1 882.] Recent Literature. 999 



is perceptible in the succeeding chapter on the lava rields of 

 Northwestern Europe. 



Treat's Injurious Insects of the Farm and Garden. 1 — One 

 of the" most hopeful signs of improvement in agriculture is the 

 increased attention that is paid to injurious insects, the depreda- 

 tions of which have for many years attracted attention from 

 entomologists, have at length forced themselves upon the notice 

 of legislatures, and are now at last beginning to awaken the ag- 

 ricultural mind to the importance of the study of the life-history 

 of the pests, with a view to combating them. In the words of 

 the author, " There is a surprising lack of knowledge among 

 otherwise well-educated people as to the life-history of even the 

 most common insects. The question asked not only by those in 

 my immediate neighborhood, but by letters from all parts of the 

 country, show how slight is the popular knowledge on this most 

 important branch of Natural History." Too true — even a non- 

 entomologist finds himself surprised at the vastness of the ignor- 

 ance, yet the mere asking questions is a great advance upon the 

 state of mind that referred a plague of caterpillars to the provi- 

 dence of God. 



In the two hundred and eighty pages of this little book all 

 those insects that have developed into conspicuous pests are 

 figured and described in terms sufficiently simple for the compre- 

 hension of any reader who is able to discriminate an insect from 

 a spider or a myriapod, or the orders of insects from each other. 

 That readers in search of knowledge may be without excuse, the 

 author prefaces her work with information on the above essential 

 points. 



The subject is dealt with under the heads of, Insects injurious 

 to Garden Vegetables; Insects injurious to Root Crops and In- 

 dian Corn; Insects injurious to Cereal Grains and the Grass 

 Crops, including Clover; Insects injurious to Fruit Trees ; In- 

 sects injurious to Small Fruits, and Insects of the Flower Gar- 

 den and Greenhouse. In many cases methods of extermination 

 or at least of palliation, that have previously proved successful 

 are detailed, but, as is remarked with respect to the pea-weevil, in 

 order to exterminate an insect from a district it is necessary that 

 agriculture shall have progressed to such a point that all the 

 farmers of a district shall mutually agree to carry out the proper 

 measures in unison ; in the case of the last-mentioned insect, such 

 a result would be arrived at were all to cease the cultivat.on of 

 peas for a simple year—a cheap price for the benefit accruing. 



Among facts not very widely known are the destruction 

 wrought among cabbages, by R Y I and that 



caused on parsley, carrot, and other cultivated umbelhfers by the 



"Injurious Insects of the Farm and Garden. By Mary TREAT. Fully f»~ 

 trated. N 



