LETTER OF TRANSMTTTAl 



Bozciiian, Moutaua, 

 December 15, 1932 

 To His Exeelleney, 

 Governor John E. Eiickson, 

 Helena, Montana. 

 My dear Sir: 



I present herewitli the twonty-fourtli report of the State Entomologist of 

 Montana. 



The first twenty-three reports, from 1903 to 1930, were issued by Prof. 

 R. A. Cooley. When Professor Cooley took up his Avork as entomologist of 

 the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station in 1899, practically nothing 

 was known about the injurious native and introduced insects which had 

 already begun to affect agricultural crops. The fruit insects such as the 

 codling moth, oyster shell scale, etc., were the first to attract attention. 

 I'ruit growing was all important. The claim made by others that this new 

 country was free of the insect pests which handicapped the industry else- 

 where proved to be an unsupported boast. Later, with the breaking up of 

 thousands of acres of prairie land, it was discovered that certain native 

 insects, which had existed in small numbers on native grasses, could transfer 

 their attention to wheat and other grain crops. The new conditions favored 

 the insects. In some years their populations rose to enormous numbers. 

 Manj"^ of these were new to the science of economic entomology; no control 

 methods were kno^vn; little information was available about their life cycles 

 on which possible control schemes might be based. Entomologist Cooley was 

 faced with the necessity of beginning at the very bottom to dig out the 

 essential facts about these pests and to experiment on possible methods by 

 which their ravages could be counteracted. For thirty-one years he devoted 

 liis best efforts to this work. 



It was not long after he came to Montana that the desirability was 

 recognized of setting up some way by which the information lie obtained 

 through the support given him by the Agricultural Experiment Station could 

 he put into more effective practice; also there was the question of protect- 

 ing our agricultural industry from foreign i^ests likely to be introduced un- 

 less proper precautions were taken. The outcome was the creation of the 

 office of State Entomologist by the 1903 session of the legislature. It was 

 provided thereby that the entomologist of the experiment station sliould act 

 as the chief entomological officer of the state, not only to accumulate 

 information on insect problems but to carry it to the farmers of the state and 

 aid them in insect control campaigns based on that information. 



For the first eleven years after tlie creation of the office there was no 

 statewide organization for agricultural work through Avhich the state 

 entomologist could work. Since 1914, however, when the agricultural exten- 

 sion service was instituted, the entomological program has been carried out 

 mostly tlirough cooperation with the county agricultural extension agents. 



