Twenty-Sixth Report 

 of the State Entomologist 



THE CONTROL OF INSECT PESTS IN MONTANA 

 Next to dry weather and the lack of irrigation water, insects 

 constitute the greatest hazard to the production of agricultural 

 crops in Montana. The control of insect pests is most economi- 

 cally accomplished when there is close accord between control 

 activities and the research work which may be in progress on 

 the insects involved. A library containing the voluminous 

 standard works on entomology as well as the current scientific 

 literature is required. A collection of insects, named, catalogued, 

 and as nearly as possible giving complete coverage of the state 

 both as to uncommon and economic species, is likewise an es- 

 sential. In other words, the suppression of insect pests must 

 be based on all available information and constantly improved 

 by investigation. For these reasons the law creating the Office 

 of State Entomologist, passed in 1903, designated the entomolo- 

 gist of Montana State College and Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion as the State Entomologist. By so doing needless duplication 

 and unnecessary expense were avoided and at the same time 

 the best possible service to the agricultural interests of the 

 state was assured. 



The State Entomologist, as evident therefore, has his reg- 

 ular duties in the College and Experiment Station. No part of 

 his salary comes from the State Entomologist Fund.* His duty 

 is to direct the insect control work which, as shown above, is 

 intimately tied up with the investigation of insects. Conse- 

 quently he must have the necessary assistants to properly carry 

 out the objectives of the State Entomologist law. In years past 

 the appropriations for this work have at times been too small 

 to employ any help whatever and the work has suffered ac- 

 cordingly. The twenty-fourth session of the Montana Legisla- 

 ture increased the appropriation sufficiently to allow the em- 



*The work of the State Entomologist should not be confused with that 

 of the State Board of Entomology. Appropriations to the State Entomolo- 

 gist Fund are used for the suppression of insect pests of agricultural crops. 

 The Board of Entomology is concerned with ticks and insects responsible for 

 the transmission of various diseases to man and animals. 



