19 



influence to aid in staying the hand which is tm) often 

 imjustl}- raised against birds ;iud other wild auiuiais 

 which are friends rather than enemies of the human 

 race. 



INSECT RAVAGES. 



The plum crop in many regions of Pennsylvania Is 

 almost a total failure because of the ravages of the 

 curculio and the fungus known as black knot. Yet, it 

 orchardists would heed advice and follow the recom 

 mendations of scientific men who give special atteu 

 tion to the life histories of insects, fungi and birds, 

 plum culture could, no doubt, be condnet<d witli niucli 

 greater satisfaction and profit. 



During recent years there has been a very great in- 

 crease both in number and virulence of the parasitic 

 fungi and insect pests with which the farmer and the 

 horticulturist has to contend. Besides these enemies 

 the cultivator of the soil has to combat certain species 

 of birds and mammals which annually do considerable 

 damage to the cultivated crops. The destruction of 

 forests, both by lumbermen and devasting forest tires 

 — especially the latter — has caused many insects to 

 abandon their habitations in the forests and take up 

 their abodes in the cultivated lands. 



PENNSYLVANIA LOSES $5,000,000 A YEAR. 



Eminent entomological authorities assure us that at 

 least one-tenth of all the cultivated crops of this coun- 

 try are annually destroyed by insects, and that the ag- 

 gregate amount of damage done is between |200,000,00<) 

 and 1300,000,000 every year in the United States. Of 

 this immense sum it is a very conservative estimate to 

 state that Pennsylvania's share, through insect ravages 

 alone, is about S.o.000.000 annnallv. 



