1919.1 PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 39a 



DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



H. T. FERNALD AND A. I. BOURNE. 



During 1918 the attention of the workers in this department 

 Avas largely taken up with the continuation of investigations 

 already under way, and in the attempt to solve problems of 

 immediate importance. During the absence on leave (till 

 May 1) of the head of the department, the direction and execu- 

 tion of the work was in charge of Mr. Bourne, who conducted 

 it in a most satisfactory way. The death of Mr. S. C. Vinal 

 in September put an end to further work on the European 

 corn borer by the station. The results of that work are 

 referred to later in this report. His death has been a serious 

 blow to the progress of the work of this department, for he 

 was a man of great promise, and the researches he had already 

 made were of much value. No steps have thus far been taken 

 to fill his position. 



Correspondence during the year has been larger than usual, 

 and requests to visit different places for personal inspection 

 and advice as to the treatment of insects present have been 

 many. These visits have been to gardens, orchards, city 

 parks and other places in various parts of the State, and have 

 covered a wide range of insects. Telephone calls for advice 

 have also been very numerous, and with the correspondence 

 and inspections have taken much time. The assignment of 

 Mr. Q. S. Lowry to this State as a United States Extension 

 Service agent has, to some extent, relieved the station staff 

 of this work, but there were periods when every one was 

 occupied in these lines for days at a time. Demonstrational 

 work on the control of particular insect pests was frequently 

 requested, and a number of demonstrations were made during 

 the season. Several houses were fumigated with hydrocyanic 

 acid gas, at the request of their owners, for relief from various 

 household pests. 



