S&TS 2331: Agriculture, History and Society: From Squanto to Biotechnology : Economic Entomology

Jefferson City, State Entomologist. 1st-9th; 1868-1876.
Missouri was the third state to have an official state entomologist (Harris was not officially a state entomologist) and there the horticulturists also played the leading role. The Missouri Fruit GrowersAssociation (later Missouri State Horticultural Society in 1862) founded in 1859. At the 1867 meeting, it petitioned the Missouri General Assemble to create an office of state entomologist. With the support of the State Board of Agriculture and the Saint Louis Academy of Sciences, the proposal was passed and Charles Valentine Riley (1869-1878). was named state entomologist. Former reporter for the Evening Journal and the entomological column of the Prairie Farmer, the leading agricultural paper of the West. His nine Missouri Reports, published from 1868 to 1877 set new standards in the comprehensive treatment of insect pests and in their superb insect illustrations.

Albany, C. Van Benthuysen, printer [etc.] 1856-67.
In 1854, the agricultural society petitioned the New York Legislature for a state entomologist and succeed in having Asa Fitch appointed. The appointment of the state entomologist by the agricultural society was meant to insure that the investigations would be conducted with a direct reference to economic aspects. Fitch's New York reports served as prototypes of other state entomologists'. Accounts of insect pests were arranged according to the part of the plant attacked. The first symptoms an orchardist might observe were given, then the insect that caused the condition, and then the remedies available to rid the orchard of the pest. This method of organizing reports was followed later agricultural entomologists.

Edited by C. V. Riley, entomologist, and L. O. Howard, first assistant, with the assistance of other members of the divisional force .... Washington, Govt. print. off., 1888/9-95. v. 1-7; July 1888-July 1895.
In 1877, Riley became the Chief of the US Entomological Commission. After the creation of the Division of Entomology, he edited, with his assistant, Leland Ossian Howard (1857-1950), the journal Insect Life. The journal was later replaced by the Journal of Agricultural Research, published by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations.

Springfield, State Journal Steam Print, 1874.
SERIES: Fourth annual report on the noxious and beneficial insects of the state of Illinois

Boston, Dutton and Wentworth, State Printers, 1839.
An online version may be accessed from https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=6471563&DB=local

Washington, Govt. print. office, 1877.
The organization of the US Entomological Commission was a direct response to the locust problem, and the entomological commission became a model for the organization of federal science. The work of the Entomological Commission during the five years of its existence from 1877 to 1882 demonstrated the possibilities for applied entomology on an unprecedented scale. The locust investigations themselves were important advances in scientific organization, theory and control. These achievements were recognized at the time and this recognition generated sustained public support for applied entomology in the Federal government, with the creation of Division of Entomology.

Philadelphia: Entomological Society of Philadelphia [1865-67] v. 1-2; Oct. 1865-Sept. 1867.
In 1865 Benjamin Walsh served as western editor of the Practical Entomologist and, in 1866, he became editor in chief. Two years later, when publication ceased, Walsh and Charles Valentine Riley started their own journal, the American Entomologist.

Cambridge, Mass. : Folsom, Wells, and Thurston, 1841.
Harris had already published short article in the New England Farmer and other agricultural papers. His Report on the Insects of Massachusetts Injurious to Vegetation was published in book form in 1841. It gave the most comprehensive account of the life histories and habits of the important agricultural pests up to that time, and broke new ground by emphasizing the practical control of insect pests. It was the first book on agricultural entomology in America. This may also be viewed online from https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=6634292&DB=local

New York [etc.] Hub Pub. Co. [etc.] v. 1-2, Sept. 1868-Dec. 1870

United States. Entomological commission. Washington, Govt. print. off., 1878 1st.
[Title reads: First Annual Report for the Year 1877 relating to the Rocky Mountain Locust]

Also available online via https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=5369322&DB=local

Springfield, etc.: Illinois State Horticultural Society. v. 1-11, 1856-66; n.s. v. 1-84; 1867-1950.
The third instance of a state appointed entomologist was in Illinois. As in New York, the horticulturists in Illinois took the lead in securing an official state entomologist. In 1866, both the horticultural society and the agricultural society called for the appointment of Benjamin Walsh as state entomologist. He became officially the second state entomologist in 1869. In another parallel to New York, Walsh devoted his first report to insects damaging to fruit orchards and gardens. Also available online via https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=6474429&DB=local