February, ' 18] 
FOOD PRODUCTION DISCUSSION 
117 
I might mention a few of the insects which should receive more 
attention at the hand of the entomologists both at the stations and 
in the extension work. For instance, in the case of the development 
of poultry industries, which have received a tremendous stimulus on 
account of the war conditions—many people are starting in poultry 
lines for the first time. They have no conception of the various 
difficulties they will meet. As a result they have lost much. This 
has been brought about by mites and lice. The ox-warble is respon¬ 
sible for a tremendous loss, lice of various kinds are also responsible 
for the cutting of growth, and of course, the ticks of various kinds are 
important. 
I think as I said, that we should give a little more attention to this 
question, especially now that the nation is so hard pressed in the pro¬ 
duction of the meat and food products derived from animals. 
Mr. J. J. Davis: We have had excellent results in our work in 
collaboration with the county agents. Our plan has been to carry 
on as much of our work as possible with the county agents. In this 
connection, when we first go into a county, we take up the entomolog¬ 
ical problems with the county agents; we learn from them and from 
personal observation what insects are important ones in that county 
and what insects are likely to be important ones. We then go over 
the whole matter with the county agent and make him thoroughly 
familiar with the different insects and the methods of control. We do 
this partly to save time for ourselves, because we cannot be in every 
county all the time. After we have discussed the matter in this way 
with the county agent so that he can handle it himself, it saves us a 
great deal of time. 
Mr. T. J. Headlee: In regard to the county agent problem, we 
find that the county agents have organized their counties into com¬ 
munity organizations in most of the counties in the state. These 
community organizations are such that they cover the entire county 
and are sufficiently close together that when meetings are held at these 
places, it is only necessary to call the active farmers in the county. 
Through the development of the telephone service, it is now possible 
for a county agent to arrange a schedule within twenty-four hours if 
the need for it is known, and it is possible to get information promptly. 
The county agents with us have developed as executives—they have 
come to be the head of nearly all the agricultural organizations in 
the county. The result is that we have to appeal to the county execu¬ 
tive to get things started. 
It is perfectly practical to organize any movement necessary for 
the control of any insect. We know that is necessary. Our problem 
is one of scouting. We are scouting already for three species and we 
