REMEDIES AGAINST INSECT ENEMIES. 2^ 



acres, more especially mtli reference to the peculiarities of 

 seasons, and to atmospheric changes ; but here we have only 

 gone half-way. It now becomes the province of the agricul- 

 turist to discover a remedy, since it seems equally clear that 

 this ulterior branch of the inquiry can only be prosecuted 

 eiFectually by persons perfectly conversant with the chemi- 

 cal nature of soils, the action of various ingredients which 

 may be employed as remedies, not only upon insects them- 

 selves, but also upon the plants which may be attacked. 

 Such persons too are alone able to judge of the practicabihty 

 of the application of the proposed remedies, since it would 

 be useless for an indoor entomologist to endeavour by expe- 

 riment to discover remedies which, when discovered, cannot 

 be adopted from the great expense of the article itself, or 

 the impossibility of applying it, or the liability of the de- 

 struction, not only of the insect, but also of the plant itself; 

 and even instances of the latter description have been re- 

 corded. 



Hence we must evidently look for the discoveiy of the 

 most efficient remedies to persons who, residing in the 

 country, are the best enabled to obtain a knowledge of the 

 economy of these destructive insects, founded upon the 

 most general and practical modes of examination, and who 

 unite the entomological knowledge requisite to trace most 

 effectually their habits, with a perfect and scientific know- 

 ledge of the true principles of agriculture. Thus it seems 

 undoubted, that this want of sufficient opportunity for inves- 

 tigation has hitherto proved one of the greatest barriers to 

 our proposing satisfactory remedies against these ravages ; 

 and knowing, as we too well know, that the study and inves- 

 tigation of this branch of zoology have hitherto been almost 

 uncultivated amongst us, it is not, perhaps, siu-prising that 

 so little has been done. The observer of insects has, in- 

 deed, proposed remedies which the agriculturist cannot 



