THE SMALLHOLDER AND INSECT PESTS 19 



make our food-crops secure by employing the natural 

 means at hand to resist attack, supplemented by the 

 artifices of science ? At all events it is clear we must 

 divert, somehow, the first onset of the pest, so that, 

 finding the conditions unfavourable, it will be well kept 

 in hand if not altogether exterminated. 



Nature varies her tactics in the case of the fungoid dis- 

 eases. Here a healthy, microscopic plant is absorbing 

 the juices and tissues of a weak and unhealthy host, 

 whereas in the case of the insects the more robust our 

 crop the better they Hke it. 



We shall look further into the question of fungi at the 

 close of the book, as it is a subject which is as important 

 to the grower as insects. 



In the following chapter I have included some of the 

 pests which are troublesome to farm stock, as they all 

 come under one or other of the insect groups 

 above referred to and their study is just as 

 necessary to the farmer as those species which prey 

 upon crops. 



With regard to the various remedies suggested, almost 

 all of these are well known. It will be seen, however, 

 that I have put forward as often as possible such manual 

 aids as egg search, hand picking, pupa digging, etc. Also 

 the encouragement of all natural checks. The reason for 

 the first is because I think that this kind of help, which 

 can often be done by children if they are properly in- 

 structed, is more efficacious than the use of chemicals 

 in washes and dressings, at any rate for the small man. 

 In the case of natural checks I think it is obvious that 

 these, being automatic, are highly profitable. 



I do not profess to give a panacea for aU insect 

 troubles, but so far as my own experience goes, I 

 am convinced that the proper handhng of the pest 

 question can only come about by the food-grower 

 and the insect student joining forces. That is why, at 

 the risk, perhaps, of some readers' patience, I have made 



