St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1910-08-19

olnR tho country OF nucn pests nave
been very favorable In every way DIR
l., o. Howard. head OF the bureau OF
entomology NJ Washington. the larg.
est and most efficient organization OF
ita kind In the world. has become the
leading exponent and the aoknowl.
edged expert Of the cult OF setting an
insect 10 kill an insect-the science
Of parasitology.
The method used by Dr. Howard II
20 suppress the harmful insects and 10
foster the uaeful onoa, that Ia 10 do.
stroy the doatroyera by abetting the
destroyera OF the doatroyers. Thus
has arisen new and Ingenious
branch OF scientific endoayor. the ex.
pert culture OF insect parasites. Al.
ready a number Of the most important
pests have been reduced 10 innocu.
ousneaa by the insects OF prey which
have been set upon tho trail: and
while many others must still bo com.
bated imporfoctly by artificial meth.
DDS. relentless science is securing the
world for the tiny many-leggsd hounds
which shall eventually hunt them
down.
Theoretically every insect has ita
own specific enemy or enemies. These
may prey upon Il directly as certain
beetles prey upon the larvae OF the
foiiage-destroying moths; or they may
feed upon its eggs. as is the case with
many ladybirds. or they may deposit
their own eggs either within the body
or the egg OF the victim. thereby de-
stroying the Immediate or prospective
generation. Always these enemies
tend 20 keep the insect pests within
normal limitations, Doubtless IN
many cases the parasite would wholly
destroy a species we're Il not for the
existence OF hyperparasltes which
prey upon Il and keep II from overex,
pansion. In state OF nature this
balance between the various species
Is automatically preserved until man
with his ignorance OF their nature en-.
ters and disturbs the whole status.
Insect immigration has been the
curse OF American agriculture. or our
72 Importantly destructive species
those whose destructive powers
amount up 20 millions OF dollars ennu.
ally-s5 have come TO US from other
countries The coddling moth. the
curse 'of apple and pear orchards. Is
OF European origin. The dreaded cot.
ton boll-weevil halls from Mexico
The San Jose scale comes from the
immemorial east The gypsy moth
and the brown-tail moth. twin plaques
OF New England trees. were brought
In by accident from the old world
AS soon as an imported insect
shows signs OF becoming formidable.
experts trace II from country TO coun.
try until they find a region where II
has been known for a long time, but
has never reached the proportions OF
pest In such place they are pret-
~ sure TO md a parasite which Is
keeping the depredator down. II they
can acclimatize that parasite and es-
tablish II side by side with the I'm
portation. the problem is solved. Such
was the method IN the case OF the
white or fiuted scale invasion OF Cali
fornia. The scale was imported by
collector OF plants at San Jose, prob
ably from Australia. In a few years
II had spread enormously. and was
simply wiping out the orange crop
wherever II gained a foothold. Work
ing In conjunction with the progress
siye state authorities Of California the
United States bureau OF entomology
sent an emissary 10 Australia. where
the scale was discovered In what was
then supposed to be It's original en-
yironment With the Australian scale.
and preying upon its eggs. was found
a small red-and-black ladybird. the
Novius cardinals. One hundred OF
these were brought back to Califor-
nit. bred and distributed. To the ter
rified and skeptical orange growers
the result must have seemed miracu-
lous. Within two years from the time
when the first ladybird began to break
fast on scale eggs. the victory was
completely won. II was more than
Victory; II was a slaughter. Since
then the white scale. while It IL not
wholly eliminated and never viii be.
has ceased to be an element Of peril
TO the citrus orchards Of California.
Occasionally at practically no cost.
science wins victory. The experts
by turning their glass upon the clover
seed midge found that 1t produced
two generations coincident with the
clover crop. Generation number one |