BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY AND PLANT QUARANTINE 5 
THE YEAR IN BRIEF 
Many of our most spectacularly destructive insect pests, favored 
by the moderate overwintering conditions needed for mass sur- 
vival, were able in 1950 to build up their greatest summer populations 
for a quarter century. 
General farmers, cotton growers, ranchers, and foresters faced 
threats of extensive insect damage. The insect outbreaks on many 
fronts were countered by utilizing the potent insecticidal weapons 
developed during the last decade. An estimated 232 million pounds 
of seven of the principal insecticides (technical grades) were used 
in 1950. Cultural controls and natural methods of suppressing infes- 
tations were adopted where possible. The large assortment of new 
equipment for applying dusts and sprays from the air and ground 
received a thoroughgoing test. 
Outstanding among the Bureau's activities and accomplishments 
were successful campaigns against grasshoppers, the oriental fruit 
fly, and the citrus blackfly. The spraying in Colorado to combat the 
Engelmann spruce beetle was the most extensive campaign of its kind 
in history. A sharp upswing in grasshopper infestations on western 
range lands and cropped areas inspired widespread farmer and 
rancher participation in another large-scale control program. Intro- 
duced natural enemies of the oriental fruit fly in Hawaii and of the 
citrus blackfly in Mexico accounted for pronounced drops in fly num- 
bers in some infested areas. 
Several all-time records were established in plant quarantine opera- 
tions. Foreign air traffic was the heaviest in the history of aviation, 
imposing an extra work load on an already fully occupied inspection 
staff. More aircraft than ever before received preflight inspections 
in Hawaii and Puerto Rico and were cleared for departure for the 
mainland. Plant material about to move contrary to plant quarantine 
safeguards was removed from nearly one-third of the planes. For 
the second consecutive year, inspection of vehicular traffic from Mexico, 
another important means of entry for foreign pests, exceeded all pre- 
vious records. A new high was also set by ocean traffic reaching United 
States ports. Approximately one incoming ship out of four trans- 
ported prohibited or restricted plant material. The peak demands 
for the services of plant quarantine inspectors taxed to the utmost 
the staffs at the many ports of entry. 
There were more changes among top Bureau officials than in any 
past year. Sievert A. Rohwer, for many years assistant chief in charge 
of regulatory activities, died on February 12, 1951, only a few weeks 
after he had transferred to the Office of the Agricultural Research 
Administrator, as special assistant for defense. Erie G. Brewer, in 
charge of the Division of Japanese Beetle Control, died on October 
20, 1950, and William H. White, head of the Division of Truck-Crop 
and Garden Insect Investigations, on March 14, 1951. 
Herbert L. J. Haller was appointed assistant chief in charge of 
insecticide and chemical problems on March 2, 1951, and Henry G. 
Herrell became deputy assistant chief for administrative affairs on 
January 12, 1951. 
Some new division leaders were appointed. James A. Beal was 
made head of the Division of Forest Insect Investigations on August 
