As the captain in the German army is the most important officer and in his efficiency lies the secret of successful warfare, so in the superintendent of the reservation and his efficiency rests the ultimate success of its management. His duties will be arduous, his position most responsible and difficult; and in the selection of the right man for this place, therefore, lies the promise of success.

REGULATIONS.

In regard to the regulations for the reservations, only a few hints may be made here. There is this condition in the States in which reservations would be made, that, in order to foster their unimpeded development, settlers for every acre of fertile land are needed; hence it becomes necessary, in the reservations of large extent, to segregate the agricultural lands and restore them to that part of the public domain which is to be disposed of for settlement.

It is also necessary for the present to give as much as possible unrestricted opportunity to prospect for minerals on these reservations and to arrange methods by which the opening of mines can be allowed and free development of mineral resources secured without destroying the legal status of the reserve.

Hunting and fishing should also be only so far restricted as to enforce the State game laws, except on smaller reservations nearer settlements, when special regulations should provide checks against waste and wanton extirpation of the game and fish.

In order to insure the good will of such temporary occupants of the reservations and their recognition of the reservation as such, it is suggested that a simple permit be obtained by every such occupant, either from the office of the superintendent or else from any of the rangers, whenever and wherever met, the permit card to state the name and residence of the holder, and, in brief, the regulations governing the reserve, the holder to subscribe to the regulations when obtaining the permit. A more than temporary occupancy should be granted, of course, only by the central office upon the merits of the case.

The regulations as to the use of fire, etc., should be drafted by the superintendent with due regard to the requirements of local conditions and their approval by the central bureau, and posted through the reservation according to needs. Gradually a boundary survey of the reservation and plats of its parks should be made by the rangers, and the boundaries should be properly marked.

TIMBER LICENSES.

A system of licenses to cut timber should be established, taking cognizance of the various needs in that direction. The system proposed in the Senate bill No. 1779, Fiftieth Congress, by which provision is made for a settler's and a prospector's license, at nominal fees, to supply their needs directly, and two classes of lumbermen's licenses for larger and smaller amounts, and varying charges of stumpage, seems perfectly feasible and equitable.

Perhaps with single and small reservations, and especially such as have been reserved with a view to the preservation of natural scenery, the restriction may be to issue licenses only to those cutting for domestic use, and more care would be required of the superintendent in assigning the places where cutting is to be done.

Two considerations must always be kept in view in this part of the management, namely, the needs of the consumer and the condition, present and prospective, of the reserve. The former should never be satisfied to the detriment of the latter, but all reasonable wants should be satisfied as far as possible.

Whatever system of administration and management may be devised, it will have to be simple and tentative, capable of gradual development into a more comprehensive system, with the application of finer methods of forestry added, as experiment and experience shall indicate them.

REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST.

INTRODUCTION.

SIR: I have the honor to present herewith my annual report as Entomologist for the calendar year 1891. I have thought best to confine it almost entirely to a full summary of the work of the division during the year, but on account of the interest felt in the subject I have given a history in some detail of the locust appearances during the season, which caused so much alarm in many of our western States. In view, also, of an expressed wish to that effect, and of the constant demand for this kind of information, I have brought together a paper on the more important insecticides now in general use by well informed persons against injurious insects. The section entitled "Work of the Season" has been committed to the charge of my first assistant, Mr. L. O. Howard, while in the preparation of the paper on "Insecticides" I have had the assistance of Mr. C. L. Marlatt, the paper being based upon the material which I have for some time been bringing together with a view of ultimately publishing a complete report or bulletin upon this practical phase of the divisional work.

The correspondence and routine work of the division have been greater than ever before, over five thousand letters having been writ ten to correspondents, largely in answer to inquiries concerning injurious insects and the means of dealing with them; and this does not include the many letters in relation to publications, which are chiefly answered by circular. Large additions to the National Collection have been made, not only through the work of field agents but by donations from correspondents and collectors both at home and abroad, by exchange, and by small purchases. The growing value of such a national type collection to facilitate the work of the division becomes more and more apparent. Indeed, the work of determining specimens for entomologists in different parts of the country, and particularly for those connected with the experiment stations, has grown upon our hands until it has become to some extent burdensome, involving not only much of my own time and labor but that of some three assistants. This is without doubt an important and legitimate part of the divisional. work, as it facilitates that of the experiment stations in the formation of their own collections, but it is a work for which the division gets little credit, and which does not indicate by its results the amount of time and labor expended.

Insect Life, the periodical bulletin of the division, has been published through the year, and meets with the heartiest encouragement from agriculturists, horticulturists, and entomologists. It affords an admira

ble channel for the publication of short, interesting, notes which otherwise might be buried for years in the notebooks of the division. The other publications of the year have been Bulletin No. 7, The Pediculi and Mallophaga affecting Man and the Lower Animals, by Prof. Herbert Osborn; Bulletin No. 23, Reports of Observations and Experiments in the Practical Work of the Division, made under the Direction of the Entomologist; Bulletin No. 24, The Boll-worm of Cotton-A Report of Progress in a supplementary Investigation of this Insect, by F. W. Mally; Bulletin No. 25, Destructive Locusts, by C. V. Riley, and Circulars Nos. 1 and 2, new series. This new series of circulars has been started with the idea of lessening the extent of correspondence upon subjects of the most frequent question. No. 1 contains certain condensed information relating to insecticides, while No. 2 relates to the life history and remedies for the hop plant-louse. The latter was called for by the appearance of the hop plant-louse in great numbers early in the season and a threatened repetition of the great damage done by this insect in 1886. In addition to these publications, the Fifth Report of the U. S. Entomological Commission has been issued and distributed. It is a general consideration of the insects affecting forest and shade trees, and is a large volume of nearly 1,000 pages, illustrated with 40 plates and over 300 text figures.

The final publication and distribution of this report bring to an end the work of this commission, which was in active existence but five years. It is with some pride that I record here the fact that a commission composed of but three persons prepared and published for each of the five years of its existence a large and fully illustrated volume, and that the five taken together represent an amount of original investigation and experiment the practical outcome of which has, in my judgment, certainly never been excelled in the annals of economic entomology.

Respectfully submitted,

Hon. J. M. RUSK,

C. V. RILEY,
Entomologist.

Secretary.

THE WORK OF THE SEASON.

The season as a whole has been rather a busy one, entomologically speaking. A number of species of destructive locusts have been prevalent in different parts of the country, and a number of insects of lesser economic importance have increased injuriously, and important work has been done in the way of remedial experimentation, in the study of the life histories of different species, and in arrangements for future work.

A NEW INSECTARY.

The most important step which has been taken in recent years in the way of extending the facilities for the investigations of this division is the building of a new insectary, which has been carried on and completed the present year. The division has always been cramped for space and for many necessary facilities for the study of living insects in confinement but at the same time under more or less natural conditions. Indeed, of late years, several of the State experiment stations have been