Extension Work in Entomology

M. P. Jones.

Extension entomology developed from a need to have technically trained entomologists in the State extension services to conduct educational programs in insect control and beekeeping.

The extension entomologist brings to the public useful and practical information and encourages the adoption of recommended practices. The information derives from experiments conducted by the State experiment stations and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Extension entomology grew out of the demands of the public for help in fighting an increasing number of insect pests, the lag between the research worker's discoveries and their application by farmers, and the inability of other organizations to supply the needed help.

The beginning was in 1913. By that year the alfalfa weevil, first noticed in the United States near Salt Lake City in 1904, had spread over Utah and into points in Idaho. Growers of alfalfa knew its destructiveness but were confused as to the character of injury it caused. Hay growers in Idaho were worried about quarantine laws enacted by California and Montana and the threat to their most profitable crop and livestock feed. The University of Idaho decided on a new approach. On April 1, 1913, the State extension service there hired T. H. Parks to devote his full time to extension entomology. The appointment was about a year ahead of the Smith-Lever Act, which created the Federal-State Cooperative Extension Service. Later that year the extension service in New York employed C. R. Crosby as extension entomologist to help combat the insect pests attacking the fruit orchards. The number of such specialists increased gradually between 1913 and 1922 and since 1933. In 1952, 65 extension entomologists were employed in 42 States.

Nine States employed extension specialists in beekeeping in 1952. In most States extension work in beekeeping is handled by the extension entomologists, who also do the extension work in the control of pestiferous spiders, snails, slugs, rats, mice, gophers, birds, and like animals. Their first responsibility is to fortify the 9,000 county agricultural, home demonstration, and 4 H Club agents with current information and why and how it should be put into practice.

The extension entomologist's most effective method of operation is to develop his program in advance of the time when the insects are present and causing damage. Then he can help set up demonstrations of methods, plan for farm tours, and prepare informational materials exhibits, models and mounted specimens, motion pictures, lantern slides, chalk talks, reports on local conditions, and such. The county agent learns most about the insect and its control from the specialist's visit during an outbreak of insects.

Because too few extension entomologists are employed to serve the agents by visits to the counties, the entomologists have had to rely on such measures as annual refresher courses, which bring together the county agents in a State or district. Because the situation regarding pests and pesticides has been changing rapidly, some extension entomologists issue weekly service letters in which they report on the occurrence, abundance, and development of pests, give information about control measures, and summarize results of experiments by State and Federal research workers.

Pest control now has so many aspects that the specialists and county workers cannot do the job only through direct work with farmers. More and more they work with insecticide and equipment manufacturers, distributors, retailers, commodity production associations, lending agencies, milling and meat-packing industries, canning companies, cotton ginners, oil crushers, other processors of crops and livestock, farm organizations, agricultural consultants, field agents of milk companies, and similar groups.

The groups receive the entomologists' bulletins on pest control and beekeeping and often reprint them in their house organs and periodicals. Specialists appear on their programs and thus project farther the information and recommendations they have. Entomologists in many States arrange conferences with sellers of insecticides. They review the recommendations for the State and discuss the insecticides for which the dealers likely will have a demand. Similar conferences are held with pest-control operators and the operators of aerial and ground equipment who apply insecticides.

SOMETIMES A CRITICAL SITUATION requires concerted action the sudden outbreak of a pest like grasshoppers and chinch bugs in a region of several States, for example, or the need to warn people of the dangers of careless use of an insecticide or the need (as in 1950 of greater care of stored grain and hence the need for greater efforts against insects in farm grain bins. We call them drives or campaigns, for want of better terms. They are conducted on a regional or State basis. Usually the interested groups in States or counties are organized to share responsibility. An example of such action, which includes extension entomologists and other Government agencies, is the grasshopper control program.

