92 ENEMIES OK THE ORCHARD 



Aside from the free, natural elements, without 

 which there could be no life, we find it true that 

 "that which costs nothing is worth nothing." 

 There is some "poetry" in this expression, and it 

 must be taken in a poetical sense, as it is not liter- 

 ally true; but it does seem that in the great econ- 

 omy of nature that which is of the most value and 

 of the finest order is the most difficult to obtain, 

 and comes only through hard and intelligently 

 applied labor. 



This chapter will be devoted to insects, etc., as 

 follows: (i) L,eaf eating, (2) juice sucking, (3) 

 fruit eating or destroying, (4) burrowing in the 

 tree or vine, (5) bark eating, (6) fungoids, (7) bur- 

 rowing animals, (8) sun scald, and (9) fire blight. 

 The pruning knife could well be described here as 

 one of the orchard's worst enemies, but a chapter 

 has already been devoted to this. 



In considering insect ravages it is well to sug- 

 gest that they are not regularly and annually 

 destructive. In bestowing them upon us nature 

 has been so kind as to send with them other insects 

 or other agencies that keep them in check. These 

 consist of a host of parasites that infest them, 

 deposit their eggs upon or within them, where 

 their young are hatched and matured, living upon 

 their bodies and destroying them. There are also 

 others which, as adults, devour them and their 

 eggs. Birds and fowls also feed upon them. Thus 

 the war goes on, and as it is more or less successful, 

 so the friends or enemies are more or less numerous. 



