This indscriminate spraying also kills most of the beneficial insects, including the pollenators! They are spraying here NOW for mosquitos every year. If they stop spraying it will be MANY years before the beneficials recover. It was not just 50 years ago. It continues somewhere every day.

You need to read the book. It's beautifully written, and very engrossing.

Silent Spring is now on my to do list.

I'm certainly not in favor of indiscriminate spraying, nor of questionable and harmful practices that may have been used in the past, but I think that I would actually read the book before I claimed to know all about it. Sheep don't die and dogs and cats don't sicken now? Under what circumstances and conditions did 90% of barn cats supposedly die, and in what area? It has always been my understanding that the toxicity of DDT was not the problem, but rather it's cumulative effects in the food chain, ending with weakened egg shells in top raptor predators. You can cry that the sky is falling, and look for things to worry about, but I also see that the bald eagle is soon to be delisted, the whooping crane is making some good progress, and coyotes are increasing in numbers and range, and moving into uban areas. I don't like japanese beetles either. Maybe if you collect them and put them all on your Kudzu, you'll at least solve one of your invasives problems.

goodness Patrick.

My point was simply that I happened across a very interesting article in a local paper, under the gardening section I think, and that through reading it I learned a bit of history that has some relevance to things today. It did not make me an instant expert-it made me think about things. Those figures are quotes from Dr. Mike Gray, University of Illinois entymologist, the Illinois Natural History Survey, and Rachel Carson herself, not personal opinions.

I think you'll note that I did quite plainly state that I have not read the book, and yes, Rhizo, I need to add that to my "someday" list. I have never read On the Origin of Species either, which is one of the heavyweights on my list, but I think by now I know generally what it's about. Of course, if I ever post something related to that work, I'll be sure to use quotation marks for you, Patrick.

Lighten up Patrick. I still can't find the place in Dirtgirl's post where she claimed to "know all about" the book. She was simply sharing an interesting article. Seems to me that you might be the one that needs to read things a bit more carefully before making statements. I would hate to think that everyone here should feel intimidated to post something interesting for fear that they might be called upon as an "expert" on it.

I think the spirit of the original post is that maybe Silent Spring played an important historic role in the banning of DDT and hence the comeback of some of the species you listed.

Where did that come from Patrick? I'm astonished to say the least.

Up here where I am, I've not seen a single Japanese beetle. But I go east 40 miles to another town, and by golly they have them. Weird, very weird. It does sound like a very good winter reading book, that I'll have to see if the library has.

Now my problem that I've never ever had before, white flies. My plants, that are 98% native, are totally covered in white flies. Any one else notice the increase of these pests? And what to do to be rid of them? I don't want to spray pesticides. I've just ordered some yellow sticky traps, but I have a feeling my infestation is too much for them. Unfortunately, I didn't notice them till about 3 weeks ago and didn't think a whole lot about them. They weren't that bad and I have zero knowledge of them. Now, they are bad, but I still have zero knowledge of them.

terryr I,wouldnt worry about the insect population explosion you'er experiencing this late in the season.It's common for insect species to go throuhg boom-bust cycles and they may not reappear next year.Ecological balance dosen't imply stasis,but rather,chaotic short-term fluctuations that even out over time.It's normal

I agree nywoodsman. There have been times when I freaked out over a certain bug that seemed to be all over the place. The next year it wasn't here. I'm fortunate enough to have a little land, and I'm hoping that within this space, I can have more balance than, say, someone with a golfcourse-looking lawn.
I have discovered with the beetles, that they love certain plants/trees and leave the others alone. I think it's good to have a couple sacrificial plants/trees, because then they seem to leave the others alone.
I found that to be true with a porcelain vine that I had bought. I hadn't had japanese beetles until I bought that vine! They covered that vine every year. I found out it was invasive, and already have my hands full with other invasives, so I pulled it out. So then they went to my Linden tree. They skeletonize it almost every summer.....but it comes back. So.......it has become my sacrificial tree for them.

I don't have much land. Just a city (town really) lot, 62x130. These white flies are all over the place, and since I've never had them before, it's so easy to, well, to just freak out. My plants are all young, just being put in last year and this year. I've barely got any grass left, so no golf course land here. Unfourtunately, the white flies aren't leaving anything alone. I found out last night, I did a search, they're all over in front too, just not out back. You shake a bush or whatever, and they just fly out all over the place. Or turn over a leaf, you barely see green for all the white.

Well, to add more fuel to the fire. What about the organic approved pesticides? I'm not sure if any target white fly exactly since I've never had those, but on special occassions, on specific plants (I think three times) I've used pyrethrin based spray. My cooperative extension people suggested it after I consulted with them on the individual problems. Speaking of which, do you have an extension agency near you? You could call and see what they advise in your area.

Just some thoughts.

I used to use a homemade soap spray for various things. Seemed to work just fine.