564 MAN CONTROLS HIS ENVIRONMENT FOR WEALTH 



half of the cotton crop, thus indirectly affecting each one of us 

 through the increased price of cotton. The boll weevil, because 

 of the protection offered by the cotton boll, is very difficult to 

 exterminate. Some weevils are destroyed by birds, millions are 

 killed each winter by cold, insects are introduced to prey on 

 them, and the infected bolls and stalks are burned, but at the 

 present time they are one of the greatest pests the South knows. 



The bugs are among our most destructive insects. The most 

 familiar examples of our garden pests are the squash bug ; the 

 chinch bug, which, by sucking the juice from the leaves of grain, 

 does yearly damage estimated at $20,000,000 ; and the plant lice, 

 or aphids. The dreaded phylloxera, living on the grape, destroys 

 immense numbers of vines in the vineyards of France, Germany, 

 and California. 



The Japanese beetle, in larval form, was introduced into this 

 country from Japan in the soil surrounding the roots of a plant. 

 It was first observed in 1916 in New Jersey and by 1923 it had 

 infested about 2500 square miles in New Jersey and Pennsyl- 



Redrawn from chart of U. S. Dept. of Agric. 

 Life history of the Japanese beetle. What is one of the best ways of eradicating this insect ? 



vania. Since that time it has spread to other states. The 

 adult beetle is about three fourths of an inch in length. It is 

 a bright metallic green with coppery brown wings. It feeds upon 

 the foliage of fruit trees, shade trees, vines, and also attacks the 



