1961] 
Insect Control Programs 
107 
hired by the Federal Government or the states for work in their own 
fields; yet, as our case histories demonstrate, these fields will surely be 
pivotal in future control developments. Bright spots in the entomo- 
logical research picture are the grants from, other governmental agen- 
cies for the support of basic: research, mostly in the universities. But 
such grants are no substitute for an adequate research establishment 
within the USDA itself. 
From all of these considerations, I think the recommendations must 
be clear. They are as follows: 
1. Every mass control campaign should have an adequate research 
program functioning as far ahead as possible before control operations 
get under way. The control work should be guided by the research 
findings, and not the reverse, and every campaign should be reevalu- 
ated frequently to see if a need for it continues. 
2. The USDA quickly should be granted funds to expand all 
permanent research facilities related to pest control. Special attention 
needs to be given to basic fields such as systematics, physiology, be- 
havior, ecology and genetics. The study of the natural-product 
chemistry of insects should be stepped up. 
3. Mass broadcasting of non-selective poisons, especially spraying 
and dusting from the air, should be deemphasized and the development 
of other measures, especially selective lures and sterilization tech- 
niques, correspondingly augmented. Over lands other than intensively 
cultivated agricultural blocks, mass insecticides should be used with 
the greatest caution and only in real emergencies after other measures 
have failed. Non-selective insecticides in general should be considered 
only as stopgap remedies, pending the development of better means 
of control for all types of land. 
4. There should be established a strong permanent inter-agency 
office to coordinate policies and activities related to pesticidal opera- 
tions as they affect the biotic environment and human health. This 
office should have ample funds to allot to the proper agencies for 
research on specific problems. It would be made up of representatives 
from the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the Fish and Wild- 
life Service of the Department of the Interior, and the Food and 
Drug Administration of the Department of Health, Education and 
Welfare. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
I am grateful to the many individuals and organizations who made 
this essay possible, although I cannot mention them all by name here. 
Particularly helpful were the information and criticisms offered by 
