INSECT HELPERS 



action — or inaction — limited to be sure,, but pretty cer- 

 tain to be all right as far as it goes. It is simply the 

 adoption of the rule never to destroy any kind of insect 

 creature that is ever caught in the act of destroying 

 another. 



Compassion must be leashed with the strong reins 

 of indifference at the writhings of a cutworm in the 

 cruel mandibles of a ground-beetle, or at the frantic 

 terror and agonizing struggles of a baby pear-tree 

 psylla when the "veritable dragon" which is the larva 

 of the lace-leaf fly, seizes it between its pair of great 

 sucking tubes, preparatory to drawing the life fluids 

 from its body. These things must not be discouraged, 

 no matter how unpleasant they are to witness or to 

 think of, else the cutworm will lay low his harvest and 

 the psylla in its turn will soon pump the life from the 

 defenseless trees. 



Bees are very much pleasanter creatures, to all 

 outward appearances at least — they behave atrociously 

 to their own kind — and, aiding us indirectly as they 

 do, they are not of course to be measured by any 

 such distressing and murderous test; in fact bees we 

 already know as friends. No spraying or poisoning 

 should ever be done while they are at work, and nothing 

 that will injure them should be used on fruit or ornamen- 

 tal flowers at any time when they are in evidence. 



The regulation times for spraying will not interfere 

 with "bee pasturage" if strictly adhered to, as bees 

 are seeking nectar always before the flower has been 

 fertilized, consequently before the petals drop. The 



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