The time is not far distant when the American farmer will be obliged to
put forth greater efforts to destroy noxious insects than he has
hitherto. It is a well-known fact that noxious insects are increasing in
a rapid rate throughout every part of our land. The country is becoming
so "buggy" that eternal vigilance is the price of every thing produced
from the soil.
Close observers calculate that more fruits of various kinds and
varieties are annually destroyed or rendered worthless by insects than
are gathered and used by man. The cotton-worm, the wheat-midge, the
canker-worms, the potato-bugs, are each every year increasing in numbers
and destructiveness.
The "curculio" alone destroys millions of dollars' worth of fruit
annually.
It is a safe estimate, all things considered, that, if noxious insects
of all descriptions could at once be annihilated throughout our country,
and mildews of various classes be effectually held in check, the cost of
living to our people would, in-a short time, be reduced to one third of
its present amount. It is disheartening to see what a vast amount of
grains, fruits, and vegetables is annually eaten up by the larvæ, or
appropriated by the perfect insects of various classes, merely for the
sake of propagating their abominable species. Yet, in view of all the
devastation, but feeble effort is made to abate the evil. Birds, many
species of which nature seemingly designed on purpose to keep insects in
check, are wantonly shot by lazy boys and indolent men, who range the
fields and forests, killing all, from the humming-bird to the crow.
Legislative enactments made expressly to protect the insectivorous
songsters are every day violated with impunity. One man plants an
orchard and does all he can to destroy noxious insects; another man near
him also has an orchard, but his orchard serves no purpose but to
propagate "curculios," "canker-worms," "bark-lice," "tent caterpillars,"
"codling moths," etc., for his neighbors, and, as a matter of course,
the whole neighborhood swarms with noxious insects. If all cultivators
would act in concert and with a will, insects might be reduced in
numbers very rapidly. Most moths of night-flying insects are attracted
to and destroyed by small bonfires kindled in still evenings during the
summer months.
Bottles half-filled with sweetened water, hung here and there, will trap
countless bugs. Strong soap-suds applied immediately after they hatch is
a sure remedy for plant lice. Molasses and water, to which a little
arsenic has been added, placed in shallow dishes among the vines, is
good medicine for potato-bugs, and all bugs in general. A lighted lamp
placed in the centre of a common milk-pan, partly filled with water, the
whole elevated a few feet from the ground, will, on a still evening,
attract and destroy the wheat-midge and similar insects in great
numbers. The calculations of the "curculio" and "codling moth" are
brought to naught by turning hogs into the orchard to eat the stung
fruit as it falls, and the larva that depastures upon the leaves of the
current and gooseberry is destroyed by syringing the plants with a
mixture of soap, salt, and water.