BEETLES. 57 



cattle must stay at home, lest they injure the fields 

 and meadows, and that every farmer on this continent 

 would be obliged to resort to stall-feeding, and keep 

 his cows, oxen, hogs, &c, in the barnyards. But by 

 doing so he will be the gainer, for he will save, first, 

 his timber; second, the wages for making his fences; 

 third, his cows, by being kept at home, will produce 

 more milk, butter and cheese ; fourth, he will save a 

 large amount of manure, which he loses if his cattle are 

 allowed to ramble in the woods and pastures; and, 

 lastly, by having no enclosures, except around his 

 garden and orchards, (and hedges are even here far 

 better than fences,) he will beautify his whole estate 

 and country by depriving it of that confined and 

 prison-like appearance which wood fences and stone 

 walls necessarily give it. 



It is a very difficult matter to eradicate inveterate 

 superstitions, and it is equally hard to break up old 

 habits. Notwithstanding the plough has been used 

 from time almost immemorial, the inhabitants of St. 

 Domingo have not yet adopted it, but still prefer the 

 hoe and spade, and to hoe and plant an acre of Indian 

 corn is there the work of four weeks for one man. 

 But " a word to the wise should be sufficient." 



With regard to wood-destroying insects in general, 

 it must be remarked, that they are of the greatest 

 importance in the tropics, as well as in those unin- 



