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From: rab@mimsy.UUCP (Bob Bruce)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.bio,sci.misc
Subject: Re: pesticides
Message-ID: <8026@mimsy.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Aug-87 08:39:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: mimsy.8026
Posted: Wed Aug 19 08:39:27 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Aug-87 07:17:16 EDT
References: <4960@ihlpa.ATT.COM> <1039@faline.bellcore.com> <1003@argus.UUCP>
Reply-To: rab@mimsy.UUCP (Bob Bruce)
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
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Xref: mnetor misc.consumers:2515 sci.bio:598 sci.misc:454

In article <1003@argus.UUCP> ken@argus.UUCP (Kenneth Ng) writes:
>Sure, a couple farmers can forgoe use of pesticides without problems, just
>as a couple children can forgo polio and other vacinations without problems.
>But for the general population to not use pesticides and/or vacininations
>would be suicidial.
>

I think this is a very poor analogy.  Insects are indigenous to our
environment.  They are not something that a crop `catches' from a
neighboring field.  I have never noticed any difference in insect
populations between unsprayed field that were adjacent to sprayed
fields, and unsprayed fields that were not.*

A vaccination works by permanently strengthening a persons
natural immunity to a disease.  If you want to compare insects to
disease then our current pesticide policy is analogous to treating
polio by giving everybody a shot of penicillin once a week.**

___________________
*This is from my personal experience raising alfalfa and
 winter wheat in eastern Colorado.  I have no quantitative
 data to support this claim.

**Polio is caused by a virus.  Antibiotics in general, and penicillin
  in particular do not work on viral infections.  So maybe this
  isn't a very good analogy either.