NEW EXTENSION ENTOMOLOGIST 



Dr. John G. Stoffolano, Jr., Acting Chairman for the Depart- 

 ment of Entomology, is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. R. 

 J. Prokopy to its staff. Dr. Prokopy will officially assume his 

 new position of extension entomologist starting September 1, 1975, 



A graduate of Cornell University, Dr. Prokopy received his 

 doctorate's degree in economic entomology under the supervision of 

 Dr. G. Gyrisco. After working four years as an assistant entomol- 

 ogist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Dr. 

 Prokopy spent several years overseas: 1 year in Poland at the In- 

 stitute of Pomology, 1 year at the Swiss Federal Research Station 

 working on cherry maggot, and 1 year as a United Nations, Food and 

 Agriculture Overseas consultant at the Democritos Research Center 

 in Athens, Greece, where he worked on the olive maggot. Following 

 this, he was appointed a research associate at the Department of 

 Zoology, University of Texas, where he researched the Rhagoletis 

 complex. Dr. Prokopy was invited to participate in the recent 

 Gordon Conference on Herbivore Plant Interactions, held this summer 

 in New Hampshire. 



While at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, he 

 published several bulletins entitled, "Experiments on control of 

 insects and mites on the fruits in Connecticut." Currently, he 

 has an extensive review article in press entitled, "Biology and 

 management of Rhagoletis flies." 



Dr. Prokopy has a personal feeling for fruit growing, having 

 maintained an apple orchard in Wisconsin. Dr. Prokopy has worked 

 closely with Zoecon on developing baited traps for apple maggot and 

 this summer has a Rockefeller Foundation Grant in conjunction with 

 Dr. W. Roelofs from the Geneva Experiment Station in New York State. 

 Dr. Prokopy has expressed his enthusiasm to return to the East 

 where he was born (Danbury, Conn.) and is looking foward to research 

 on the fruit pest complex here in Massachusetts. 



UNUSUAL WEATHER IN THE NETHERLANDS 



William J. Lord 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



Rainfall in July through November, 1974, at the Wilhelminadorp 

 Research Station was 166% of the 1951 through 1973 average. As a 

 result of excessive rainfall throughout the Netherlands, the har- 

 vest of many crops was prevented or delayed. For example, it was 

 predicted that about 25,000 acres of potatoes would be lost. 



