1902 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 121 



produce seed. The frost will cut them by night, and the sun will scorch them by day, and 

 you will soon have no thistles." And this conflict between man and nature, is from his viola- 

 tion of the laws of nature, always going on ; and will, until he more thoroughly understands 

 nature's laws and how to obey them. And the more artificial man's methods become, the 

 higher is the intelligence required to make them successful. 



The community may be divided into the rural and the urban, or such as live and work in 

 the country, and those that make their living in towns and cities. It is the products of the 

 rural workers' labour that are most exposed to insect depredations ; and, as a rule, it is they 

 who give the least attention to such matters. The cause for this condition of things is net 

 far to seek. The rural workers' labour and leisure are very une<|ually divided. Summer is 

 short, and the work is pressing. The crops must be got in ; and the crops must be got off. 

 And during the process there is little time and less inclination to give attention to the opera- 

 tions of their insidious insect foes, that may be robbing them of half the profit of their 

 labours. In the winter time they have the leisure co gain information, but it is not the 

 season to put it in practice to any extent ; so with the next summer's advent the usual rush 

 begins, and their time as well as their inclination for that kind of work disappears, and their 

 attention to the depredations of insects is put oflF to the future. 



An idle man out for a stroll, and a delightful health-refreshing converse with nature, 

 reached a projecting point of ths Niagara escarpment, situated about four miles east of 

 Hamilton, from which, on a clear day, Toronto can be seen. The landscape below, once lake 

 bottom, but now dotted with human habitations that are surrounded by regularly laid out and 

 well cultivated fields, orchards and vineyards, their dimensions reduced by distance, until 

 they look like flower-beds in a well kept garden, with Lake Ontario shining bright and calm 

 beyond. A prospect of charming loveliness. A woman came out of a harvest field near by, 

 dressed suited to her work, but quite different from wh^t she wore when he had met her in 

 the city. She thought it necessary to apologize for her appearance, and kept it up to his dis- 

 comfort. So to change the subject he remarked, " What a magnificent view you have from 

 your place." The reply was, " Troth then and its much we care about the view, working like 

 the slaves we are all the day." He could but bow to the justness of her rebuff, and ponder on 

 its widespread and far-reaching applicability. No time — no inclination for such indulgence. 

 Severe and continuous toil is not conducive to mental cultivation. 



Amongst those that live and work in urban locations, where labour and leisure are 

 more equally divided, there always have been some who were fascinated by the beauty of 

 insects and their intensely interesting habits of life. Many of these in the pursuit of their 

 favourite study have seen, realized and become impressed with the thought of what tremendous 

 loss the rural workers are sustaining from the depredations of insects, and have persisted in 

 calling attention to it, and urging that measures should be taken to prevent it. Their thought- 

 ful consideration has not been without result. Governments, which have the interest of their 

 country at heart, having had their attention called to the matter, and seeing that those most 

 directly interested were, from want of time, knowledge or inclination, doing notjiing, and that 

 the whole community was suffering loss thereby, have taken hold of the matter, and are look- 

 ing out for persons qualified in some measure by previous observation on the subject, and are 

 appointing them to give their whole tmie and attention to that work. Such action is in perfect 

 accord with the established principle of the division of labour for the attainment of the highest 

 results with the least expenditure of time, money and labour. And^the rural workers realiz- 

 ing the advantage of such an arrangement, will be willing to sustain the procedure, when they 

 find it is profitable to have that done for them, which they may not have time or capacity to 

 do for themselves ; and the whole community will be benefited thereby. So now the time 

 has come when attention to the work and ways of insects is getting acknowledged to be of real 



