The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1924-01-24

Prepared by the United States Department
OF Agriculture.
The serious nature OF the struggle
TO control the numerous insect enc
mics Of our various crops, our live
stock, and ourselves Is shown in the
annual report made by DR.. L.. o. How
ard, chief Of the bureau of entomology,
to the secretary of agriculture. Now
and then the general public Is shown
through the columns Of the newspa-
pers and financial journals how great
a factor in our economic welfare Is
the boil weevil, the ~grasshopper, the
chlnCh bug, or the army worm, but
these are only a few Of the hordes
which annually chew and suck ava
our national wealth by the millions OF
bushels and bales. Scores of these
enemies are continually being inves-
tigated and every now and then a new
one from another country makes its
appearance, sometimes threatening an
important industry In some locality
and demanding hurried efforts on the
part of the scientists.
Great Damage by Boil Weevii.
Nationally the cotton boil weevil
stands out as the insect which has
created the greatest economic disturb
dnce of recent years, and a number of
pages of Doctor Towards report are
devoted to the various studies being
made Of methods of controlling the
pest. Tests conducted on more han
NM fa rfng Snatfnrn1 hrnuUhnnt tho
cotton belt have shown that by proper
busting of the fields with calcism ar
senate SO per cent of the farmers were
enabled to control the weevil so as to
make, the crop profitable, the average
increase being $50 pounds of seed cot
ton 70 the acre at a cost of $4. Many
experiments were carried on in trying
out other methods and equipment, in
Guiding the use of airplanes for dust
Ing. All but 4.01 per cent of the cot
ton crop is now produced in territory
infested with the boil weevil. .
Strong efforts have been made to
gain control of the Japanese beetle,
q new pest which has been spreading
In New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The
thottt 10 DCluS SluuIcu, ldIlh
practices are being modified to help
reduce It's multiplication, and prog
ress has been made in introducing
natural parasites from the Orient.
During the year much work was done
on other deciduous fruit insects, in
Guiding those of the grape, peach. ap-
pie, and Of various NUTS.
Cop,noino houa hnan onrriaH IN
against the gypsy and Srown-tail
moths. Investigators have been In
Europe and Japan studying the nat
ural agencies which assist in the con-
troll Of these insects, and several prom
Using parasites have been shipped to
this country and are being tried out
along with every other agency which
may be of service in fighting these
tree-defoliating pests.
New Pests Gain Foothold.
Cereal and forage insects have been
given much attention IN various parts
of the country where damage is be-
Ing lone or where new pests are gain
ing d foothSld. The European corn
bOrer is n of the most important
of these introduced pests; another is
the alfalfa weevil, while grasshoppers,
the southern stalk borer, the wheat
straw-wOrm, the corn earwOrm, and
webworms cause serious losses. In
ve~stigations were carried on to devel-
op better control measures for insects
attacking stored grain and grain prod
ucts, dried fruits, meat and fabrics.
Tests have been made Of cold storage
for the prevention of loss by insects.
of f%umigation. and Of woods such as
red cedar.
A number of insects attacking trop-
lcal and %subtropical fruits have be-
rome troublesome and efforts are be-
ing made to control them. Among
these are several citrus pests, lnclud-
Ing the camphor scale. mango and avo-
cado insects, and fruit flies in the
Canal Zone and Hawaii. Pests of
vegetables and truck crops now of
great Importance are the Mexican bean
beetle. sweet-potato weevil, pea aphis,
bean fly; cabbage. cucumber, melon,
strawberry, and sugar-beet insects.
The entomologists of the department
also have been concerning themselves
with pests Of animals and Of
Treatments have been devised for de-
stroying OK MARBLES, and traps, poisons
and repellents have been developed for
screwworms and blowfies; studies
have been made of tie possibilities In
new treatments for lice on live stock
and poultry and investigations of
malaria mosquitoes have been con-
Quoted.
Insects Damage Forests.
Another branch of this varied work
has to d. with insects damaging for