48 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



" One for the blackbird 

 Two for the crow 

 Three for the cut-worm 

 And four to grow." 



To sum up — if clean culture is strictly adhered to at least one- 

 half of the battle is won. In cases where an insect has secured a 

 strong foothold we may have to resort to one or more of the fol- 

 lowing methods : 



Practice rotation of crops. Deep fall plowing. Change to a 

 different location. 



2nd, Secure a Vigorous Plant Growth. Plants are much like 

 human beings. If we can secure healthy, vigorous plants they 

 will tend to ward off disease and insect attacks. Vigorous plant 

 growth can only be attained by thorough cultivation and high 

 fertilization. We have known many cases where the green aphis 

 of the apple has been entirely balked by the thrifty growth of the 

 new shoots, so that spraying was unnecessary although the pests 

 were much in evidence. 



Srd, Encourage Birds and Other Friends. We cannot overesti- 

 mate the value of our bird friends in this relation to the solution 

 of the insect problem. They are a host in themselves and we 

 should look to their protection with the utmost vigilance; espe- 

 cially the following — bluebird, chickadee, chipping sparrow, fly- 

 catchers, kingbird, martin, meadowlark, nuthatches, phoebe, robin, 

 song sparrow, swallows, thrushes, vireos, warblers, etc.; and for 

 night birds I would include the nighthawk and whippoorwill. 

 The two great offices that the birds fill in the economy of nature, 

 as applied to the gardener and orchardist, are the destruction of 

 insect pests, and the reduction of the bountiful crop of weed seeds. 



It has been stated on good authority that if our bird friends were 

 all destroyed the earth would be stripped of vegetation and thus 

 become uninhabitable. I saw a statement not long ago regarding 

 the amount of food consumed by a robin; it stated that a young 

 roljin consumed at least fifteen feet of worms each day; at this 

 rate, on the supposition that Maine has 60,000 farms and that 

 there is one pair of robins to nest on a farm each season and that 

 each caterpillar averaged one inch in length, if these could be 



