ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES AND PROBLEMS. 



By Jonx B. Smith, Xew Brunsivicl', X. J. 



One of the chief advantages of being i:»resident of tliis association 

 is that it gives one the opportunity of lecturing his fellow- members. 

 Under the guise of an annual address one has the opportunity of ven- 

 tilating his views more liberally and at greater length than would be 

 tolerated otherwise, and one has the pleasure of making recommenda- 

 tions and saddling a certain amount of work upon committees to jvhom 

 may be referred the recommendations contained in the i>resident's 

 address. For your sakes, as well as my own, I will try to be brief, to 

 confine myself to a few points only, and to make as few recommenda- 

 tions as I can get along with. 



In the exceedingly useful and interesting presidential address of my 

 immediate predecessor a history of economic entomology and ento- 

 mologists was given, and it was shown that both had now a recognized 

 standing and intluence. This influence, I am happy to say, is constantly 

 on the increase, and is, I think, deserved in most cases, on acccmnt of 

 the quality of work accomi^lished. When entomologists first became 

 abundant, with the establishment of experiment stations, a fiood of ill- 

 considered compiled material was printed, which augured badly for the 

 science and for its standing Avith the intelligent agriculturist. Happily 

 the augury was false, and nowadays bulletins in most instances show^ 

 the results of original work, or compilations are brief and prepared to 

 meet some i)resent demand. I do not mean to say that republication 

 of well-known facts is always to be condemned; simply that there 

 should be a good reason for it. Thus I have just published a bulletin 

 on the Hessian fly without the least original investigation: but it was 

 needed in i!^ew Jersey, because this insect has been on the increase for 

 two years in succession, because the farmers are alarmed and dread 

 further injury, and because I have received numerous letters of inquiry 

 which can hardlj^be answered without writing a small bulletin for each 

 case. It would have been folly to attempt original investigation on an 

 insect so well known where immediate information was necessary; hence 

 I compiled a very brief bulletin from the researches of those who have 

 had more ample time and opportunities for study, and it serves its pur- 

 pose and was warranted, I believe. 



There is a danger, however, in this method that must be guarded 

 against, and that is expressed in the question, Are the measures recom- 

 mended applicable in the new locality? We are just awakening to the 

 fact that differences in results obtained by farmers do not always argue 

 ignorance or carelessness, and are realizing that insects or insecticides 

 may vary, either in resisting power or in effectiveness, in dift'erent 

 localities, and that we must not hastily conclude that what answers in 



