Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1895 — WAR AGAINST INSECTS. [ARTICLE]

WAR AGAINST INSECTS.

Secretary Morton Talka About the Work of His Department. The compilation by Professor Panton, of the Ontario Agricultural College, of the figures concerning the annual loss from the work of destructive insects was discussed by Secretary Morton, of the Agricultural Department. He said: These figures are mostly drawn from American sources and mainly from publications of the United States Department of Agriculture, and they serve a good purpose in directing attention to the necessity for active work on the part of economic entomology, but in one way they are somewhat misleading. The losses to individual farmers, and occasionally to the agricultural population of a more or less restricted portion of the country, are frequently very great, summed up in dollars and cents, yet the actual money loss to the agriculturists of the country at large is by no means expressed by these same figures, for the simple reason that the loss of a portion of the crop means an increased price for the remainder. We may express the loss from insects in terms of bushels of produce, but in turning it into money value this factor of increased price must not be overlooked. The expenditure of $3 an acre, following the latest methods ascertained by the entomologists, will keep the orchard healthy. The work of the division of entomology during the last few months on the cotton boll weevil in Southern Texas will result next year in the saving of many thousands of dollars to cotton planters in that section, if the recommendations are followed. These instances are new and are simply examples of saving work which is going on from year to year. It is probable that in the aggregate they result in the saving of even greater sums than do the much rarer but more striking instances, such as the introduction by the Department of the Australian lady bird into California, by which the entire citrus industry of that State was saved from destruction. Not a small item in the total value to be accredited to the entomological work of the Department is the exposure of “fake” remedies. Only the present season the entomologist has shown that a tree inoculating company in the New England States, which claimed to be able to inoculate trees against the ravages of leaf feeding insects, haa been basing its claims upon the disguised application of a method which was proved to be totally inefficacious fifty years agoIncidentally, and, although not pertaining strictly to agricultural interests, I might mention that the application of a remedy against mosquitoes. first practically used by our Mr. Howard and recommended in his publication during the past year or two, has resulted, in two instances at least, in rendering habitable large sections near Long Island Sound, and in so greatly increasing the value of real estate that the owners have made large sums of money as a direct result.