190 Dai-ling's Address upon Injurious Insects. 



Art. II. An Address upon injurious Insects ; delivered before 

 the Neio Haven Horticultural Society, and the New Haven 

 Agricultural Society ; at their Animal Fair, October Isi, 

 1845. By NoYEs Darling : with the Transactions of the 

 Society, for the year 1845. Pamphlet Svo. pp. 52. New- 

 Haven. 1845. 



The importance of a knowledge of the insect world is too 

 little heeded by those who cultivate the soil ; and while we 

 sow or plant, guard against heat or cold, and carefully gather 

 the increase, we do little towards staying the ravages of the 

 herds of insects which cut short, and, too often, render almost 

 worthless, or destroy, the fruits of our labors. Appreciating 

 the necessity of a better acquaintance with the liabits of in- 

 sects, in order to guard against their depredations, the author 

 of the address before us has endeavored, within its brief lim- 

 its, to contribute his aid towards this great object, and to add 

 such information as will render us all more familiar with a 

 few of those tribes, whose constant attacks are most injurious 

 and destructive. 



He thus illustrates the evils which every cultivator has to 

 contend with, in his opening remarks : — 



" The Author of our being, when he created our race, was pleased to give 

 us ' dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over 

 the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that 

 creepeth upon the earth.' We have been in a great degree successful in 

 asserting our rightful dominion over all except those ' creeping things,^ the 

 insect world. They as yet are in many respects our masters. We must 

 have leave from them to enjoy even our persons, sleeping or waking, in 

 comfort. Fighting for it from 'seed-time to harvest,' we may get 'food to 

 eat and raiment to put on,' but we must feed and wear in all haste, or some 

 insect will expose us to starvation and rags. We sow and insects reap ; 

 and we content ourselves as well as we can with gleaning. Take for illus- 

 tration the case of one of our most valuable fruits. We plant the seed of 

 an apple. If some insect has not eaten out its substance, it springs up ; but 

 before it reaches the surface, a srrub gnaws off its root. If it comes to the 

 air, the cut-worm is ready to mow it down. If suffered to grow, the plant- 

 louse sucks out its juices. As it increases in size, countless caterpillars, 

 with names unknown to most of us, besides the bag worm and canker worm, 

 names unhappily too well known, devour its leaves ; thus depriving it at 

 once of food and breath. While the tree is thus devoured without, other 



