324 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE 



the mean time, in pondering the question what to present to you, I con 

 eluded it were better, perhaps, to state some general truths of universal 

 application than to attempt to treat of the d liferent species of injurious 

 insects, which the members of this society must be interested in — com- 

 ing, as they do, from all parts of a State with such vast and varied 

 agricultural interests. Hence, the hasty notes which I shall present are 

 not worthy to be called an essay, and if they must have a title, would 

 better reflect some ''General Truths in Applied Entomology." It will, 

 however, afford me great pleasure at the close to give more specifie in 

 formation in answer to any questions that may be asked. 



Insects play a most important part in the economy of nature. The 

 average townsman, whose knowledge of them is confined to certain 

 lectual and household pests, can scarcely appreciate the fact or have 

 any other feeling than repugnance and contempt for the annoying hexa- 

 pods of his acquaintance. Yet, as scavengers, as pollinizers of our 

 flowers and fruits, or as food for other animals, they not only vitally 

 concern man, but, philosophically considered, are seen to be essential 

 to his very existence. 



We receive, also, some direct benefits from insects. They supply us 

 with the sweetest of sweets, our very best inks and dyes, and our finest 

 robes and tapers, to say nothing of various acids, lacs, and waxes; 

 while few, who have not studied the subject, have any just idea of the 

 importance of insects and their products as articles of human diet. 



But the benefits, whether direct or indirect, which man derives from 

 insects, must always appear trilling compared to the injury they inflict 

 on our agriculture. 



In the primitive condition of the country, as the white man found it, 

 insects, doubtless, took their proper place in nature's economy, and 

 rarely preponderated in any direction to the injury of the wild plants 

 scattered, for the most part, sparsely throughout their range. Har- 

 mony between organisms, in the sense of the widest inter relation and 

 inter-dependence, had resulted in the long course of ages. But civilized 

 man violated this primitive harmony. His agriculture, which is essen- 

 tially the encouragement and cultivation, in large tracts, of one species 

 of plant to the exclusion of others which he denominates weeds, 

 gave exceptional facilities for the multiplication of such insects as 

 naturally fed on such plants. In addition to this inevitable increase of 

 species thus encouraged, many others have been unwittingly imported 

 from other countries, chiefly through the instrumentality of commerce 

 with those countries; for it is a most significant fact that the worst 

 weeds and the worst insect pests of American agriculture are importa- 

 tions from Europe. Thus, in addition to the undue increase of our na- 

 tive species, as above noted, we have to contend with these introduced 

 foreigners, and it is no wonder that Dr. Fitch declared America to be 

 the land of insects, for, as compared to Europe, we are truly bug ridden. 



As I have stated (Encyclopaedia Americana: Agricultural Ento- 

 mology) : "The losses occasioned by insects injurious to agriculture in 

 the United States, are, in the aggregate, enormous, and have been va- 

 riously estimated at from &30(),000,000 to $400,000,000 annually. It 

 will never be possible to fully protect our crops from the ravages of the 

 many species that injuriously affect them; but it is the aim of the 

 economic entomologist to prevent as much of the loss as possible and 

 at the very least expense. To do so effectually, the chief knowledge 

 required is of an entomological nature, i. e., the full life history and 

 habits of the different species; and this implies a great deal of close 

 and accurate work in field and laboratory. By means of it we learn 



