The Daily Missoulian., 1912-08-04

was a professor OF astronomy but his
hobby was slkworms. He imported
ailkworns from all over the world and
at his home ut Medford, Mass. he
harder insect than the silkworm Of
commerce. Among the silk spinning
caterpillars he imported were some
egg clusters of the gypsy moth. which
he raised on a shrub In his dooryard.
inclosed in n net. one night "A gale
arose, ripped the net into shreds and
scattered the insects.
That was the costliest gale expert
enced In any section of the world,
though 1t blew down no trees, nnroofed
no houses, caused no loss of life.
Professor TrouveIot rushed wildly
about the neighborhood capturing all
the insects he could find and destroy
ing them. He suspected that dynamite
had been set loose I'm Medford, that
day. lie sounded warning. but no
more insects were found. II was not
until nearly 20 years later that the
people Of Medford noticed that their
shade trees were apparently stricken.
They sent an alarm to Washington
and n corps of frst-ad scientists
hurried to the scene To discover the
, gypsy moth.
The invasion of the brown-tails was
not nearly so dramatic. They are
supposed to have come. in upon rose
bushes imported In 1890 by florist In
SomervIlc. II was not until 1897.
however, that their destructive work
was noticed.
! The biggest bug fighting campaign
ever waged. and one that Is still
going on. is that against the cotton
boil wcevil. The boil weevi first ap-
penrcd in the VICINITY of Brownsville.
Texas. In 1892. By 1902 il had caused
damage 10 the Texas cotton crops esti-
mated at $500000O0 In spite of the
vigorous warfare waged by the govern
menf the pest spread over a good part
of the state and into Louisiana. II
advances eastward nj the rate of
about 30 miles n year. but every foot
Of the way Is being bitterly contested
! by Uncle Sans trained bug fighters
who have already found means of cir
cumventing. the boil weevil by early
| planting although they have not beer
able TO eXtorminate II.
These, of course. are the great pests
but there Is scarcely n vegetable. OF
| fruit. or grain grown I'm the United
States that does not have several score
mere or less destructive enemies. whici
the chronological army is compelled
to study and fight. The sugar beet
] for instance, though its cultivation In
the United States Is only In It's in.
fancy and II Is not extensively subject
to insect ravages. has about $50 known
species of insects that feed upon IL
! The government has devoted partic.
uar attention. to he parasites of The
sugar beet because that humble vege.
table is most important factor II
general agricultural prosperity. II Il
the basis of scientific agricultur,
I'm Europe, where the farmers, by usinl
II in rotation with other crops, have
doubled and trebled their general yield,
per acre I'm the past half century. ~
that European farming lands. though
worn by centuries of cultivation. ar,
now far ahead Of our fresher soils II
productiveness. Agricultural SCIENTIST
maintain that with proper encourage
ment. the culture of the sugar bee
will bring similar advances In TIL.
United States and Will add 81 500, 900,
600 year to the value OF American
Il farm products. The sugar beet crol
itself was worth last year $4,000 ,OOl
\ The belief that this crop is capabl
of adding tremendously to the agricul
tural wealth Of the country has lonI
been held by Secretary Of Agricultur
Wilson, DIR. Harvey w. Wiley an,
practically every other agriculture
expert, and they accordingly have ex
erted every effort to advance the In
dnstry urging congress to develop !
by tariff duties on the importe
product as Well as by appropriation
to fight Its insect enemies. In sup
port Of this belief they point to wha
has been accomplished with old soil
of France and Germany where sugn
beet culture IL the practical basis o
alf' modern agricultural development
OF five staple crops they show tina
Germany. using the sugar beet as
probation crop Is securing from two Il
three times the yields per acre secure
In this country with Its fresher soils
And now that beet growing Is develop
Ing so rapidly In this country, the rec
ords show that the same results cal
be accomplished here. II is no wonde
then that the bug army should d
asslduous In its warfare against IT
enemies, since with the possibility o
saving for our own farmers the 800,
900 now spent each year for foreigl
Grown sugar, and at the time increas
Ing the yield OF all our other stapl
crops from 25 TO 80 per cent. as ha
,lbeen accomplished In sections. .'wher