46 THE REPORT OF THE No. 38 



to successfully resist or outgrow insect attack. The late Professor F. M. Webster 

 was a strong believer in good cultivation, and on more than one occasion has 

 expressed his faith in such treatment as a means of preventing insect injury. 



There is much data along this line and yet present day entomologists content 

 themselves largely with alluding in general terms to the value of good agriculture 

 and sometimes unduly emphasize direct remedial measures, whereas in certain 

 cases there should be emphasis upon the former rather than the latter. 



Let us turn for a moment to the early history of the wheat midge and the 

 Hessian fly in thils country. Both insects caused huge losses over large areas, 

 and owing to practical limitations direct repressive measures were impossible. 

 These insects are now largely controlled by a modified agriculture, though it has 

 taken years to demonstrate the feasibility of such measures. We have in the 

 European corn-borer an insect which apparently must be controlled by modifica- 

 tions in agricultural methods, and we believe that in this particular case there 

 is a splendid opportunity for economic entomologists to demonstrate in a most 

 convincing manner possibilities in this direction and on a sufficiently large scale, 

 so that there can be no question as to the validity of the findings. 



It is very probable that the efficiency of quarantine measures is materially 

 increased by the fact that ordinarily the chances are against a small infestation 

 surviving, since a few insects are very liable to succumb to attacks by birds, 

 predaceous and parasitic insects, or to the effects of untoward climatic conditions, 

 or unfavorable food. This very probably occurs in many sections and escapes 

 record because the entire incident is on such a small scale. It may be recalled 

 in this connection that five living nun moths were taken in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 

 1901, and yet the insect does not appear to have become established. 



The potency of a more or less systematic reduction in numbers is well illus- 

 trated in certain of the larger animals. We refer to these forms because the 

 process is more easily seen and understood. It should also be noted that in not 

 a few instances the supposedly impossible has been brought about by the irrespon- 

 sible urge of self-interest, and not through carefully directed co-operative efforts 

 for the attainment of a definite aim. One of the most striking instances of this 

 kind is the extermination of the passenger pigeon, a bird at one time so extremely 

 abundant that three carloads a clay were shipped from one small Michigan town 

 for a period of forty days. The large herds of buffalo were saved from extinction 

 at the last moment through the intervention of naturalists interested in preserving 

 the wild life of the country. The depleted salmon, shad and herring fisheries, 

 the necessity of protecting both the oyster and the lobster and the great scarcity 

 of certain whales have been brought about by similar agencies, though it would 

 seem as if inhabitants of the water would have a better chance of escape from a 

 persistent human enemy than would be the case with terrestrial forms. It is true 

 that these unfortunate conditions have resulted through specific peculiarities or 

 limitations which have made attack at certain points particularly detrimental, 

 such as killing birds when migrating or in their nesting retreats, the wholesale 

 catching of spawning shad or salmon and the depletion of oyster beds. Those 

 dependent in large measure for their living upon these various forms could not 

 believe that the natural prolificacy of the various species would not offset almost 

 any attack by human or other agencies. Have we reason for believing that similar 

 conditions may not exist among invertebrates, especially insects, and particularly 

 those species considered injurious or destructive ? 



