Pest control

“ Seek to ensure effective prevention and progressive control of plant and animal pests and diseases, including especially those which are of transboundary nature, such as rinderpest, cattle tick, foot and mouth disease and desert locust, where outbreaks can cause major food shortages, destabilize markets and trigger trade measures; and promote concurrently, regional collaboration in plant pests and animal disease control and the widespread development and use of integrated pest management practices. ”

“ They attack almost all kinds of animals as well as many birds, being of course a source of great annoyance and no inconsiderable loss. They are more apt to attack the feet of men, especially those who go barefooted. Sometimes [Pg 54] they occur in such numbers as to make great masses of sores.
On account of being such general feeders they are difficult to control, but some relief may be obtained by keeping the houses and barns as free as possible from dirt and rubbish and by sprinkling the breeding-places of the pest with pyrethrum powder or carbolic water. ”

“ Then, by keeping in mind the fact that the fly is comparatively harmless as long as it is kept from filth laden with germs, do away with all open closets, uncovered slop-barrels and other filth. As a further precaution keep it from the home by the use of screens and when necessary "swatters." Do not make the mistake of trying to control the pest with the "swatters" alone. In the country too often manure is permitted to accumulate about the barn during the summer with a view of using it on wheat ground in the fall and this furnishes ideal conditions for the fly to breed. ”

“ As soon as we turn nature upside down, as we have nearly done in many sections of the country, we are bound to bring in these pests. It would be well in any law—and I know in this state we would consider a law, and an experimental station could have charge of work connected therewith—that one of the provisions we would insist on being put in the law would be one to control the pests which may come. ”

“ The procedure almost invariably followed where parasites are concerned, consists in either dusting the plants with some chemical in the form of a powder, or spraying it with a liquid, or occasionally in enveloping the plant in some gas, in each case poisonous to the insect- or fungus-pest. The principal rules to be observed are: (1) the poison employed must be sufficiently strong or concentrated to kill the parasite, but not sufficiently powerful to injure the host ”

“ The number of pesticide-resistant insect pest species worldwide has increased and many resist even the newest chemicals. The variety and severity of pest infestations multiply, threatening the productivity of agriculture in the areas concerned. ”

“ The Biological Survey is a conservation organization and will undertake no work that will be detrimental to any species of animal not interfering too greatly with the interests of man. Those conversant with actual conditions in the range States realize that if agriculture is to survive, the control of injurious rodents is as essential as is control of the corn borer, the chinch bug, the boll weevil, the grasshopper, the coddling moth, and numerous other agricultural pests. ”

“ War can not compare with the campaigns of disease and death waged by this most filthy of all insects. In our recent strife with Spain we lost a few lives in battle, but we lost many more in hospitals due to contagious diseases, in the transmission of which this pest played a most important part.
The fly is dangerous on account of its filthy habits. It breeds in filth, feeds on filth in open closets, slop-barrels, on the streets and in back alleys and then comes into the house and wipes this germ-laden filth on our food or on the hands or even in the mouths of helpless babies. ”

“ Work with them has resulted in the development of treatments effective against a number of pests for which there was formerly no known means of control and markedly more effective treatments for the control of others. ”

“ The Bureau of Entomology works in harmony with the other divisions of the Department of Agriculture, giving the time of its experts to the problems of controlling insects which, for good or ill, influence man's welfare in this country. The destruction of the malarial mosquito and control of the typhoid fly; the destruction of harmful insects by the introduction of their natural enemies, plant or animal ”

“ When possible, fungicides for disease control and insecticides for insect control should be combined in the spray tank and applied to the trees in one operation. The spray materials should be applied evenly and thoroughly to all the leaf and nut surfaces to provide a chemical barrier to disease organisms and insects. Do not neglect the tops of the trees. Diseases and insects can harbor and multiply in all unsprayed areas of the tree. ”

“ When we observe, now, that different insects feed in two quite different ways, some by means of the biting type of mouth parts, and others by means of the sucking type, it becomes evident that we must know which kind of insect we are dealing with in the case of pests we may be trying to control. A biting and chewing insect can be killed by the mere expedient of putting poison on the out- side of its food, if it does not become aware of the poison and desist from eating it ”

“ No one needs to be told to try to keep a house, or a room, clear of fleas, bed-bugs, or lice; indeed to have these creatures about is considered a mortal disgrace. Not only is their bite very unpleasant, but they may convey a variety of diseases, including plague and blood poisonings of various sorts. But there is another insect pest far commoner and far more dangerous than either fleas or bed-bugs, whose presence we should feel equally ashamed of ”

“ The feeding habits of some insects make it almost impossible to control them by spraying; so traps, poison bait, hand picking, repellents, or screening the plants to prevent access of insects are resorted to. ”

“ Numbers of insects injurious to vegetation are held in check by parasites that destroy eggs and larvae; the chalcis flies are parasitic upon grain weevils, the destructive scale insects have for enemies various internal parasites. A common and troublesome parasite is the bot-fly, pest of horses. ”

“ As the present work is concerned with the pests, and not diseases, only those types of chemicals for the control of the former will be referred to.
Sprays and dusts are of three kinds, and act upon pests accordingly: they are either stomach poisons, or act externally on the animal by actual contact and corrosion, or cause death by fumigation. ”

“ A ladybird beetle, which has also been imported, is the most effective agent in keeping this pest in check.
Insects of the House or Storehouse.—Weevils are the greatest pests, frequently ruining tons of stored corn, wheat, and other cereals. Roaches will eat almost anything, even clothing; they are especially fond of all kinds of breadstuffs. The carpet beetle is a recognized foe of the housekeeper, the larvæ feeding upon all sorts of woolen material. The larvæ of the clothes moth do an immense amount of damage, especially to stored clothing. ”

