Durango semi-weekly herald., 1907-07-29

1
and that on each growing thing ther,
Is some evidence that 1t is being at
lacked by destructive insect.
If you hunt up some attache OF III,
department and ask few question:
you VIII learn that ii is the entomo
logical bureaus breeding cage" fol
the study of the insects which dam
age and destroy deciduous fruits OF
all sorts.
This inrt,''us."c structure. then,
which can not have cost more t,'an $50
In the building and which most visi.
tors probably would pass by unnoticed,
plays a highly important part in the
really great work OF the best organ
lied and most efficient machine for
lighting mans insect enemies in the
whole world. II is in charge of A. l..
| Quantance, one of the bureau experts.
Near by you will see a little peak.
rooted house with solid wooden walls.
painted white. Through little apera-
lures in the walls close to the ground
bees are entering and departing. You
may enter 1t yourself II You like, and
are not afraid of bees, through an
ordinary door, for the little white
building is not full of bees. as you
| imagine. They are kept In hives In.
| side the structure so that the outer
wall OF IT forms on wall of each hive.
The bureau gives attention to the in
sects which help mankind as well as
tI thnE1 uhtgh n
of course. stand at the head of bene-
fetal insects; sllkworms come next.
Not far away stands the modest red
brick building which houses the main
offices of the bureau. in charge of
l.. o. Howard. entomologist, with G. l..
Mariatt second in command Each
of these men does his full share of
original investigation in addition to
his supervisory work. Mr. Howard
mas given much attention to such
pests as the brown tail anl gypsy
moths for long time, and was in Eu.
rope looking for ways to kill them on
whrn the writer called The other day.
Mr.. Marlatt has given special atten-
tton to the insect enemies of whent
and other grains, which cost the colln.
try more than any other ..r,1p OF -
sects. speak of them as a "eroup"
Gecause they attack similar crops:
scientifically. they belong to many diff.
ferent groups.
only those who have locke | up the
irhres hayU any notion how expensive
to the nation the insects of this coun.
try are. Mr.. Harlatt says that such
pests impose heavier tax on the
farmers of no other country. He
places the average yearly loss at $795.-
100000. an almost unthinkable sum.
or this loss, si20. .0O0. 900 falls upon
crops and farm forests, s175. 900 900
upon animal products, 100000, 900
upon natural forests and forest prod.
ucts and $lO0,oo0,o0O upon products
In storage.
The loss to the cereals, wheat, oats,
barley, rye and other grains. is about
s2O0,OOO.000 annually. year in and year
out, whether there is any special yisi-
tation like that of the green bug,
which made such sensation In the
southwest this year, or not. It is
estimated that II did about 5000 900
damage last spring. This Is bad
enough, but It is million dollars less
than per cent of the total average
shrinkage OF the grain crops yearly.
The corn root worm. the boil worm
,, Tor ear worml, the chinchbug and the
dessian fly average 10000. 900 dam
ages each year right along to the
corn crop alone. more than double the
damage done to the wheat by the
green bug this year. Besides, there
are lot OF miner ests which damage
| corn and that the public rarely hears
OF, and of which many farmers are ig-
| norant, such as bill bugs, wire worms.
cut worms. army worms, stalk borcrs.
grasshoppers. corn plant lIce-fifty i'm
portant species. all told Mr.. Marlatt
says. that do a total yearly damage of
more than $S0,O00.000 In all. or nearly
nine times as much as that done this
year by the green bug.
Wheat suffers more from bugs and
worms OF various kinds, both actually
| and relatively. than any other crop
Corn is the biggest crop OF the coun.
try, Its value sometimes reaching and
even exceeding billion of dollars,
with an average of per cent insect
loss. The average loss from insects
In wheat Is about 20 per cent. On
crop worth s500.OOO,O 900 this would
be $1OO.OO0,000. more than eleven times
the damage done this year by the
green bug The Hessian fly and the
chlnch bug are more partial to n
wheat than a corn diet even. Some
times the Hessian fly fairly extermin-
ates a large part OF the growing wheat.
Seven years ago 1t destroyed 40 per
cent OF the wheat in Ohio and so per
cent in Indiana, the destruction being
so complete that these percentages
OF the area planted to these grains
were plowed under in two states,
twenty per cent of the Michigan
! wheat area was abandoned also that
year. and the decrease in the wheat
crop OF the whole country for 1900
from the Hessian fly alone amounted
| tn