40 INSECTS AND HUMAN WELFARE 



cultural production is annually destroyed by insects, or in 

 other words, that our food supply from this source is only 90 

 per cent of that which would be available if insects were not a 

 factor in limiting the yield. I think all entomologists will 

 agree that this 10 per cent reduction is an under-estimate 

 rather than an exaggeration and as the value of the products 

 in question is roughly $10,000,000,000 it follows that agri- 

 cultural insect pests rob the country of approximately a 

 billion dollars annually. This omits, of course, such impor- 

 tant crops as cotton, tobacco, etc., which have no food value, 

 or of which the food value is secondary, as is the case with 

 cotton which is grown primarily for the lint although the 

 seed forms an important part of the rations of food animals 

 like cattle, which are in turn utilized for human food. It 

 includes on the other hand the loss of products in storage 

 such as flours, meals, rice, beans, etc. The table below 

 differs somewhat from others of similar nature that have 

 been published, but is essentially similar, and is, I believe, as 

 close an approach to accuracy as can reasonably be expected. 



TABLE SHOWING ESTIMATED DAMAGE TO VARIOUS 



PRODUCTS CAUSED BY INSECTS, BASED MAINLY 



ON PRICES CURRENT IN 1916 



Product Value Loss 



Cereals $4,241,000,000 $424,100,000 



Hay 1,008,000,000 100,800,000 



Cotton 1,066,000,000 106,600,000 



Tobacco 169,000,000 16,900,000 



Truck Crops 512,000,000 76,800,000 



Sugars 130,000,000 13,000,000 



Fruits 262,000,000 39,300,000 



Farm Forests 110,000,000 11,000,000 



Misc. Crops 97,000,000 9,700,000 



Animal Products 4,338,000,000 433,800,000 



Stored Products. . 219,000,000 21,900,000 



Forest Products 100,000,000 10,000,000 



Total $12,252,000,000 $1,263,900,000 



Food Total ' $9,723,000,000 $1,021,000,000 



1 Omitting tobacco, farm forests, forest product entirely, and cotton and animal products in 

 part. 



