i68 



THE MUSEUM. 



with admirable precision and the m'eth- 

 od used is always the best that can be 

 devised to attain the best results. 

 They use their own instrumencs, too, 

 which are no less remarkable than 

 themselves. All the tools of the artis- 

 an are rjepresented — tools such as 

 saws, files, augars, gimlets, knives, 

 scissors, forceps and lancets. 



The care with which insects provide 

 for the well-being of their progeny 

 furnishes another remarkable exhibi- 

 tion of so-called instinct. The great 

 majority of insects never see their 

 young, dying soon after the eggs are 

 deposited, yet the eggs are always 

 placed where a supply of food may be 

 within reaoh of the larvfe the moment 

 they emerge from the egg. 



Thus it is that our fields and or- 

 chards are devastated by them. In 

 the early history of our country insect 

 ravages were almost unknown, for the 

 reason that great areas of land were 

 not cultivated with one species of plant 

 to the entire exclusion of any other. 

 Dr. Lintner once said that two-hun- 

 dred years ago, when there were no 

 apple orchards in New York, there 

 were no apple insects and when the 

 first trees were planted, the insects 

 flew many miles to find a suitable 

 place to deposit their eggs. But now 

 when hundreds of acres are laid out 

 in splendid orchards, presenting an un- 

 broken mass of foliage apple insects 

 find trunk, branch, root, leaf, bud, 

 and fruit lain out like a feast to ap- 

 pease their voracious appetite and 

 hasten on their ruinous growth. 



The rapid changes in the physical 

 features of our country owing to its 

 rapid settlement have helped in a 

 great measure to make our vegetation 

 more liable to attacks than they were. 



It has been stated, I presume upon 

 good authority, that our agricultural 

 efforts have been injured fully $500, 

 000,000, a year by insects and fungus 

 diseases. This could scarcely fail to 

 give importance to an enemy, singly 

 insignificant, but collectively a plague, 

 against whose distructiveness the farm- 



ers have felt themselves well-nigh 

 powerless to cope. 



While it would be impossible to ful- 

 ly protect our crops from the many 

 species of insects that ravage them, 

 Economic Entomology strives to less- 

 en the total loss to the farmer as much 

 as possible. To do this the life, his- 

 tory and habits of each and every 

 species with their natural enemies 

 must be recorded; by this means it is 

 learned which are beneficial and which 

 are injurious. The utter inability to 

 distinguish between friend and foe is 

 the greatest fault of the farmer. He 

 often destroys both good and bad in 

 his blind efforts to save his crops. 



This is the mission of the entomol- 

 ogist. It is to his credit that each 

 year sees new methods arise and our 

 grain and fruits become better and 

 better. He has given us rational 

 methods, methods based upon years 

 of observation. He has given us the 

 best artificial means for the erradiation 

 of the insect evil that his scientific 

 training can device. He discovers the 

 truth about Nature and leaves to pos- 

 terity a wealth of facts, in a form 

 available for his succesoor. And thus 

 the good work goes on. 



In my next paper I will endeavor to 

 give a few practical hints, from my 

 own experience, to the collector re- 

 garding outfit and appliances, and how 

 to start a collection. 



Mourning Dove. 



Mr. \Vm. B. Crispen of New Jersey 

 reports finding a Mourning Dove's nest 

 on the 27th of last month, containing 

 two eggs slightly incubated. The nest 

 was entirely of light colored rootlets 

 placed on top of a deserted robin's 

 nest, twenty feet from the ground. 

 The first nest found of this species for 

 189S was April ist, 



