452 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
of our nation. It means that everyone who derives his income directly 
or indirectly from the production of cotton is a potential contributing 
member of this association, and our vision shows us a time in the near 
future when this cotton empire will be pushing forward on a sound 
financial and economic wave of prosperity. At the same time we can 
see how such a powerful organization in the hands of men of narrow 
vision can merely become a weapon of offense and even danger. 
My point is that the grower must recognize that there are those, 
who do not produce his crop, who have as vital an interest in it as him¬ 
self, and he must, in justice to himself and th'e other fellow, harmonize 
his organization and its activities with the interests of other people. 
Next, the growers must recognize the necessity of protection of 
crops from injury, and that this protection must extend beyond their 
own membership, to everyone who produces their special crop. Fur¬ 
thermore, it often happens that this protection must extend to other 
. crops entirely, and joint action with other associations is called for. 
The Need of Concert of Action against Pests 
Pests are no respecters of person. They are individualists, working 
for private gain. They do not operate by cooperation, except in the 
case of the ants, and consequently in the absence of leadership, their 
attack is often unexpected, irregular, and baffling. When we fight insect 
pests and diseases as individuals, we pit guerrilla warfare against 
guerilla warfare, and we have nothing but a continuous series of re¬ 
prisals. When we fight them through organization, we pit scientific, 
organized warfare against aimless banditry. The result-is obviously 
victory, although the struggle may be long and arduous. 
* 
Insects and disease create economic waste. They live as parasites 
on the results of our labors. They reduce our profits, they increase our 
expenses, they make our labor more arduous. In the wake of a great 
insect scourge there lie devastated fields, ruined prospects, indebted¬ 
ness, consternation of labor. Business houses which have loaned on 
these devastated crops become financially embarrassed, and often fail; 
mortgages pile up on the farm, and real estate values depreciate. The 
ignorant labor flee before the wrath of heaven, and a once prosperous 
section grovels and bemoans its fate. This is not an overdrawn picture. 
It has happened over and over again in this country. One insect pest 
alone, the cotton boll weevil, extracts an annual toll of hundreds of 
millions of dollars in potential crops, and has cost this country over a 
billion dollars. It alone has scattered panic and poverty, debt and fear. 
There is but one way to meet a great insect pest, and that is by 
organized cooperative effort. Private action against pests is of little 
avail, for practically any insect or disease can bridge the gaps and 