“ INSECT AND OTHER PESTS Vigorously growing plants are far less liable than are feeble ones to the attacks of the various living enemies which the gardener is called upon to combat. Therefore the most important item in the suppression of insect or fungoid pests is careful and correct culture. But, even in the best kept gardens, green-fly and earwig, slugs, snails and wireworms will appear, and must be dealt with by repressive as well as by preventive measures. ”

“ Since the roots cannot live without nourishment, the tree dies. As soon as the larvæ have completed their development they pupate. Later they develop into adult beetles. These adult beetles issue forth in swarms the following spring, to attack new trees.
[158] The control of insect pests is a difficult matter. On areas where insect depredations are conspicuous and are liable to spread to nearby valuable timber, control measures are undertaken in coöperation with experts from the Bureau of Entomology. ”

“ No one kind can long overrun its fellows. If one does get a start and increases until it becomes a pest or plague, some enemy is sure sooner or later to spring up to destroy it. We use this method in fighting some of the insect pests which are injuring our trees. Men have searched in various parts of the world from which such pests as the gypsy moth and the San José scale have come to find some of their enemies and bring them to this country to feed on these insects. ”

“ The methods of handling poisons developed and used by the Biological Survey can be employed most effectively and economically in controlling predatory animals at proper seasons in regions where conditions are favorable. Poison is especially suitable for winter use against predators on some of the great stock ranges of the West, as it can then be employed with little or no danger to useful life. The cost of the same measure of control by any other known means would be practically prohibitive. ”

“ Perhaps no work is of more importance than that of combating the numerous insect and other pests which every year cause heavy loss to the agricultural community. The addition of an Entomological Laboratory and the appointment of an Entomologist have enabled the Department to afford relief to many cultivators, and a small but active entomological staff are constantly engaged on various pest campaigns. ”

“ In order to employ proper methods and place all possible safeguards around poisoning operations for the protection of beneficial and harmless species, the Biological Survey has insisted upon approving the appointments of all men employed on the supervision of rodent-control work for its various cooperating agencies. ”

“ Usually, these insects are not present in sufficient numbers to cause serious injury until mid or late summer. Infestations earlier in the season rarely assume damaging proportions. As is the case with mites, aphid populations may increase, following the application of certain insecticides applied for the control of the pecan nut casebearer or following treatment with bordeaux mixture for pecan scab disease control. ”

“ He reduces all fertilizing matter to liquid form, and industriously applies it by hand, destroying each insect pest with his fingers. No slug, caterpillar, or vicious parasite can escape his vigilance. He sacrifices himself entirely to the object in hand, and as long as there is sufficient light for him to see to work, he continues to toil: no eight-hour or ten-hour system answers for him. ”

“ Some persons uninformed as to the need for rodent control and the methods followed by the Biological Survey in carrying on the work have stated that control by use of poison and C.C.C. workers endangers the existence of other forms of wildlife. ”

“ In the control of animal pests, it should be borne in mind that the pests are usually associated with other factors inimical to plant life, such as unthrifty plants, due to injury or malnutrition, and fungous and bacterial diseases, any one of which might be either the primary or secondary cause of plant injury. ”

“ Insects may carry the germs or parasites which cause disease in a purely mechanical or accidental way, that is, the insect may in the course of its wanderings or its feeding get some of the germs on or in its body and may by chance carry these to the food, or water, or directly to some person who may become infected. Thus the house-fly may carry the typhoid germs on its feet or in its body and distribute them in places where they may enter the human body. ”

“ The principal effort to control this dangerous insect must be made at the source of supply— its breeding places. Absolute cleanliness and the removal or destruction of anything in which flies may breed are essential ”

“ Suffice to say, there is every prospect that the pest will continue to spread throughout the Eastern United States and Canada and that wherever it goes it will prove a direct pest to man as well as to his plants. ”

“ In like manner, the army worm may be defeated by burning up her eggs with the grass-stalks in which they are deposited. Or we may enlist in our service the natural enemies of the various insect-pests, such as birds, toads, snakes. But their greatest foes are "those of their own household," predaceous or cannibal and parasitic insects. The study of the habits of these insect allies and insect enemies of the husbandman is the occupation of the practical entomologist. ”

“ That department, at its experimental stations and with the aid of its entomologists, had devised a method of combating the pest. Roughly speaking, it consisted of getting in ahead of the weevil—carefully preparing the ground and selecting the right varieties of seed, so that the main part of the crop could be harvested before the insect was ready to attack it. But it is one thing to devise a scientific method and another thing to persuade and teach farmers to carry it out. ”

“ As illustrated so well by the history of the incursions of the army worm and canker worm, it is only by a combination between farmers and orchardists that these and other pests can be kept under. The matter can be best reached by legislation. We have fish and game laws; why should we not have an insect law? Why should we not frame a law providing that farmers, and all owning a garden or orchard, should cooperate in taking preventive measures against injurious insects, such as early or late planting of cereals, to avert the attacks of the wheat midge and Hessian fly ”

“ When they reach maturity, their wings are fully developed and they fly to pecan trees. A few eggs may be deposited on pecan trees, but the young bugs apparently are unable to develop on them. Only the adults are present in sufficient number to inflict economic injury. There may be as many as four generations each year.
Control.—Although certain insecticides will control these pests, the number and frequency of spray applications necessary for control would not be economical.
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Care should be taken to keep weeds down in the orchard during the growing season. ”