12 



supposed it capable of doing. A careful estimate was made with several 

 trees and, as nearly as I could judge, more than half of the flower buds 

 were destroyed by this minute insect ; a very undesirable condition of 

 things in the " off year " for apples. The food plants of these insects 

 are apple, pear, plum, and laurel oak. 



If the trees had been showered with Paris Green in water at the time 

 the buds began to swell in the sprmg, and again about ten days later, 

 these bud-moths would undoubtedly have been destroyed, and the apple 

 crop nearly doubled on the trees mentioned above. The same spraying 

 would also have killed the tent caterpillars, canker-worms and any other 

 leaf-eating insects that might have been feeding on them at that time. 



Severe criticisms have appeared in the Entomological journals on the 

 kind of work which has been published in some of the Experiment Sta- 

 tion bulletins by the entomologists. These criticisms whether just or 

 not, lead us to consider what is the proper work of the entomologist, and 

 how he can make his division most useful to the farmers in this partic- 

 ular state. 



Entomologists have already accumulated a vast store of useful know- 

 ledge which is now scattered through the publications of various scientific 

 societies and not generally accessible. In many cases these papers are 

 too technical to be of interest except to specialists, but the facts of gen- 

 eral interest to farmers and fruit growers can be selected and given in a 

 popular way so as to be easily understood. It seems to me that this is 

 perfectly in accord with the language of the first section of the act estab- 

 lishing these stations, — "to aid in acquiring and diffusing useful and 

 practical information." 



The second section of the act makes it clear that original investi- 

 gations are to be carried on, but in my opinion they should be of such 

 a character that they can be finally reported to the farmers in a tan- 

 gible and useful form, and all descriptions of species should appear 

 first in some scientific journal if they are to be recognized and take 

 priority. 



As a matter of interest to the ofiicers of the stations, it may be well 

 to mention the fact that the leading authorities on the different groups 

 of insects have decided to charge for their services when called upon to 

 name insects. It seems only fair that these gentlemen should be paid 

 for such expert services, especially when the value of the bulletins will 

 be in this way so greatly enhanced. 



