290 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pul). Doc. 



It was only after thB lapse of about twenty years that means which were 

 fomid and put into general use subdued the ravages of the pest in the 

 vineyards of France so that grapes could be cultivated with any rea- 

 sonable certainty of profit, and the vinegrowers are still at a great 

 expense fighting the phylloxera in France. In 1889, two hundred 

 and forty thousand acres of vineyard underwent defensive treatment. 

 In the mean time it had pushed its way rapidly in other countries ; 

 it has now reached Algeria, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, 

 Russia, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Asia Minor and the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Spain and Italy have already suffered very 

 severely. In the former, small proprietors are forced to the necessity of 

 abandoning the cultivation of their fields, and emigration from that 

 country to Brazil reached the number of eleven thousand persons 

 from Malaga between April and August, 1889. (" Insect Life," vol. 3, 

 p. 185 ; vol. 1, p. 383.) 



In 1889 there were in the north of Portugal ninety thousand acres 

 of vineyards which had been killed by the phylloxera. This great 

 damage has all been done by this little insect in the face of great efforts 

 and expenditures by both governments and individuals to discover and 

 use to advantage the most effective means of destroying it. It is said, 

 however, that it makes no progress iti Russia and Germany, owing to the 

 liberal, ivise and vigorous policy of these governments in vieeting it and 

 stamping it out. They have profited by the experience gained in France, 

 and have spared no expense whenever it has appeared. 



Damage done by Insects to Crops in the United States. 



A glance at the history of such insect depredations as have been 

 recorded in this country during the present century will impress all 

 with the grave danger incurred in allowing this pest to propagate and 

 spread. 



The following figures, given in round numbers, in regard to the 

 destructiveness of insects in this country to the crops, are taken from 

 the reports of such eminent entomologists as Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr., 

 of Brown University, formerly of the United States Entomological Com- 

 mission, Dr. J. A. Lintner, State entomologist of New York, James 

 Fletcher, government entomologist and botanist of the Dominion of 

 Canada, from the reports of Dr. C. V. Riley, the entomologist of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Statistician, 

 and other standard authorities. 



Most of these figures have been compiled by conservative men, and 

 have been repeatedly verified. 



