40 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 84 



mology, he had to handle the questions of insectivorous birds, speci- 

 mens of fruits, textile materials (hemp, cotton, flax, etc.), Walsh 

 goes on to say : 



This is a good deal like hiring a single cradler to harvest a thousand acres 

 of wheat, and then expecting him, in addition, to cut and fetch in wood, peel and 

 wash the potatoes, and be always on hand ready to wait on the good woman of the 

 house. Can we wonder that, under such circumstances, Mr. Glover's report 

 contains scarcely any original investigations, and is in reality, like many simi- 

 lar papers which appear from time to time in the transactions of different 

 State agricultural societies, little else but a rehash of Harris and Fitch. When 

 he should have been looking after the bugs, he was set to work on the birds ; if 

 he attempted an attack upon the army-worm he was called off to unpack a 

 basket of apples ; and instead of making war on the chinch-bug, the Hessian fly, 

 and the curculio, his time was taken up with preserving and arranging specimens 

 of hemp, cotton, and flax ! ! Will our rulers at Washington never learn that it 

 is bad policy to put a square man into a round hole? And that, whether round 

 or square, no one man can fit a hole that is as wide across as the dome of the 

 Capitol. 



In 1868 an especial building for the Department of Agriculture 

 was constructed on the Mall, and there was a large central space 

 on the second floor which seemed well adapted to museum purposes : 

 and for the rest of his official career Glover devoted much time to 

 this museum. In fact, it seems to have been his main official occu- 

 pation. 



As the years went on, the subject of economic entomology was 

 becoming more and more important in the minds of the people. Har- 

 ris' work and Fitch's work had made their mark. The writings of 

 Walsh and later of Riley were becoming well known, and there was 

 dissatisfaction with the inertia of the general government in this 

 direction. Glover had made friends among the older generation of 

 naturalists in Washington, and it w^as largely through some of these 

 friendships that he was able to hold his place so long. It seems that 

 there was a time when Robert Kennicott suggested that Doctor Fitch 

 be brought to Washington to do for the whole country the type of 

 work he had been doing for the State of New York ; but nothing came 

 of the suggestion, and Glover stayed on until 1878, when his health 

 failed very seriously and he was virtually retired, C. V. Riley being 

 appointed to his place. Glover lived five years longer. It must have 

 been soon after he was replaced by Riley that his adopted daughter, 

 Mrs. Hopper, and her husband decided that it was not safe for him 

 to stay in Washington any longer and had him and most of his pos- 

 sessions moved to their home in Baltimore. He lived on unhappily 

 for five years, the bright spot in the period being the purchase of his 



