118 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
field but when two of us stepped out of the harness on the same day 
with identical purposes there were many skeptics regarding the possi¬ 
bility of our making a living. They are probably still skeptical and 
to such as assume such an attitude there is no future outside of the 
subsidied ranks. 
If in the beginning entomologists had started out as professional 
and consulting specialists, matters would have been quite different. 
It happened, however, that the public had first to receive a long course 
in instruction as to what we as a profession could accomplish. Gov¬ 
ernmental and state institutions were about the only means available 
for proving our worth. The world knows what we can do now. They 
are willing to pay us for our expert advice, provided, of course, we 
make a reputation for giving correct advice. As a matter of fact 
there are many people on this earth who would rather pay for advice 
than receive it free, and many would rather have some one do a tech¬ 
nical piece of work for them for a higher price and feel that it was 
done right than do it themselves. That is the reason I say that the 
day is come when a well trained man can hang up his shingle as a con¬ 
sulting entomologist and make a successful business of it. 
I would not advise a man to start out this way without a little capi¬ 
tal, for no professional man gets into full swing in the first year of his 
practise. As a matter of fact some of us decided several years ago 
that it would be necessary to have two years living expenses laid up 
in reserve. 
What better combination could we have for the man just starting 
out, than a little rented plot of ground with a truck garden on which 
he can experiment, and some hives of bees? His shingle hanging over 
the door, and a neat business card and letter head, with a simple 
announcement in the local papers would open the ball. He would 
build up as large a private library as he could from free publications 
and then buy more important volumes as he was able. He must be 
a good mixer and go out among the farmers and business men who 
may have need of him and show that he knows what he is talking 
about. He must have sufficient imagination to see new fields of effort 
and then try to get into them. He should endeavor to secure the 
agency of a good series of insecticides and machinery for applying 
them. It would pay him to give free demonstrations occasionally. 
He will soon have assistants on the job. 
I have mentioned bee culture. I wonder how many of us realize 
what a paying business it is when properly conducted. There are 
great futures in honey production and you can easily get your start 
while holding on to the position you now occupy. If you let the apiary 
grow normally you will soon find you must part either with position 
