Insect Pests. 239 



potatoes — unless full fed with Paris green — ruin our squash 

 and melon vines, bore damaging holes in our timber, and do 

 many other aggressive and provoking things. Friends only 

 as they do good work in the'destruction of other insects, and 

 perhaps in doing a little friendly scavinger work. 



On the whole I think more friends than enemies for the 

 destruction which they bring to the butterfly and moth 

 family is very great. 



Best among the friends are the so-called " lady birds," di- 

 minitive little fellows — shaped about like the half of a 

 small pea, usually red or yellow with black dots, they do ex- 

 cellent service in the destruction of aphis or green lice. 



From the family of bees, wasps and ants we cannot spare 

 the bees, but might be induced to spare the wasps and ants, 

 yet they are not altogether bad, the ants doing good scav- 

 enger work and the wasps are to some extent fly destroyers. 



Of the grasshopper family there are some 5,000 species, 

 and their pasturage is a large item, but falls with blighting 

 effect only at long intervals and on limited areas. 



They are only useful to us as food for poultry. To the 

 Digger Indian they count for more. 



We have only about 10,000 species of flies, but among 

 them is the mosquito, who in music and activity compen- 

 sates for any lack of numbers, and who with a few barrels 

 of rain water, or stagnant pools near the house will soon 

 multiply himself by a million, and be constantly at your 

 service. Here is another paying opportunity to tidy up, if 

 a barrel contains water cover it, if there is a stagnant pool 

 drain it. 



You have all noticed how much more troublesome mos- 

 quitoes are in the woods than in the open, this applied to 

 your dwellings would lead to planting all low shrubs with 

 dense foliage, somewhat away from the house and to so ar- 

 range all surroundings as to give a free circulation of air. 



Flies in the kitchen are scavengers, but pests also; better 

 to do the scavenger work ourselves than to tolerate their 

 presence. Construct a drain which shall convey all slop to 

 a distance, fit the same with a covered hopper and see that 

 all slop leans through that channel. Send the conveient 



