The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-09-06

ulations for admitting insect tmmi-
grants to this country are steadily
being frightened In An EFFORT to re-
duce the activities of these pests.
The Dakotas are beset by grass
hoppers this year. The fall army
worm snd the cotton boil weevil
are troublesome in the south. The
gypsy moth is terroriSing . 30
mile AREA in New Jersey. The Eu-
ropean corn boref il holding its
own against determination In New
England. And these arc only I'VE
Of the 5000 or more bugs" listed
in the bureau Of entomoloyy's
rogue gallery Of undesirable in
sects in the United States. About
1000 Of these are actively destruc-
tive to the extent Of one billion
dollars Z year.
Our insect troubles would be far
less il new and unwelcume bugs
were not so often introduced to our
farms and orchards. Only the 9TH
|er day a few satin moths were dis
covered ON trees in New England
by government bugologists. II
these relatives Of the gypsy moth
have not already got q arm start,
unknown to the farmers Of the re-
gion, and If prompt action is TAX
en-, they may b exterminated be-
fore they have 6ecome a pest.
In their native country these in,
sects would be preyed upon by
their natural enemies, but In for
eign habitat there is often no such
bar to their progress. Consequent
ly, they multiply so swiftly that an
insect scarcely considered pest
in its own country often becomes
a veritable scourge.
The disaster which these de.
structive insects bring seem all the
more unfortunate, because with
care it might usually have beer
prevented.
| Up to a few years ago destruc'
tive worm could slip into a United
States port without having its his
tory or habits questioned. Thus
the European corn borer came t.
Massa chusetts, it is believed, IL
shipments of infested broom corr
from Italy or Austria. For severa
years before the war the borer'
must have been stealing into THU
country. But not until 1917 wer'
they discovered. and since then al
the efforts of farmers and entomol
ogists have been necessary merel!
/ to keep the pests from spreading
/ A Japanese Pest.
/ The Japanese beetle, not ser
ious pest in Japan, slipped into tn
United States in the soil afoun'
iris plants. The beetle has stroni
wings, which carry it long dis
tances, and then, too. it is apt t
light on clothing or vehicles, wher
it may travel many miles. In sucl
ways as these the first few speci
mems in this country spread owe
New Jersey until a quarantine ha
to be ordered, forbidding the ship
ment of corn from the infeste,
districts without inspection b.
government agents. In spite of tn
quarantine and intensive warfar
against them, the beetles flourish
ed. SO that this spring the quaran
tine had to be revised to includ
all kinds of farm, garden and or
chard products. How immigran
bugs increase may be imagine
from the statement that four year
ago. when the danger was frs
suspected, only a dozen Japanes
beetles could be found by scien
lists. Now boys in New Jerse
hunt beetles, and some collect a
many as 10000 in a day, pickin
them by hand.
The gypsy moth, another undo
sirable resident. was openl
brought from France in 1869 by
well-meaning scientist, who wa
studying insects. He later la
mented that few of his specimen
had disappeared. Twenty year
, afterward, however, their descend
ants turned up in large tribes /
New England. where they hav
been prospecting and branching on
into new areas ever since.
New Restrictions.
4 Only since 1912 have we had re
strictions against bringing insect
into the United States. Now ther
are over twenty quarantine regu
lations affecting foreign countrie
Some of these prohibit importatio
of certain products likely to be IL