50 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



that grow in the neglected fence corners, along stone walls, in pas- 

 tures, by the roadside, and in too many of our gardens. Until 

 such places receive a share of our attention our percentage of loss 

 will continue to run high. It is safe to say that the stone walls of 

 New England harbor each year enough injurious insects to reduce 

 the revenue from our farm and orchard crops by at least 5%. Add 

 to this the lack of care in removing and destroying other refuse, 

 such as dead limbs on fruit trees, small fruit bushes, etc. we shall 

 raise this amount to 10%. With a direct loss of from 15 to 40% 

 due to insect and fungous troubles, added to the above, leaves the 

 average farmer with but 50 to 75% of his crop, due to these causes 

 alone. 



7th, Look Out For Wild Food Plants. This applies to plants 

 closely related to the ones under cultivation, as many insects 

 pass through the first larval stages, feeding on weeds and other 

 wild plants, and easily migrate to the cultivated ones later in the 

 season. Clean cultivation and the removal of all wild plants 

 growing in fence corners will materially check the development 

 of insect life in the orchard and garden. 



8th, Use Up-to-Date Methods in the Destruction of Insect Life. 

 We are beginning to realize, as never before, the absolute neces- 

 sity of the intelligent and persistent use of insecticides, fun- 

 gicides, traps, and baits to control, as far as possible, the annual 

 loss occasioned by these ever present and insidious pests. I 

 recall my first experience in insect collecting. There was but 

 little literature on the subject. The admirable work of Mr. 

 Harris on the Injurious Insects of Massachusetts was the only 

 available work at the time. In killing the moths and buttei-flies 

 I used a large darning needle dipped in a solution of oxalic acid; 

 this was thrust into the thorax of the victim and the specimen 

 held between the thumb and finger until the dose took effect. 

 Later this was followed by ether or chloroform and more recently 

 by potassium cyanide. Equally crude were the methods used in 

 insect control. When the Colorado potato beetle first appeared 

 in New England the only weapons used by the farmer were an 

 old tin pan and a shingle. Armed with these he would walk along 

 the rows and laboriously knock the offending beetles and slugs 

 into the pan and when a sufficient number were gathered, they 



