^^ Vtilify nf Birds In dejtr^ying Infe^l 



difTercnl kinds of infe6ls arc much lefs confined to vegetaLle* 

 of the fame fpecies, or to fpecies of the fame genus, than hag 

 been commonly imagined. It is certain, that the fame fpe- 

 cies of infeds, in America, often feeds indifcriminately, and 

 in fucceflion, upon plants of very oppofite genera, and even 

 of very different natural orders* 



" Hitherto too little progrefs has been made among us in 

 the difcovery of remedies for the great rnifchiefs occafioned 

 by infe6ls. The fubje6t has not been examined with fuffi- 

 cient attention. It has given place to difcuffions and in- 

 quiries of very inferior utility ; and, I fear, it will not claim 

 all that induftrious attention which itfo well merits, until the 

 evil fliall have fpread ftill further. It is doubtlcfs difHcuIt, 

 but it is by no means impoffible, to prevent the ravages of 

 noxious infe(Sls. In this important bufincfs fomething has 

 already been done in our country. We have difcovered a 

 method of diminifliing the depredations of the little bug, 

 called cucumber-fly, which proves fo deftru6i:ive to the cu- 

 curbitaceous vines, particularly thole of the cucumber and 

 mufk-melon. By manuring our wheat lands, and thereby 

 increafing the llrength and vigour of the wheat, we have 

 teflened the evil of the H(iffian-fly. By fufpending, to our 

 young apple, and other trees, pieces of tow impregnated with 

 a mixture of brimftone and train-oil, we have learned how 

 to frighten away the periodical^ locufts (cicada Jeptemdecim 

 of Linnceus), which often do fo mucif injury to our orchards. 

 The American Philofophical Society, by calling the atten- 

 tion of the public to the decay of our peach-trees, has 

 brought us to a better acquaintance with the caufes of this 

 decay, and with the means of preventing it. Infers are, no 

 doubt, one of thefc caufes. We have made fome progrefs 

 in preventing the mifchief of the hmchus fiji, or pca-flv, 

 tvhich proves fo deftru6live to one of the finell efculent vege- 

 tables. But all that has yet been done is very little, com- 

 pared to that which remains to be done. The fhbjc(^ is as 

 ftcw as it is important. '^' 



VIL On 



