1858.] SENATE— No. 4. 201 



their ranks, still the most expeditious and the cheapest way, is to 

 remove them while in the egg. 



Among the insects that may be considered aids to the farmer — as 

 they annually destroy thousands which are hurtful to him — are the 

 dragon-flies or devil's needles, as they are familiarly called ; spiders, 

 several species of flies, (including the lace-wing, Chrysopa perla, 

 which subsists entirely on plant lice during its larva stage, and devours 

 an incredible number annually,) nearly all of the extensive tribe of. 

 wasps, hornets, ichneumon flies, &c., several varieties of beetles, 

 together with others whose influence is less direct. The ichneumons 

 (a tribe nearly allied to the wasps) contribute greatly to keep within 

 bounds the exuberance of insect life, and none more so than those 

 which deposit their eggs beneath the skin of living caterpillars, whose 

 fleshy bodies afford the young larva of the ichneumon a plentiful 

 supply of food until arrived at maturity, when, bursting through the 

 skin, they leave the caterpillar disabled from completing its transfor- 

 mations, and thus prevent the birth of multitudes the following year. 



In this connection, although perhaps not strictly in place, I would 

 advert to the best and most available protection against these enemies, 

 that of encouraging and protecting in our turn the feathered tribes, 

 whose eyes are sharper than the most keen-sighted hunter's, in spy- 

 ing out the lurking places of grubs and worms, whose size enables 

 them to penetrate places inaccessible to the bulkier form of man, and 

 whose powers of flight permit them to pick oflT the spoilers from the 

 remote tops of trees, or to capture those whose wings would other- 

 wise aff'ord them the means of escape. Let us cherish the birds, and 

 remain assured that, for every one we shall invite to our homes by 

 building them nest-boxes, or by guarding them from prowling cats, 

 or still worse, the firearms of sportsmen, we shall be amply repaid in 

 the immunity of our crops, not to mention their sweet music, which 

 Avill continually cheer and enliven our dwellings. 



Of the specimens of cotton-seed cake and meal it may be 

 proper to state, as the article is comparatively new, that a reliable 

 analysis has been made of it by Prof. S. W. Johnson, of Yale 

 Analytical Laboratory, at the request of Henry A. Dyer, Esq., 

 Secretary of the Connecticut State Agricultural Society, and 

 the results were given in a letter to Mr. Dyer, as follows : — 



Dear Sir: — Respecting the sample of cotton- seed cake, received 



from you for chemical examination, I have the honor to report, that 



its composition is not inferior to that of the best flax-seed cake, and 



in some points its agricultural value surpasses that of any other kind 



20* 



