VII. 



WHY HAVE OUR ENEMIES INCREASED?' 



The burden of complaint among horticulturists now 

 seems to be the destruction and annoyance wrought by 

 insect and fungous enemies. We are all but over- 

 whelmed with the numbers and kinds of our foes, and 

 no sooner do the experimenters learn how to combat ojic 

 nuisance than another comes upon us. Our fathers trll 

 us of orchards and gardens which were not thus Ixsci 

 upon all sides, and we are led to wonder why it is lli.ii 

 these later days are so pregnant of trouble; but we arc 

 obliged to give such vigilant attention to fighting these 

 hordes that we afford little thought upon the reasons 

 for their existence. If we can discover the reasons 

 why they appear in ever- increasing variety, we shall be 

 able to prognosticate something for the future; we can 

 learn the natural history of the invasions, so to speak, 

 and we may even be aided in our immediate warfare 

 against them. 



At the outset, I may be allowed to say that there can 

 be no doubt of this increase in insect and fungous 

 enemies in any given region. There are men before 

 me who remember the time when they knew no apple - 

 worms, curculios, cabbage - worms, currant - worms, 

 potato -beetles, and a host of lesser worthies; they had 



"Read before the Indiana Horticultural Society, at Indianapolis, Doi'inil.cr f. 

 1892. Printed in Transactions of the Society for that year (thirty-second iinnual 

 meeting), pp. 62-€8. 



(180) 



