8 ILLINOIS AUDUBON? BU LAF. 
The great irony here is that 
many of these secondary out- 
breaks result from pesticide treat- 
ments that in themselves are un- 
necessary and applied at economic 
loss. [his adverse feedback places 
a double impost on the grower. 
Not only is he “hooked” onto a 
costly insecticidal treadmill, but 
his crop suffers from the damage 
caused by needlessly induced pest 
outbreaks. And there is the further 
result — environmental pollution. 
This then leads one to ask: is 
insecticide use on San Joaquin 
Valley cotton really paying an 
economic dividend? Or is it act- 
ually causing economic loss? The 
latter situation may well be the 
case. It is impossible to estimate 
the amount of insecticide over-use 
on California cotton, but it 1s sub- 
stantial and contributes impor- 
tantly to the severe economic 
problems now plaguing the cot- 
ton business. 
Puzzle of Current Agropolitics 
Proper utilization of insecticides 
would eliminate this wasteful and 
pollutive over-use and _ provide 
much more effective pest control. 
This in turn, would entail millions 
of dollars in direct savings to the 
growers. In light of this, the mili- 
tant opposition of certain growers 
and grower groups to legislation 
designed to improve the pest con- 
trol recommendation system and 
regulate insecticide usage is indeed 
ironic. This is one of the great 
puzzles of contemporary agropoli- 
tics. For of all the victims of in- 
secticide misuse, the grower is per- 
haps the biggest loser; yet he 
appears bent on perpetuating the 
status quo. 
One cannot argue against the 
concept of chemical insecticides 
used as ecologically selective tools 
to help maintain the balance of 
insect population. [he argument 
against existing chemical pest con- 
trol lies in the way the materials 
are conceived and particularly in 
how they are utilized — wherein 
marketing of them becomes a ma- 
jor end in itself, perhaps the dom- 
inant factor in pest control. 
Any agent, use, or concept 
which ignores the basic ecological 
nature of insect control courts 
failure, if not disaster. In chemical 
pest control today, merchandising 
considerations, cupidity, ignorance 
and user gullibility dominate the 
practice. [his cannot continue, for 
if it does, an ecological and eco- 
nomic disaster of increasing pro- 
portions will surely result. 
DO BIRDS FLY INTO YOUR WINDOWS? If this is a problem at 
your home, try taping a true-to-life silhouette of a flying hawk to 
the troublesome window. Hawks are natural enemies of smaller 
birds and therefore, smaller birds will probably keep away from 
your windows. 
