Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-14
AMERICAN INSECTS
TAKE HEAVY TOLL
nter-AmeriCan Conference
on Agriculture Hears Re-
ports on Pests of Crops.

Loss of approximately $4,000, 900 900
annually is caused to American agricul-
ture by insects and plant diseases about
so per cent of which have come from
abroad, Lee D. Strong of the Plant
Quarantine and Control Administration
of the Department of Agriculture told
the Inter- American Conference on Agrt-
culture, Forestry and Animal Industry
meeting at the Pan-American Union
yesterday.
Insects Take Heavy Toll.
Many destructive pests have not yet
obtained a foothold in the United
States, he said, and probably can be
kept out indefinitely by rigid quaran-
tine enforcement.
Insects alone, said j. A. Hyslop of
the Bureau of Entomology, cause
loss conservatively estimated at $1,000
600, 900. He said the insect pest sur
vey has listed 5000 species of destruc-
tive insects but most Of them are OF
minor importance. New pests, he said,
are being discovered each year, many
of them introduced from abroad.
"At least two-thirds of the loss from
insects is preventable," Mr.. Hyslop as
serted, and explained that research
work in the United States now requires
the full-time work of 500 entomologtsts.
OF these, 800 are employed by the Fed
eral bureau.
In this war against insects Hyslop
said, field stations are maintained in
far-flung parts of the globe-tn France,
Japan. Argentina, India, Mexico, Cuba
and the Malay States.
Weeds Tax on Farmer.
Weeds exact a tax of several hun
dred million dollars q year from the
American farmer, said M. w. Talbot
of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Some
Of the worst of these, he said, can be
fought only by community action, since
the individual farmer is almost help
less against wind-blown weed seeds.
Some of the worst weeds, he pointed
out, can be controlled by chemicals.
but the method is usually costly and
often dangerous "Chlorate salts" he
said, "have been found fairly effective
on several bad perennial weeds, such
as the Canada thistle, but stringent
precautions must be observed to pro-
tect workmen and property from fire.
Clothing, wood, vegetation, straw and
barn dust, moistened with chlorate So
luton and dried out, may be readily
ignited, even by a spark resulting from
friction.
Introduction of insects to fight weeds
also is dangerous, he said, because of
their tendency to turn on other crops.
Crops Brought From Europe.
With the exception of tobacco, corn
and q few minor products, all the field
crops grown in the continental United
States have been introduced from
abroad, said Knowles A. Ryerson of the
Bureau of Plant Industry.
European grains in particular, he
said, have added greatly to the produc-
ton of American farms. During the
past Is years, he pointed out, the De-
partment of Agriculture has introduced
over 1000 varieties and strains of soy
beans, thus developing a crop which
now occupies 100000 acres and has
an annual value close to $25, 900 900.
An expedition now is In the Orient, he
said, making a further study Of soy
beans and their products.
The slowness of livestock develop
ment in the pan-American countries is
due largely to the food habits of the
people, who prefer vegetable to meat
| products, said Harry N. Vinall of the
Bureau of Plant Industry. These coun-
tries. he said, have an abundance OF
forage crops, while other. suitable fol-
warm climates, are available for in
PRODUCTION.
Application of medical science tc
plants, especially efforts to cure disease:
by injecting medicines, thus far has
proved failure, said DR.. Merton B
Waite of the Bureau Of Plant Industry
Plant Medicine Fails.
Such attempts up to date, he said
ARE either such complete failures as
so doubtful as to place them in the
class of unsuccessful methods. In
jections or organic compounds are
serums connected with disease, the an
titoXins so successful in human anc
animal pathology, have so far failed
with plant diseases. Most of the at
tempted treatments OF this sort which
claimed success have been made by
people not capable of reaching correcI
&c @lusions But qualified investiga-
tors have conducted some experiments
We should, however, keep an open minC
in case the control of some disease
should be developed by these methods
but very rigid proof should be required
before anything Of this sort is &C
. copied"