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Reference :-
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Enclosure 2 in No. 96.
A PROPOSAL TO INITIATE A SYSTEM OF IMPERIAL CO-OPERATION FOR FURTHERING THE PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION OF NOXIOUS INSECTS THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE.
At a conference of representatives from the Overseas Dominions, held at the Colonial Office, on the 14th of June, Lord Cromer, on behalf of the Entomological Research Committee, appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, submitted certain proposals for the collection and interchange of information with regard to the insect pests which occur in the various parts of the Empire.
In order to serve as a basis for discussion, as well as to illustrate the useful kind of work which might be effected by an organisation of this nature, a restricted scheme was put forward, under which it was proposed to deal only with the more important pests affecting useful plants or plant-products. These suggestions, which appeared to meet with the general approval of the representatives present, are set forth in some detail in the Appendix attached to this Memorandum.“
If, in carrying out this proposal, the work is strictly confined to identifying and recording only the more serious insect pests attacking crops, &c., and if the publications are restricted to such returns as may be sent in by the Colonies and Dominions themselves, for the information of other parts of the Empire, then the work which would devolve upon the central Committee would not be very con- siderable, and the cost, as pointed out by Lord Cromer at the above Conference, should be fully covered by an outlay of about £500 per annum.
But it seemed clear that the general opinion of the Conference was in favour of a more extended programme, and a resolution was passed recommending that the Entomological Committee should deal in a similar manner with noxious insects in general, including disease-carrying insects and ticks.
The formation of a central bureau, which should be in a position to supply reliable information in response to all enquiries from Departments of Agriculture or Public Health concerning noxious insects, would certainly be of great practica! utility; but the organisation of such a body on a thorough and effective scale would involve a very considerable amount of labour and expenditure. It is therefore suggested that, in the first instance, the scope of the Committee's activities should be restricted to the following subjects:-
(1) The general survey of the more important crop-pests, as outlined in the
appendix attached;
(2) The organisation of a system for securing the prompt identification f any noxious insects which may be submitted for that purpose by officials of any of the Governments concerned; and
(3) The publication of a journal, to be issued monthly, containing concise summaries of all the current literature which has a practical bearing upon the investigation or control of injurious insects.
With reference to the last item, it may be explained that the amount of literature published on these subjects, in various languages, is already very considerable, and is steadily increasing. It is therefore becoming more and more difficult for the practical worker in economic entomology to keep himself properly posted up in the investigations and discoveries which are being made by workers in other parts of the world, and a publication of the kind suggested would certainly be of great utility. It would probably be convenient to issue such a journal in two separate parts, dealing respectively with insects injurious to plant-life, and insects directly injurious to domestic animals and man. As this journal would contain only reviews of work published elsewhere, the Entomological Committee would continue to issue, as at present, its quarterly Bulletin, which would then be entirely confined to the publi- cation of original articles dealing with similar subjects.
In order that the Entomological Committee may effectively carry out the above proposals, it will be necessary for them to increase their present staff. The pre- paration of the monthly journal would involve a considerable amount of labour, and would require the services of two men. One at least of these would need to have
a good general knowledge of Entomology, and also to be acquainted with not less than two or three foreign languages.
Another man would be required to handle and record all the specimens sent in for identification; to forward the insects to the various specialists, and transmit their reports to the officials who had supplied the material; and generally to deal with all correspondence arising out of this work.
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Finally, the whole work of publication and identification would be supervised by the Committee's Scientific Secretary.
With regard to the identifications supplied by specialists, the Committee has adopted the principle of paying a small honorarium for such work, wherever it may appear necessary or desirable, but the expenditure under this head is likely to be comparatively small.
Some further outlay would probably be necessary for the purpose of procuring various periodicals dealing with economic entomology which are not obtainable in the scientific libraries in London; and some allowance must be made for general office expenses.
The following is an approximate estimate of the probable annual cost of the above proposals :-
Senior Assistant for Journal Junior Assistant for Journal
£300
200
Assistant for Entomological Work
200
Publishing and distributing Journal Supervision and General Expenses
300
200
APPENDIX.
PROPOSALS FOR A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE MORE IMPORTANT INSECT PESTS INJURIOUS TO CULTIVATED PLANTS IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
The attention of Governments is everywhere being drawn to the importance of dealing with insect pests on administrative lines. Consequently, regulations dealing with the importation of plants and vegetable produce are being issued in every country. British Colonial Governments are among the foremost in passing such regulations, but these regulations are not co-ordinated and vary widely in different parts of the Empire. It is anticipated that this may lead to hindrances to trade in agricultural produce, without necessarily keping the respective countries free from plant diseases.
The object of the present regulations dealing with plant imports is to keep out, or to deal effectively with, pests or diseases which might be brought into a country with growing plants or plant produce; i.e., the intention is to guard against certain dangers, in the form of pests and diseases, known to occur outside the Colony, which that Colony does not wish to introduce. In the majority of cases the respective Governments have but little exact knowledge as to occurrence of insect pests in the countries from which their imports come, and most Colonies guard themselves by trying to exclude everything that might possibly bring disease. The present pro- posal is to obtain, and supply to all the Colonies, definite information regarding the more serious insect pests, affecting plant-life, which occur in the various portions of the Empire, so that each Colony may know the specific dangers against which it will have to protect itself in its commerce with any other Colony.
There are at present hindrances to trade which are needless, as not conferring any real advantage; on the other hand, there are dangers not guarded against because of defective knowledge, and it is probable both of these will increase rather than diminish as there is more inter-communication. The tendency to increase restric- tions is growing, and already the list of pests in the case of some Colonies is a formidable one. Such regulations once imposed are seldom withdrawn, even if they prove useless; and, moreover, they are not always directed against the disease most likely to prove injurious. It is possible that in certain cases restrictions would not be imposed and, in others, would be made less severe, if based on a study of the disease in the country from which the plants are to be imported, as well as on an investigation of the diseases existing in the country to which the plants are to be
sent.
As
The first step to be taken is to prepare a classified list of such pests as now exist in each part of the Empire, arranged according to the present degree of injury they cause and the commercial importance of the plants upon which they feed. there is some doubt as to the correct scientific nomenclature of certain pests, specimens of each insect could be sent with the list to the Entomological Research Committee, for identification and confirmation. The list, when prepared, would be published by the Committee and communicated to the various Colonies and Dependencies of the Empire.