276 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



toginlicr with tho ant^, gall-flies, iclinoumons, and almost all the parasitic tribes 

 which (hposit their I'ggr* in the <'ggs or larvae of others." They are generally 

 bf'ui-ficial. The greatest exceptions are the t^aw flies, f Tenthredinid<B,J the 

 Uroceridce, (boring or wood-wasps,) and the CynipidcB, (gall flies.) 



DIPTERA. 



In this order are included those insects that have but two wings, and instead 

 of jaws, have a mouth adapted to sucking. The different flies are placed in 

 iliis group. These are both b'-neficial and injurious ; in fact their habits and 

 food are of a great variety. " Some subsist upon the blood of living animals ; 

 others on fungi ; many construct galls in various annuals. The blow fly and 

 others of that class live upon putrefying matter ; the common house fly passes 

 its preparatory stages in excrement; the TachinidcB glue their eggs on the skin 

 of various caterpillars, and their larvae enter and devour the juices of the animal 

 resembling the ichneumon in their habits ; some are said even to attack and 

 feed upon the eggs and bodies of spiders, the traditional enemies of the race, 

 thus consummating a species of just retribution. The Hessian fly, the wheat 

 midge, the onion fly, and others, are amon^ the most noxious of insects. The 

 black fly, ( Siriiulaim,) the mosquito, (Culex,) the golden-eyed forest flies, 

 ( Chrysops,) the Tahanidcr., or horse flies, and others, arc the cause of intense 

 annoyance and irritation, during the hot months, to both men and animals." 

 Summing briefly the habits of these insects, we find that the Colroptcra are 

 generally injurious in the larvae state by boring into trees ; the Orthoptcra are 

 injurious by feeding upon the leaves of trees, shrubs, and grasses ; the Nruraptcra 

 are beneficial by destroying noxious insects ; the Hcmiptcra are injurious by 

 sucking the juices of plants, trees, &c. ; the Lepidoptera are injurious chiefly 

 in the caterpillar form, by eating the leaves of trees, &:c. ; and the Hymenoptcra 

 and Diptcra are both beneficial and injurious, but rather incline to the latie 

 quality. 



BIRDS. 



The most concisely emphatic treatise that could be written in favor of our 

 native land bu-ds would be the statement of the fact that, with the exception of 

 most of the diurnal birds of prey, they are all beneficial to agriculture ; and if 

 this fact were recognized by the farmers, (than whom none are more affected 

 by its existence,) and if they were to extend their protection and encouragement 

 to these benefactors, the gram and fi-uit crops of this country would be the value 

 of millions of dollars greater than they are. A few familiar illustrations will 

 show the importance of protecting birds on the farm. 



It is the custom in some districts of this country, as soon as the planting is 

 finished, and other spring work done on the farm, for all the men, both old 

 and young, to assemble together, with guns, &c., and after choosing sides, as the 

 expression is, to have what is called a "shooting match;" that is, each party 

 endeavors to kill the greatest amount of birds and animals within the circuit of 

 several miles, or within the limits of the county. Such a match came off in a 

 town in Pennsylvania a few years since. The party was numerous and the 

 slaughter immense ; in fact nearly all the birds were killed off, and as the 

 migrations had passed — this was about the last of May — scarcely a bird was to 

 be seen in the neighborhood the ensuing summer. The result was, the cut- 

 worms ravaged the cabbage fields ; the apple-tree caterpillars and borers were 

 so numerous that whole orchards were destroyed, and army worms and other 

 injurious insects were so abundant that there was scarcely a single grain field 

 that was not damaged to the extent of at least one-third the value of the entire 

 crop. Nor were tliesc injuries confined to that year, but many succeeding 

 scasous bore witness to the folly and wickedness of that wholesale destruction. 



