CHAPTER XXIV 



INSECTS 



When children begin their gardening they 

 will find that plants have insect pests numerous 

 and varied and difficult to combat. The corn 

 bows to the cutworm; the potato yields to the 

 Colorado beetle and wire worm ; the squash- vine 

 wilts with the borers ; the tomatoes sacrifice their 

 leaves to the caterpillars. 



When we consider that four hundred million 

 dollars' worth of the agricultural products of 

 the United States is annually destroyed by in- 

 sects; that the codling-moth alone demands a 

 yearly ta:x of three million dollars from one 

 State, the subject of economic entomology as- 

 sumes great significance and should be more 

 thoroughly understood, and means for keeping 

 insect pests in check more thoroughly studied. 



Many insects are injurious and many bene- 

 ficial. Children are interested in them, and by 

 practical experience in combating the harmful 

 species will acquire much valuable information 

 concerning them. It is important to distinguish 

 between the injurious and the beneficial species 



176 



