Insect Pests Of Farm, Garden And Orchard (Paperback)

1912 - PREFACE - THE edition of the vriters Insects Injurious to Staple Crops, first publishecl ten years ago, having been exhausted, the publishers requested a revision. It was found, however, that the clvancesi n economic elltomology luring the past decade welee such that it was necessary practically to rewrite thc book. At the time it was first publishe 1 two other I ooks were projected one to deal with the ir sectsaffecting g rrclen crops, and the other to discuss thosc affecting fruits. Pressure of regular work prevented the author from completing the nlanuscript for these works and in 1007 Dr. Chittenden issued his excellent book on Insects Injurious to Vegetables, so that there seemed to be no immediate demantl for another volume on that subject. At the samc time two other wcll-known cr tomologists wvgre working upon books which woultl cover fruit insects, so that the writer abantloned the field to thern. Subsequently, the work of one of these friends was cut short by his sudden death, and the other abandonetl the task, at least for the present. Under these circumstances, it seemed that there was a distinct place for a book to cover all the insects affecting the crops of farm, garden and orchard, and having leisure to tlevote to it, the author developed the work in its present form. It has been the authors effort to discuss all of the more important insects of farm, and garden and orchard at sufficient length to give a clear idea of their life histories and habits, and also the best means of control, so that the book Inay be used as a reference work both by the student of ecorlomic entomology and by the practical farmer, gardener, or fruit-grower. Insects of minor or localimportance have been purposely omitted. The insects of practically all of the leading crops are considered, except the citrus fruits. With these the author is unfamiliar, but it is hoped to add a chapter upon them by a competent authority in a subsequent edition. In general, the discussion of insects and their control as given is based upon conditions east of the Rockies, and practically no consideration has been given to the conditions of the Pacific Coast or of the irrigated country of the far West. The author is well aware that there are doubtless many errors of fact or of wrong emphasis in these pages. Such must necessarily be the case in a work the greater part of which must bc compiled. All of the leading authorities on the subject discussed have been consulted and the writer has endeavored to present their evidence fairly, with such interpretation as his personal knowledge made possible. He will be greatly indebted to those who will aid him in securing the accuracy of the work by reporting any errors or by suggesting improvements in it, as it is hoped to revise the pages from time to time so that they may serve as a reliable reference work upon our insect pests of the farm, the garden, and the orchard. On the following pages are given the sources from which the illustrations have been secured, but the author wishes to express his special appreciation of the very large number of figures which were furnished him by Dr. L. 0. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, and Mr. J. A. Arnold, Chief of the Division of Publications, of the United States Department of Agriculture, either as electrotypes or original drawings or photographs, and to Ginn -Company of Boston, for the loan ofnumerous electrotypes made for an Elementary Entomology by Prof. C. F. Jackson and the writer, now being published by them. E. DWIGH S T A NDERSON. WEST VIRGINIAU NIVERSITY, MOROANTOWN. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION...