RELATION TO THE FARMER 261 



terms to the farmer, and represent sources of injury 

 that he has learned to dread. 



And when his plants have developed well, his fruits 

 have set and all looks fair and free from any of the 

 pests already enumerated, the farmer is by no means 

 certain that he will get either seed or fruit. There are 

 numerous midges that develop in the ovaries of fruits 

 and flowers, and either feed directly in the seed or 

 suck its juices so as to shrivel it. We have species that 

 attack the kernels of wheat, rye, oats, sorghum and 

 other grains; others that get into the ovaries of the 

 clover flower and destroy the seed — so thoroughly, 

 indeed, that in some localities, while it is easy to get 

 good crops of clover hay, it is impossible to get any 

 seed at all. Midge larvse, indeed, are found under the 

 most divergent conditions and their injuries are by no 

 means appreciated as yet to their full extent. Not 

 that the midges are alone in this work, for among the 

 beetles there are a large number that infest special 

 crops. There are, for instance, the BnichidcB, contain- 

 ing the bean and pea weevils that infest seeds of all 

 sorts of legumes, from the pods of the locust tree to 

 those of the lentil. Sometimes only a single larva 

 develops in a seed as is the rule in peas, or there may be 

 up to half a dozen or more in a single bean. And the 

 worst of it is not the infestation that comes in the 

 field alone, but the likelihood that without great care 

 it may be brought and continued in the bam or store- 

 house. Even after harvest the wheat is not safe, for 

 if it be left in shocks in the field, the Angoumois grain 

 moth is apt to find it and start its work of destruction. 



Further, among the snout beetles we have species 

 that confine their attacks to the buds or developing 

 seed capsules. The boll-weevil of the cotton is perhaps 

 the most conspicuous example, and this species alone 



