THE ENEMIES OF PLANT LIFE 



Department of Agriculture in Washington, 

 illustrates the need of some radical action. 

 The California fruit-growers, driven to the last 

 ditch and unable longer to cope with the pests 

 by artificial means, appear to be able now to 

 supply the remedy and prevent to a large 

 extent this enormous annual national waste, 

 which is apportioned by the government as 

 follows: Cereals, $200,000,000; hay, $53,000,- 

 000 ; cotton, $60,000,000 ; tobacco, $5,300,000 ; 

 truck crops, $53,000,000; sugars, $5,000,000; 

 fruits, $27,000,000; farm forests, $11,000,000; 

 miscellaneous crops, $5,800,000; animal prod- 

 ucts, $175,000,000 ; natural forests and forest 

 products, $100,000,000 ; a total direct damage 

 by all insect pests per year in the United 

 States of $795,100,000. 



The annual value of the products in these 

 lines is $5,551,000,000, the loss from insects 

 running from ten to fifty per cent. This does 

 not take into account the indirect loss in the 

 way of employees' wages, cost of attempted 

 protection, injury to enterprises, and the like, 

 in itself a large and growing sum. 



It is one of the most significant steps in the 

 progress of the New Earth, this destruction of 



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