THE enormous losses due to forest insects have led to 

 the formation of a society for the advancement of for- 

 est entomology in America. The members of this so- 

 ciety hold that the work of insects has not received the at- 

 tention which it deserves. 



Henry S. Graves, U. S. forester, the newly elected president 

 of the society, on being asked about the purposes of the or- 

 ganization, said that they were, in general, to call attention 

 to the part which insects play in forest problems. "We have 

 had," he said, "widespread and specific interest in insect pests 

 such as the San Jose scale and the boll weevil, which affect 

 all of us as to what we eat and what we wear. Forest in- 

 sects through their destruction of timber increase the cost of 

 a necessity which enters quite as much into the daily life 

 of the individual as do the products of the field and orchard. 

 If the importance of the protection of our forest resources 

 from insect depredations is generally recognized, a large part 

 can be prevented or avoided. 



"Right now in the national forests the bureau of entomology 

 and the forest service are co-operating to stop insect ravages 

 by discovering their beginnings, and stamping them out. A 

 few isolated trees attacked by insects may form the nucleus 

 of a mountainside devastation quite as serious as that from 

 a forest fire. The opportunity for combatting insects, how- 

 ever, is in one respect better than that in the case of a fire, 

 which runs rapidly, because it takes several years for an in- 

 sect devastation to spread until it becomes of such propor- 

 tions as that which overspread the yellow pine forests in the 

 Black Hills in 1906. Watchful care on the part of forest 

 officers, lumbermen, and private individuals will make it pos- 

 sible to catch these infestations before they get a good start. 

 By cutting and burning the trees, or stripping off the bark, 

 the insects can be killed. As in all such cases, an ounce of 

 prevention is worth a pound of cure." 



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