The Life of the Weevil 



vetch {Vicia peregrina) or the common vetch 

 {V. sativa). The number of eggs remains 

 high even on these insufficient pods, because 

 the original plant offered a copious pro- 

 vender, whether by the multiplicity or by the 

 large size of the seeds. If the Bruchus is 

 really a foreigner, we may accept the bean 

 as her first victim; if the insect is a native, 

 let us accept the everlasting pea. 



Some time in the remote past the pea 

 reached us, gathered at first in the same pre- 

 historic garden-patch which already supplied 

 the bean. Man found it a better food than 

 the horse-bean, which is very much neglected 

 to-day after doing such good service. The 

 Weevil was of the same opinion and, without 

 quite forgetting her broad bean and her ever- 

 lasting pea, generally pitched her camp on 

 the garden pea, which became more widely 

 cultivated from century to century. Today 

 we have to go shares: the Bruchus takes 

 what she wants and lets us have her leavings. 



The insect's prosperity, born of the abun- 

 dance and quality of our products, from 

 another point of view spells decadence. For 

 the Weevil as for ourselves, progress in the 

 matter of food and drink does not always 

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