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as those obtained by Mr. Weed. He found, however, that dry pyrethrum dusted over 

 the plants in the early morning (5 a. m.) was a complete success. " At this time in the 

 morning the beetles are cold and sluggish, and their bodies damp with the dew of the 

 night, so that they do not fly away, and every particle of the powder that falls on them 

 sticks. Forty hills of squash vines were treated in this manner with two ounces of the 

 powder, and at two o'clock in the afternoon 280 dead beetles were counted about a single 

 hill of five small plants." 



Bird Murder in France and its effect upon some Noxious Insects. 



Any one who takes a walk abroad in the rural parts of France, when farming oper- 

 ations are going on, will often see small children following the plough armed with small 

 pitchers, into which they put all the white fat grubs of the cockchafer which are turned 

 up. In England the rooks do this work, without young children being withdrawn from 

 school or from play. But the French sportsman has nearly extirpated these useful birds. 

 A recent iniquity is the systematic destruction of the swallows on their return from 

 Africa. Emissaries of the Paris Modistes fix up on the shore, about the points where the 

 birds usually land, long wires connected with powerful electric machines. The wearied 

 swallows perch on the wires and are struck dead by scores. Their bodies are then sent off 

 to Paris to ornament women who are a disgrace to humanity. The saddest feature is that 

 our English contingent of martins and swallows arrives by way of France, and will doubt- 

 less be cruelly decimated. — J. W. Slater, in Science Gossip. 



"We do not know which to wonder at the most, the industry of the women or the 

 numbers in which the White Grub (larva of the European Meolontha vulgaris) must have 

 occurred in the soil, in the statement made by M. Reiset and quoted in " La Nature" 

 for the 18th of May, where it is stated that in a field of about one hectare (2^ acres) a single 

 woman collected 759 pounds (344 kilograms) of these White Grubs or Cockchafer larvae in 

 15 days. The actual number of grubs was estimated at 180,000. — Insect Life. 



Blackbirds vs. Corn Boll-worms. 



My field of corn was in full roasting ear, and the blackbirds were swarming in it. 

 My hired man came to my library and told me we must get some boys with guns to shoot 

 blackbirds, or they would ruin our corn. He added, " The neighbors are all in their corn- 

 fields shooting to drive away the blackbirds." I told him to wait until I had time to see 

 what the blackbirds were doing. On entering the field there were enough blackbirds in sight 

 to have ruined the field of corn in a short time. I spent an hour or more in the field of 24 

 acres, and did not find an ear that showed the birds were eating the corn. The birds 

 would light on the ears, and spend but a short time there, and pass to another ear. I 

 noted ear after ear that I had seen a bird on, and I always waited until the bird had 

 finished his work on it. I found on every such ear the marks of the boll-worm. They 

 were developed enough to have commenced eating the grain. There were the evidences 

 that the worm had been there, and I saw the blackbirds there, and making passes as if 

 picking out the worms, and after the bird had left the ear I could find no worm. The 

 birds seemed to be busy hunting and eating this destructive and disgusting pest. I left 

 the field pleased and grateful to the blackbirds. I told my hired man he need not waste 

 any time or powder on the birds. They were welcome to hunt worms, and could take 

 what corn they wanted to make a variety. Now, this is not sufficient to show that black- 

 birds are in the habit of feeding on boll-worms, I know, but it satisfied me that the birds 

 were destroying thousands of them for me. The- season was dry, the meadows were short, 

 and the grass dried on the hillsides overlooking my bottom fields. The conditions were 

 these : corn in full roasting-ear, the earth dry, and the weather hot. The corn at husking 

 time was not injured by birds more than usual, which is so light as to be almost inappre- 

 ciable. I hope I may have opportunity this season to make further observations, and 

 that the good work of the blackbirds may be established by many witnesses. — L. N. 

 Bonham, Columbus, Ohio, in Insect Life. 



