INSECT CLASSIFICATION. 199 



be given by any save special students of farm crop 

 pests. 



One thread of serviceable knowledge will, however, 

 be seen to run through the whole of the subject under 

 consideration, namely, — that by observing the habits 

 of the crop insects, and using remedies which lie in 

 the common course of agricultural operations, under 

 the guidance of a few connnon-sensc liiindplcs, we may 

 in very many cases save our crops. 



"With regard to the direct study of Insect life, by 

 observing the history of many insects in their different 

 stages, the student will understand clearly u-hat an 

 insect is ; also that it goes through three eJianges of 

 condition ; and also that insects are classed in large 

 divisions called Orders, according to the nature of these 

 changes which they pass through up to the perfect 

 state ; and according to the nature of their wings 

 when perfect ; also that the Orders are named from the 

 nature of the wings. 



It is very important to know, and to be able to 

 show, that the manner of insect life is fixed according 

 to regular laws, because there is still a kind of floating 

 idea in many people's minds that insects come in 

 some vague way ; that they are formed from fog or 

 mist, or water, or decay ; and that, like the ghosts and 

 hobgoblins of childhood, they are mysterious enemies 

 which no one quite knows how to deal with. But 

 once get the real history fixed as a fact, and then we 

 know how to act. 



It often matters very little whether we know the 

 scientific name of an insect ; but it matters a great 

 deal, when attack is going on, that we should know the 

 nature of the insects that cause it, and also their 

 habits in connection with the injured crop. There are 

 several kinds of "VVireworms ; several kinds of Daddy 

 Longlegs ; several kinds of Turnip-Flea Beetle. Each 

 of these sets (so to call it) lives much in the same way 

 as its brethren, and it is needless (for all farming 

 purposes) to be perfectly informed about the seientilic 



