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THE FUTURE OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



It seems to me that in the future development of economic entomology 

 we have need of* the chemist and of the physiologist. Some work 

 has already been done on the use of Paris green and lime, but the 

 results do not appear to be beyond question. It is to be hoped that the 

 investigations already made in the work on the gypsy moth, as well as 

 those not yet completed, may prove of value in operating on other spe- 

 cies of insects. This work has already given us arsenate of lead and 

 arsenate of barium as insecticides, and investigations are still going on 

 concerning the nature of the intestinal secretions of this insect and the 

 poisons that will most readily react on these secretions and thereby 

 destroy it. It may be that investigations by the chemist and physiolo- 

 gist, working together along these lines, may give us something in the 

 future superior to anything in use at the present time. The three most 

 important characteristics of an insecticide which must be kept constantly 

 in mind when investigating a new or untried poison, are: (1) It must 

 kill the insects quickl}-, the more quickly the better; (2) it must not 

 injure the foliage when used in as large proportion as one may need for 

 the destruction of the insects; (3) it must be cheap enough to come into 

 general use. There are other considerations of more or less importance, 

 as the ease with which the insecticide may be applied, its liability to 

 clog the nozzles or corrode and injure the apparatus, and, in fact, any 

 objection that will prevent the substance from coming into general use. 



After one has made valuable investigations and discoveries in eco- 

 nomic entomology it remains for him to publish his discoveries in such 

 a place as will be accessible to those who most need this information, 

 and in such a manner as to lead them to read the paper carefully and 

 intelligently. I know very well that there are thousands of persons 

 who receive our bulletins who do not even look them over. I was told 

 by the editor of one of our leading agricultural papers a few years 

 ago that he sent out a circular letter to his subscribers asking what 

 changes, if any, they would like to have him make in his paper, and a 

 large percentage of them requested him to give them more stories; and 

 I have sometimes wondered if the information given in our bulletins 

 were presented in the form of a strongly sensational novelette they 

 would not get a much more general reading. Personally, I can not 

 adopt the plan, as I have no skill as a novelist. 



After all, it is more important to investigate and make new and val- 

 uable discoveries, even if they are not so widely read at first, for they 

 will be taken up by others and disseminated far and wide, and in time 

 the useful information will become filtered through the public mind. 



There is often need of legislation to aid in the carrying out of the 

 recommendations of the economic entomologists, and this is an impor- 

 tant question at the present time. There is no law in Massachusetts to 

 prevent a nurseryman or anyone else from selling and distributing 



