248 A COUNTRY READER. 



Prevention better than Cure. 



It is cheaper and better in the long run to take 

 steps to prevent an illness attacking you that 

 is, to live a life that will enable you to resist an 

 illness than to go to a doctor for cure after you 

 have taken the illness. 



And so it is with the insect plague. Manage 

 your land in such a manner that an insect plague 

 becomes almost impossible. Keep the land, 

 headland, and ditches, free of weeds. Follow a 

 rotation of crops, so that the insects cannot 

 obtain the same kind of food two years running. 



Manure your land well, so that the crops grow 

 quickly past their seed leaves, for it is these seed 

 leaves that are such excellent food for insects, 

 and if such leaves are eaten the plant has a poor 

 future. 



When you can, burn all your weeds and refuse, 

 and don't throw them on the land or on to the 

 dung heap. 



Above all things, preserve your insect-eating 

 birds, encourage them in every way you can. The 

 insect-eating birds are probably the most valuable 

 asset the agriculturalist possesses. 



And to thin them down by killing them, or 

 taking their nests, is an act of mad, ignorant 

 folly. 



GLASGOW : PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. 



