OUR FIGHT AGAINST INSECTS 

 BY L. O. HOWARD, PH.D. 



Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture 



THE civilized part of the human race is just 

 awakening to the fact that the future welfare and 

 happiness of humanity depends to a considerable 

 extent upon its success in the fight against the insects. 

 They possess characteristics which permit them to live 

 under all sorts of conditions and their work as a class 

 brings them into direct conflict with the interests of 

 humanity in multitudes of ways, many of which are 

 entirely unsuspected by people in general and many 

 others are still undoubtedly undiscovered. Their small 

 size has often obscured their destructive powers, but in 

 their very insignificance in size lies much of the danger. 

 Insects damage practically all of the farmer's crops, 

 but it is not generally known that year after year at 

 least a tenth part of all that is artificially grown is con- 

 sumed by them. Not only do they eat the crops, but 

 they eat clothing in city and country and they damage 

 stored foods of all kinds; they burrow into the timbers 

 of our buildings, they eat books, and wooden and leather 

 implements. They accommodate themselves to new 

 conditions as they arise. Telegraph lines, compara- 

 tively new in the history of human civilization hav* 



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