Twenty-Fifth Report 

 of the State Entomologist 



THE CONTROL OF INSECT PESTS IN MONTANA 



The original law providing for a State Entomologist, passed in 

 1903, includes the following statement :' ' ' When it becomes known to 

 the State Entomologist that an outbreak of an insect has occurred in 

 any part of the State, it shall be his duty to go to the scene of the 

 outbreak or send a suitably qualified assistant. The State En- 

 tomologist or said assistant shall determine the extent and seriousness 

 of the outbreak and wlien necessary publish or make public demon- 

 stration of the best remedies to be employed." 



Tlie county insect pest law, passed in 1921, contains the follow- 

 ing statement:'"' "The board of commissioners of any county in the 

 state where there are any insect pests are hereby authorized and em- 

 powered to appoint some suitable person or persons whose duty it 

 shall be, acting under the direction of the state entomologist, to poison, 

 Icill, catch, and exterminate insect pests within such county." 



From the above quotations it is plain that it is the duty of the 

 State Entomologist or his assistants not only to keep in touch with and 

 to control minor insect outbreaks all over the state but also to direct 

 the larger control campaigns in which county funds are used to wholly 

 or partly meet the cost of field operations in actually fighting the 

 insects. 



HOW THE LAW WORKS OUT IN PRACTICE 



In the past these two laws have worked out very well in practice. 

 Instances of insect damage, if at all severe, have been discovered 

 either by the State Entomologist or his assistants or are quickly re- 

 ported by county agricultural agents or individual farmers. If the 

 damage is restricted to a single farm or community, control measures 

 are recommended to the owner, who puts them into operation at his 

 own expense. If control operations on a larger scale are needed the 

 county authorities are appealed to and the county pest law is used. 

 Sometimes that is not enough. In 1934 most counties in the state 

 could not have financed the intensive grasshopper campaigns which 

 were required. The State Entomologist, in this case, presented the 



^Chapter 72, Revised Codes of the State Entomologist Law, No. 914. 



"Eevised Codes of the County Insect Pest Law, No. 4503. 



