Insects Injurious to the Potato and Apple. 5G1 



adopted, a great deal may be done. If every State had a 

 competent entomologist, as only three or four States now 

 have, one who could give time to the work and who would 

 secure the co-operation of the farmers in his work, millions 

 of dollars miglit be saved to our country. But without this 

 much may be done, tliough far less than might be. The 

 greater his knowledge of insects the more successfully will 

 the farmer and fruit grower fight them, l)ut he need not 

 wait a day. Let him ffet all the knowledge he can from 

 books, l)ut meanwliile set to work and get what he can from 

 insects themselves, and make his enemies teach him how to 

 destroy them. If, as the farmer looks over his fields, he 

 will carefully examine every plant that has suddenly wilted, 

 or turned black or yellow, and examine the earth aljout it lie 

 may often not only discover the cause of injury, but some- 

 thing of the habits of the injurer, and a knowledge of its habits 

 is the first step towards its eradi(;ation. In a paper on " Birds 

 in Their Relation to Agriculture," in the first Report of this 

 Board, I have alluded to the useful liabits of many l)irds as 

 insect destroyers, and every year I ain more and more 

 thoroughly convinced tliat no words can too strongly de- 

 clare the value of birds as aids to the ao;riculturist. There 

 is much that might be said upon this subject, but I can now 

 only emphasize what has been said elsewhere. 



I shall have occasion in course of the following pages to 

 speak frequently of hand picking, and I wisli to say here 

 that, from what I liave seen and heard from good authority, 

 I believe that this mode of dealing with many insects is far 

 more efiicient and less troublesome than is usually believed. 

 At first sight it seems a very laborious and tedious task to 



