 means the least important. Already, courses of lectures on the sub- 

 ject have been given in Maine before the State College at Orono ; in 

 Kansas, before the college at Manhattan, and at Cornell University in 

 New York; while Michigan Agricultural College has a chair of "Zoo- 

 logy and Economic Entomology," filled by Prof. A. C. Cook, already 

 favorably known as a careful and conscientious investigator. I may 

 also state that even in South America, applied entomology is appre- 

 ciated, as Mr. B. P. Mann is now carrying on important labors as Ento- 

 mologist to the Government of Brazil. 



A virgin soil, enriched by the leafy mold of ages, and a harmoniz- 

 ing flora and fauna — the result of the long-continued struggle of each 

 species for existence — gave to the early tiller of the soil in this 

 country a rich reward with little labor ; but at present he is beset 

 with obstacles on every hand, and none but the well-informed are suc- 

 cessful ; for success in Agriculture and Horticulture, to-day, implies 

 knowledge — scientific knowledge ! 



HOW TO COUNTERWORK NOXIOUS INSECTS. 



^ince, then, we sustain such immense loss from insect injuries, 

 the question presents itself, how can we avert wholly, or in part, this 

 great evil, and in what way are we to be benefited by the services 



