^be 1b ope ot IJears to Gome 55 



are to bring on the war ; if we go deep into the ground 

 we shall find the " sappers and miners " at work ; 

 there are insects to attack roots, leaves, stems, fruits. 

 When we look into parks, gardens, orchards, we shall 

 get a hint of this war. Here are trees provided with 

 belts of tar; other trees wearing girdles of metal, 

 troughs filled with water ; others dazzling with a yard 

 or so of whitewash ; yet others, where the earth at the 

 roots has been turned over and sprinkled with lime 

 and ashes. What is all this about ? All this means 

 effort to prevent some small, helpless-looking little 

 worms or caterpillars from traveling up those trees 

 and eating all the leaves. We see the stems of young 

 trees cut and channeled by an insect called a borer ; 

 others have all their once pretty little twigs swollen, 

 rough and black, doomed to death, because some in- 

 sect has seen fit to lay her eggs in them. These 

 enemies of the i3lant will not all begin their work in 

 March ; they are enlisting, drilling, and furnishing 

 their regiments. By June they will be in good 

 marching order, a well-disciplined host — only for 

 the inveterate hate some of them cherish toward 

 others. In March the insects are just preparing to 

 wake up from winter sleep ; we will find plenty of 

 larvae in the ground, perhaps snuggled up in the 

 very roots of the plant they mean to attack when 

 the time comes. Just now a shining, motionless 



