The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-08-30
SIXTY INSECTS
HIT BY HOWARD.
STORY OF THE STRUGGLE WITH
ANNOYERS OF THE FARMER.
European Pests, Comparatively Harm
less at Home, Come Over Here and
Cost Us Millions Of Dollars Every
Year-Eforts to Combat Them by
Means of Parasites Are Usually Sue
cessful.
BY w. w. Jermane.

BY w. w. Jernane.
Washington, Aug. 30.--Like many
insect pests reach far greater proper
lions here than in Europe. Why should
these pests do comparatively little
damage at home and very much here?
DR.. L. o. Howard, chief of the division
of entomology, discussed this question
today in way which throws much light
on the problem, and also shows the need
of a quarantine along our borders
against dangerous plant importatio'n's.
California maintains such a quaran-
tine on the Pacific coast. Bills have
for years been before congress to Sc,
cure this measure of protection on all
our borders against the pests which are
still on the outside, but thus far with
ont success. The importers Of nursery
stock do not like to be bothered with
additional regulations.
Sixty Bad Pests.
"The reasons we suffer more from in
sect pests than do the farmers of Eu-
rope,' said DR.. Howard, care plain.
This country is much newer; its planta-
tions are much larger; we Go not have
the same intensive systems of cultiva-
ton, with the personal watchfulness
which these secure. We do not take
care of the borders Of our fields as they
do in Europe; we have not the same sys-
tenn of crop rotation and we have
times as much from these enemies, and
the problem in fighting them is vast
ly greater one.
1--WE have about sixty insect pests
in agriculture and horticulture, which
we call first class, because they entail
damages each year running into mill
ions Of dollars. Our records mention
over 1900 injurious insects in THIS
troubiesome may be comprehended in
the number mentioned. Of these
thirty-two were imported from Europe,
accidentally in every case. And in
each instance the pest is doing much
more harm here than it did there. This
number of troublesome pests will be in
creased as the years go on, with the
increasing, and quickening communica-
scrutiny of plants is made at our ports.
We could limit the number of ports at
which plants were permitted to come in,
| just as we do the live stock.
| Noxious Weeds Migrate.
"The rest Of the world has many
things still to give us. We shall always
general trend of their migration, curl
ously enough, seems to be from east to
west, and this is true of noxious weeds
as we'll. In Australia and New Zealand
they fear chiefly things brought from
the United States. The direction is
everywhere from the older civilization
to the new. Although more than half
our pests of frst-classs Importance have
come from Europe, but one case has
arisen where it has taken anything in
furious from us, and that is the grape
vine phylloxera, which did them enor-
nous damage until they imported Amer
lean grapevine stock, on which to
! graft their own.
/ Insect Parasites. 1900
t'The gypsy moth and the brown-tail
moth are. comparatively unimportant ir
European forestry and fruit growing
Besides the reasons already mentioned
it should be remembered that these
pests have come over to us without
the parasites which hold them down al
home. Now that the effort in Massa
chusetts is no longer toward extermln ::
. check, we can begin the importation O.
insect enemies. These insects do 10
do damage every year in Europe, bu
only once in while does either be
come really injurious. Each pest ha
many species of parasites preylng upo]
it, and they do not all thrive to TIL
same uoSIeS edCu .yod1. uC UuooCCl
moth, for example, once in G numbe
of years becomes very injurious to Bos
ton common, stripping the trees badly
But this very abundance stimulates it
parasites and predatory insect enemies
with plenty Of food, they multiply VT
on the tussock.
"Although the determination Of
pest is not ordinarily to be though hit o.
It may be said that these insect enc
mics 'have their day or periods whe
the injury they do is 50 great rs t
command general attention. The col
ton-leaf caterpillar, for example, wa
one of the most prominent insect pest
of this country twenty-five years ag'
damaging the cotton crop annual
from fifteen to thirty million. dollar
|, The general use of paris green has don
much to relegate it to the rear Ths
we no longer maintain the same larg
cotton plantations that we did qua
ter of century ago also accounts
part for the Improvement
States Waiting Out. ~~.
| f@The movement of traffic over stat
= lines would spread the area Of oper
ton Of each pest much wider than nov
did not, almost every sta tie in the unic
have law providing that no nursel
p. stock, CRAFTS, bulbs or cuttings, or an
- thing of that kind, should be shiDDe