COOPERATION OF BUREAU AND STATION. 13 



this fund, on April 1 a corps of entomologists was sent to Salt Lake 

 City, Utah, for the purpose of carrying out a thorough study of the 

 insect and its ravages, with special reference to methods of control. 

 Gradually other assistants were detailed, until the number employed 

 in and about Salt Lake was increased to nine, exclusive of the student 

 assistant detailed from the State Agricultural Experiment Station. 



The primary object of this work was, so far*as possible, to restrict 

 the insect to the area it then occupied and to use every effort, by 

 field experiments in measures of control, to devise means of lessening 

 its destructiveness. 



In the meantime it has been learned definitely that the alfalfa 

 weevil was largely held in check in its native home by its natural 

 enemies. Mr. W. F. Fiske, in charge of the Gipsy Moth Parasite 

 Laboratory, having been detailed for work in Italy, kindly volunteered 

 to look into the matter of natural enemies of the weevil and, so far 

 as was possible without interfering with his other duties, to send over 

 to this country any insect enemies that seemed to him susceptible 

 of colonization in Utah. The object of this was to get these insect 

 enemies established, in so far as it was practicable to establish them, 

 at the earliest possible date, in order that they might have the oppor- 

 tunity to diffuse themselves during the spring of 1911. The value 

 of Mr. Fiske's services at this time and in this direction can hardly 

 be overestimated. A more detailed account of this matter will be 

 found under a discussion of the introduction of the natural enemies 

 of the alfalfa weevil. 



Very naturally the alfalfa weevil work divided itself into two 

 branches: (1) The field work, which included all mechanical measures 

 for controlling the pest in the field; and (2) the work, necessarily 

 carried out largely in the laboratories at first, involved in the care 

 and management of the parasitic material dispatched by Mr. Fiske 

 from Italy. After the beginning of the fiscal year 1911-12 the experi- 

 ment station was able to add but slightly to the force of investigators. 

 By this time, however, the annual generation of the weevil had devel- 

 oped to the adult stage and laboratory investigations had largely 

 decreased. 



While, as shown, the experiment station, owing to circumstances 

 not under its control, was not able to put into the field men trained 

 for this kind of work, the bureau was able by the aid of the imme- 

 diately available fund to overcome this difficulty. In the meantime, 

 however, the experiment station did its full share in other directions. 

 Dr. Ball, director of the station, did not hesitate to use his personal 

 and official influence whenever and wherever it could be of service in 

 advancing this work. Besides this, in a great many cases he was 

 able to relieve the bureau of expenses of field investigations as well 

 as to carry a number of other items of expense for which it would 



