^ . ^5 



ly that produced in the Old Bay State. I have always had a 

 notion way down in my heart that the apples grown on 

 these rugged farms tasted a great deal better than those 

 raised in western New York. 



An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. No- 

 where has this maxim wider application than in the insect 

 world. The best method of controlling insects, paradoxical 

 though it may seem, is to have none. The man who keeps a 

 considerable area in one crop year after year, particularly 

 if he intentionally or otherwise provides an abundance of 

 winter shelter, such as hedge rows, stone walls with wide 

 waste strips, brush, etc., can hardly blame insects if they 

 make the best of conditions and multiply enormously. Many 

 an outbreak is to be charged not to inability but to ignor- 

 ance or culpable neglect. Even the gypsy and brown tail 

 moths, enormously destructive and expensive as they have 

 been in this section of the country, exist here solely by th^ 

 sufferance of man. There is a record of a naturalist giv- 

 ing a public notice of the gypsy moth's escape and pointing 

 out the possible danger if it was allowed to breed unrestrict- 

 ed. Apparently his warning passed unheeded. Similarly, 

 the brown tail moth, in its conspicuous winter nests, was 

 brought into this country and allowed to multiply for some 

 years practically without check. There was a time when 

 both of these pests could have been kept out of the country 

 at coniparatively slight expense. Consequently, we are pay- 

 ing dear for neglect in earlier years. Likewise, the aggres- 

 sive farmer who believes in clean cultivation, abhors waste 

 strips beside the fences and practices rotation of crops, is 

 the party who escapes extensive injury by insect pests, not 

 to mention other benefits. This result can not be attributed 

 to exceptional luck on the part of the individual, but is the 

 logical outcome of following a rational system of agricul- 

 ture. The man who would control insect pests should 

 first of all consider carefully his conditions, and ascertain 

 whether reasonable modifications in agricultural practice 

 would be likely to result in greater freedom from destruc- 

 tive outbreaks. Having planned operations so as to reduce 

 the danger of loss by insect pests to a minimum, then, and 

 only then, is he in a position to consider what may be ac- 

 complished by using insecticides. Too often these materials 

 are regarded as remedial in nature and are so employed al- 

 together too frequently. The ideal and by far the more 



