Weevils ^55 



ready to come out the mature insect needs only to 

 cut the thin husk and it is free. 



Up in the elm tree there is a swinging nest. 

 The head of the family, the gentleman, is colored 

 orange and hlack, the colors of Lord Baltimore, 

 and the hird is known as the Baltimore oriole, which 

 is very unfair to the hird because he had those colors 

 thousands of years before Lord Baltimore or his 

 tribe were born. But, be that as it may, the Bal- 

 timore oriole is familiar with the habits of the pea 

 weevil and will split open the pea pods and eat the 

 grub. Ignorant people think that the oriole is an 

 enemy to the peas and that he splits open the pods 

 to eat the seeds. 



There is a rice weevil, which feeds on rice, 

 wheat, and even corn, and a plum weevil, a white- 

 pine weevil and a long-snouted nut weevil. There 

 seems to be a weevil for everything and maybe it 

 would not be far amiss if, in place of weevils, we 

 called them evils, long-nosed evils. No doubt there 

 is a reason for their being on earth, but that reason 

 is not for the good or protection of our gardens. 

 I doubt if the weevil is of any service to the farmer, 

 but there is little or no doubt that the farmer is of 

 great service to the weevil. 



