The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1921-07-15
By ROBERT II. MouLToN.

BY ROBERT n. MOULTON.
% N DISCOVERING America
F0 Columbus not only opened
!: !: + !:
Xxi Ia up a vast new home fol
LMI kMg man but for insect pests
K% 81 of cultivated crops and do
Lb&I 5A nestle animals as well. Full
EALfSl ly one hundred of these
foreigners have made their
way to American shores, and incidcn'
tally TO American gardens and fields,
up to the present. They have multi
piled so that today their destruction
of orchards, gardens and crops is esti-
mated at approximately $500, 100000 n
year. Their havoc would be much
more than this were it not for the
guarantees and control work con-
Quoted by the federal government and
activities of the states.
The group of federal horticultural
experts pictured herewith has just
been discussing in Washington an eff
fective method of fighting the pink
bOllWorm which now threatens the cot
ton of the United States. 1t came
here from Mexico in 1917 and approxi-
mately 100000 has been spent to
stamp it out. 1t is estimated that fail
ure to control this insect menace will
mean the annual loss of 20 to 40 per
cent of the cotton crop-which means
loss Of hundreds of millions.
These specialists are Cleft to right
DR.. X. F. Kellerman, plant physiolo-
gist, federal horticultural board /;
George B. SudwOrth dendrologist, for
est service; c. L. Marlatt, entomolo-
gist, bureau of entomology w. D. Hun
ter, entomologist, federal horticultural
board, in charge of field work against
the pink boil weevil
These imported pests Keep on COM
ing. The latest arrival has just been
detected at Mama, Fla. 1t is not I'M
cclnmon in the tropics but according
to G. f. Moznette, entomolOgist in
charge of the federal experiment sta
,tion at Miami, one nttSr before was
seen in the United S,Ntes. 1t is the
xylostodoris luteolus and the visitor
has journeyed from Cuba to sample the
quality of the tender shoots of the roy
al palms here.
Because it Is sucking" insect and
Mr.. Moznette considers the bug an
undesirable citizen and war already
has been declared. The defenders are
attempting to repel the invader with
spray composed of one part OF nico-
tine sulphate and 1000 parts of water.
The insect is yellow and an adult speci-
men is about one-half inch in length.
( ''This is the first record of a xylOs-
todoris luteolus in this country" said
Mr.. Moznette. "The insect was re-
Gently described in Cuba by Barber,
with the host plant given as oreodOxa,
Its identity was determined by Hubert
Osborne of the Ohio State university.
Of all the insect pests and diseases
that attack cultivated crops and cut
into the profits of the American farm
ers severely there are relatively few
of tie more important ones that ere
native to the United States. Like
: many other baneful things, insect pests
and diseases have followed the course
of civilization. They are carried in
many ways from one country to an
other, and it is the work of the Depart
ment of Agriculture to guard the Uni
ted States against their entry and 10
prevent their spread.
While many of the pests have come
from European countries, Asia has con-
tributed its share of them. Prominent
among these for it's destructive aStIvi-
lies is the San Jose scale, which made
its first appearance in the United
states forty or fifty years ago, having
lnade It's way here from China. 1t