EVER SINCE THE FIRST SETTLERS inhabited the Plains States, grasshoppers have threatened crops there. Farmers and ranchers applied the known measures for control with varying results. Later the State colleges and experiment stations offered help. Mechanical devices for destroying the grasshoppers were developed. Some were used extensively, but all turned out to be inadequate. The use of paris green and wheat bran was a long step forward. Many State agencies used the bait in well-organized control programs. But the problem burst beyond State lines. More attention had to be paid to the breeding places of the migratory forms of grasshoppers which began to damage crops far beyond the place where they hatched. As a result, requests were made for Federal help. The early help consisted of providing poison bait to farmers and ranchers, who scattered it on their farms and adjoining property.

The participation of the Federal Government necessitated the establishment of standard procedure in working with the States. Memoranda of understanding therefore were drawn up by State officials and the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. The responsibility of each agency was outlined. In each State where grasshoppers were a major problem one person was designated as State leader of grasshopper control usually the extension entomologist but sometimes the State regulatory official or the head of the entomology department in the State agricultural college. The county agent was in charge of efforts in his county.

A division of grasshopper control was established in the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine to administer the program. Its headquarters are in Denver, Colo., which is near the center of the "grasshopper country." Another division of the Bureau and State experiment stations have conducted research on grasshopper control and methods of surveys of grasshopper Populations. It is possible now to map the grasshopper- infested areas and indicate the relative abundance of the pests in the different areas. State extension services and other agencies have made annual grasshopper surveys. New chemicals were tested against grasshoppers. Some are as effective as poison baits and more practical to use.

As State leader, the extension entomologist has coordinated the efforts of the division of grasshopper control and the county agents. He has assisted in the procurement and distribution of baits to counties. When farmers apply their own baits or insecticides, he and the county agents help farmers to decide on the need for control measures and, by means of farm visits, meetings, demonstrations, publicity, and special service letters, help farmers to decide on the need for control measures and to determine what insecticides to use.

ONE OF THE OLDEST and most highly developed extension programs relating to insects is the spray service for orchardists, especially growers of apples, pears, prunes, and cherries. The type of spray service and its extent depend somewhat on the relative importance of fruit growing in the State or county. Research and extension men from the States and the Department of Agriculture give advice at the meetings on the preparation of bulletins that carry recommendations for the control of fruit insects. Federal employees usually participate only when they are located in the State that has the spray service. Extension specialists in entomology and plant pathology usually publish the recommendations and do most of the field work of the spray service. Sometimes the extension horticulturists or other related specialists cooperate.

The service in a number of States has developed somewhat like this : The extension and research specialists hold a meeting to review the results of experiments and extension experience on pest control. They draft tentative recommendations for control of the various pests. At a later meeting the specialists meet with the county agents to perfect the recommendations. They consider the use of insecticides and fungicides on a farm basis according to the experience of the county agents. The recommendations for a given State are often adjusted to agree with those of adjoining States. In some States the specialists go over the recommendations with representatives of insecticide manufacturers and distributors, who thus get a chance to learn the recommendations first-hand.

Information about the insects, the insecticides to use, and the timing of the applications is then published in bulletins and distributed to fruit growers. During the critical part of the spraying season, the extension entomologist spends much of his time with the county agents and orchardists. The county agents make frequent visits to key orchards to determine the progress in development of the fruit trees and of the insects. The information is relayed to all fruit growers by postal card and radio. In urgent situations, the county agent telephones the information to several orchardists, who in turn telephone their neighboring fruit growers.

Timeliness of applications is important. Proper timing and proper insecticides can reduce greatly the number of applications in a season. The United States Weather Bureau provides special weather reports to aid in the spray programs.

Each week the county agents send to their State extension entomologists a report of the observations in the field. The information from the agents is compiled and distributed to the agents as a weekly news letter, in which the entomologist directs attention to any changes in recommendations, reports on new insecticides, and mentions other matters of timely interest. The county agents and specialists continue to observe spray operations and note the effectiveness of the spray materials. They also hold meetings and arrange tours for fruit growers at various times. Sometimes the fruit is examined to determine the percentage of insect damage.