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comparatively inexpensive remedy. Visiting the 

 woods in the latter part of autumn, a constant 

 dropping, like falling rain, was to be heard, and this 

 was considered to be due to the dropping of their 

 excrements by the thousands of these leaf-destroy- 

 ers. Close examination, however, showed that the 

 particles thus constantl}' dropped from the trees were 

 eggs which fell loosely upon the leaf-covered ground, 

 and so abundantly that they could be scraped up 

 in places in great quantities. Thus, by recom- 

 mending the burning of the leaves during winter, I 

 was able, by a very simple means, to give those who 

 suffered complete protection for the future. 



No fact, however seemingly insignificant, should 

 be overlooked, and not only must the round of the 

 insect's life, as it appears at the time and point of 

 actual damage be studied, but every fact in refer- 

 ence to the species — its original home, its spread, 

 its natural enemies — wherever it exists, must be 

 ascertained and recorded. The significance of 

 such information as this is shown with striking 

 force in the case of the fluted scale (Iccrya J'ln-- 

 chasi), an insect coming from Australia, and which 

 has been extremely destructive to citrus fruits in 

 California. In this case the investigation as to the 

 original home of the species, which required some 

 years and a trip to Europe, resulted in the discov- 

 ery of a natural enemy in its native country which 

 not only kept it in perfect subjection there, but 

 which, with the cooperation of the State Depart- 

 ment and through one of my assistants, Mr. A. 

 Kcebele, I was enabled to introduce and colonize in 

 California. The result was almost magical, for 

 within a single year the icerya has been practically 

 swept away, bringing about an immense money- 

 saving to the citrus-growers of that state with the 

 expenditure of a very insignificant sum on the part 

 of the government. 



Investigations of this kind are often attended 

 with extreme difficulty in the accurate ascertaining 

 of every possible point connected with the life of 

 the insect, and occasionally such knowledge makes 

 the question of remedies seem only more compli- 

 cated. An instance of this kind is afforded by the 

 buffalo-gnats of the south-west. It was known 

 from the beginning of the investigation, which I 

 undertook in 1886, that the early stages of this fly 

 are aquatic : but, nevertheless, the problem was 

 attacked with the belief that, however hopeless a 

 case may at first seem, a careful study of all the 

 facts may show some vulnerable point and give man 

 the advantage. The work of the first year resulted 

 in discovering the breeding-places, the eggs, the 



larvK and the pupjE, in ascertaining the life periods 

 and in bringing together much other information ; 

 but now, after four years of more or less consecu- 

 tive investigation, we can suggest no direct reme- 

 dies other than slight improvements upon the re- 

 pell ants already in use against the adult insects 

 before we took the subject up. Even this rather 

 difficult and discouraging investigation, however, 

 has not been entirely without its practical result. 

 The habits of the larva; having been to a large ex- 

 tent ascertained, it became evident that the removal 

 of the fences across streams, and of stationary 

 logs and "snags" would, in a large measure, pre- 

 vent the breeding and reduce the number of adults. 

 This is a matter for local or general legislation, 

 rather than individual adoption, and, as shown in 

 recent reports, the general government has become 

 responsible for a rather widespread buffalo-gnat 

 supply in north-west Louisiana, which would be 

 greatly relieved by the removal of an enormous 

 raft of logs in Bayou Pierre. 



It is in this direction of prevention that our best 

 energies should be exerted, for in this direction the 

 promise of the future is great. Effort here should 

 be founded, as just stated, upon the most accurate 

 knowledge of life-history and habits, and in its 

 broadest application it depends for its successful 

 outcome upon county, state or national legislation 

 and the intelligence and entomological knowledge 

 of the officers entrusted with the carrying out of 

 such regulations or laws as may be enacted. And 

 right here is the great danger of the future. Even 

 the most enlightened legislative bodies are liable to 

 error and, in this country particularly, the all- 

 pervading influence of party politics will bring 

 about the appointment of incompetent officers. 

 Even the international conference at Berne, through 

 insufficient knowledge of details, passed unjust and 

 over-stringent regulations regarding the grape phyl- 

 loxera which have injuriously affected the plant 

 exporters of this country, while the incompetence 

 of appointees has almost invariably lessened the 

 good accomplished even where the legislation was 

 wise. The several districts of California, in spite 

 of stringent quarantine laws, have, by incompetence 

 of inspectors, admitted injurious scale-insects from 

 Florida and from abroad, while the very recent 

 measures adopted by the legislature of Massa- 

 chusetts for the suppression of the gipsy moth 

 ( Ocneria dispar) bid fair, as I am informed upon 

 reliable authority, to utterly fail of their result by 

 the appointment of a commission to carry them into 

 effect composed of a country doctor, a Boston 



