28 The West American Scientist. 



being known as Cooke & Gregory, but later as Cooke & Sons. 

 They soon built up the largest establishment of the kind on the 

 Pacific coast. He soon realized that a decided improvement in 

 the style of packages for shipping fruits was needed, and he in- 

 vented new boxes and crates which at once met the wants of ship- 

 pers. 



About this time the Codlin moth(Carpoeapsa pomonella) threat- 

 ened to destroy the fruit-growing industry, and Mr Cooke, 

 becoming interested in the subject, commenced a thorough inves- 

 tigation of the subject of insect pests, first ascertaining all that 

 was then known, and then working night and day in orchard and 

 vineyard to learn the life histories ot the pests. These investiga- 

 tions he continued for three years in various parts of the State, 

 accumulating a vast fund of entomological data, which he com- 

 municated to the press of the State, and which attracted great 

 attention. 



January 6, 1879, he issued an address to the fruit-growers of 

 the State, in which he gave the results of his studies, and sug- 

 gested remedies for existing evils. This he furnished free to all 

 applicants until it became too great a tax on his purse, when he 

 supplied the work at cost. In November of the same year he is- 

 sued a larger pamphlet, giving the latest information on the in- 

 sect pests then troublesome in the State, distributing 10,000 copies 

 gratis. Mr. Cooke continued to agitate the subject through the 

 press until the state legislature, in March, 188 1, passed laws for 

 the protection of hort'culture and made appropriations for the in- 

 vestigation of insect pests. Under these laws Matthew Cooke was 

 elected Chief Executive Horticultural and Health Officer of Cali- 

 fornia, a position corresponding to the office of State Entomolo- 

 gist in other States. 



In October, 1881, he issued a 'Treatise on Insects Injurious to 

 Fruit and Fruit Trees in California, 'of which io,oco copies were 

 distributed by the State. Professor Joly, an eminent French nat- 

 uralist, gave this work his endorsement, and recommended the 

 French government to embody it in a similar work for its people, 

 because of its simplicity and clearness. 



Mr. Cooke was re-elected in 188 1 and continued in office until 

 1883, when the State Board of Horticulture was established and 

 the former office was discontinued. He effected an organization 

 of the fruit-growers in 1881, and established the Agassiz Institute 

 of Sacramento, a society whose object was the diffusion of scien- 

 tific knowledge among boys. 



In 1883 he published his large work on ' Injurious Insects of 

 the Orchard,' which is one of the most complete treatises on the 

 subject that has ever appeared in any country. In this work he 

 was greatly assisted by Mr. D. W. Coquillett, a talented young 

 naturalist of Los Angeles, Cal., who wrote some of the chapters 

 and edited the entire volume. Mr. Coquillett also assisted in pre- 

 paring ' Insects Injurious and Beneficial,' which Mr. Cooke had 

 published for the use of the schools of the State. 



