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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 17 
his suggestion of help from our collaborators. I may propose this to 
several of them. I believe, however, in this symposium, the main 
feature brought out has been the fact that we do need a unit standard 
in measuring insect abundance, not necessarily to be applied to highly 
mathematical statistical tests, but if we have some standard unit and 
one man reports, we will know what he means. 
I had two most amusing reports coming respectively from a northern 
and a southern state in 1921. The northern state, one of the lake states, 
reported that the com earworm was devastating the corn crop. The 
southern report stated that the corn earworm was moderately abundant. 
I happened to know the conditions in the two states, so I sent the same 
letter to each of the two reporters and asked them how many ears in a 
dozen were badly infested, and how much of the com was eaten from 
each ear. The report of the northrn state came back that there were one 
or two ears in a dozen that were worm-eaten at the tip. From the 
southern state the reply came back: “about every ear and about half 
the com on each ear.” 
We really need some measuring stick by which a man can publish 
information about an insect, and another man can use that information 
in comparing the results obtained, particularly in insecticide work. 
Mr. E. P. Felt : Wouldn’t it be possible to have as an outcome of this 
symposium, a committee to attempt to standardize in a general way, 
methods of estimating. We cannot compel an individual to use a certain 
standard, but if a committee could formulate the most approved methods 
for the calculation of injury in relation to different insects under various 
conditions, and bring a little pressure for the adoption of a standard, not 
necessarily too complex, but simple and basic, I believe it would be a 
long step forward in solving a rather vexatious problem such as the 
insect survey has to meet now. 
I would move that the Chair appoint such a committee. (It was so 
voted). 
Mr. R. L. Webster: It seems to me that if we are going to make 
estimates of crop damage from insects, it is necessary that we determine 
what is a full crop. In some of the data published by the Department of 
Agriculture the best crop that has been produced in a locality, such as in 
one county, for instance is considered as a full crop. 
It seems to me this is wrong. I cannot imagine conditions that are 
so favorable that there is no loss by any reason whatever, either from 
insects or other factors, in any particular area. I think we should con- 
