76 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



In addition to the million dollars spent as described, several 

 millions more are being annually expended by the Federal and 

 State Governments in the control of pests which have long been 

 with us, and which for the most part are undesirable immigrants 

 that came in with our earlier commercial plant importations. 

 More than fifteen million dollars has been spent in the New England 

 States by the Federal Government, the States themselves, pri- 

 vate individuals, and others in combating the gipsy moth since 

 its introduction. 



We might proceed with such examples indefinitely, but it is 

 hardly necessary before this audience to advance further argu- 

 ments as to the damage caused by these enemies. They are 

 recognized e^'erywhere and the very fact that they are so com- 

 mon is probably one reason why they have come to be looked upon 

 as part of the price we must pa}^ for being a very big country, a 

 very rich country, and a very thriftless country when it comes 

 to the prevention of needless wastes. Granting the facts as pre- 

 sented, let us see if we can not develop a sort of background for 

 what we shall have to say regarding practical working protective 

 measures that have been adopted and that may be adopted against 

 these alien enemies to our crop plants. 



First. Alien enemies to our crop plants may be actual or poten- 

 tial. They exist in all parts of the world. Many of the enemies 

 have been listed and studied and their powers for injury determined. 

 Many more have not been studied and their power for injury may 

 only be surmised. Because an insect or plant disease is destructive 

 in a foreign country is not always a criterion that it will be destruc- 

 tive here if introduced. On the other hand, an insect or disease 

 that may not be occasioning any serious damage in a foreign land 

 may after introduction here sweep like fire through our fields or 

 through our forests. For example, the chestnut blight disease 

 has for centuries existed among the chestnut trees of China, but 

 its damage there is more or less negligible in comparison with the 

 havoc it has caused here since its introduction. The cotton boll 

 weevil rested in peace and quiet for centuries in its Guatemalan 

 mountain home, but suddenly it found its way through Mexico 

 into Texas and in fifteen years has caused losses aggregating more 

 than a billion dollars and has worked a revolution in our agricul- 

 tural practices of the South. 



