WESTERN NEW YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 69 



earthly things. Little given to resignation as a rule, we flare up terribly if 

 somebody carelessly spatters our clean clothes or kicks our worthless spaniel ; 

 but we see worms devour our currants and cabbage with a look of heavenly 

 resignation that beats all our Sunday attitudes. 



Formerly, bugs seemed to respect the old Jewish arrangement, and took 

 about a tenth. This we did not seem to mind at all ; chronic grumblers said 

 nothing, and horticultural societies didn't even inaugurate entomological com- 

 mittees. Bugs, like some other folks, being progressive, are frequently allowed 

 to tahe the ivliole, and now, in their behalf, we feel authorized to extend to you 

 assurances of their very distinguished consideration. 



But the question now arises, How long can you continue this V Insect dam- 

 ages are known to exceed, every year, in the United States, $1,000,000. There 

 are many damages that money cannot measure. Shrubbery, watched and 

 nourished with tender care, perhaps planted by loved ones departed, punctured 

 by a little worm and turned to dry wood: can you enter that upon your 

 ledger ? 



Assuredly, we need concerted efforts to overcome our insect enemies. We 

 must all work together. If one man hilh worms and another breeds them, 

 the breeder will get on the faster. But where is the right to propagate nui- 

 sances ? We might as well set up a pest-house as a worm factory ; as well 

 send out our pigs and poultry to depredate upon our neighbors as our codling 

 moths. 



We are informed that our Michigan friends have met the crises resolutely. 

 One of their pomological associations resolved that if any fruit-grower neg- 

 lected to bandage his fruit trees and destroy the codling worms, the society 

 would do it for him. Every man did his duty, and the past year the fruit was 

 greatly improved. 



The Codling Moth. — This insect is receiving much attention from entomol- 

 ogists and pomologists everywhere, for it threatens our most valuable fruit, the 

 apple, with utter extermination. Many orchards are rendered worthless by it. 

 Orlando Kelly of Wyoming county, living in as good an apple district as there 

 is in our State, says that nine out of ten of his apples had worms in them. 

 The same is true of numerous orchards all through the country. A pomol- 

 ogist residing in one of the best fruit districts of Michigan, speaks of the 

 apple crop as a total failure in consequence of the codling worm. Similar 

 lamentations come from every quarter. 



It gives frightful interest to these insect depredations when we consider that 

 the repeated destruction and failure of the young fruit will lead to shy bearing 

 and sterility from the force of habit. Animals that prematurely cast their 

 young from injury, soon do so from force of habit ; and we may well infer that 

 trees which drop their immature fruit from the sting of insects, will soon 

 utterly fail to perfect their fruit, even if insects do not trouble them. With 

 trees, as with us all, good habits are quite indispensable to usefulness. 



The codling moth came to us as one of the benefits of our foreign com- 

 merce. Our protectionists must have been asleep, or they would have sub- 

 jected him to a prohibitory tariff. It illustrates the importance of entomolog- 

 ical knowledge, when we consider how much we have lost by not knowing 

 these enemies, and suppressing them when they were very feiu. If we had 

 killed them all during the first two or three years of their sojourn, at an ex- 

 pense of a thousand dollars apiece, we should have made a good deal of money 

 by it. 



