affecting the Turnips, Corn-crops, ifc. 
199 
loss to account for many anomalies in the economy of insects ; 
indeed it is impossible to draw correct conclusions from isolated 
facts. 
Difficult as the Wireworm is to deal with, so much attention 
has been paid to the subject by the suffering farmer and gardener, 
that numerous methods of arresting its ravages have been tried, 
some of them with great success ; and let not any one be dis- 
couraged because he cannot clear his land entirely, or at one blow 
sweep away a nuisance, for extermination amongst these minor 
works of the creation is not permitted, it is against the laws of the 
Creator ; for although such intervals of absence may occur as to 
lead us to Ihink that a noxious animal is annihilated, it will in due 
time return, and a^ain require all our efforts and vigilance to con- 
tend against it. We are sometimes deceived by appearances, and 
it is true that by persecuting the higher order of animals they 
may be driven from a favourite spot or locality, and take shelter 
so far from the haunts of man as to relieve him from their in- 
roads, and dispose him to imagine that the species is lost ; and in 
some instances we know that a country has been freed from races 
of animals, as the wolf and eagle, \)'\*. they are not exterminated ; 
and the latter, under favourable circumstances, would return: I 
think it therefore probable that by perseverance insects may be 
driven from a locality, for persecution is not agreeable to any ani- 
mated being ; and this knowledge ought to encourage the culti- 
vator not to relax in his efforts to free his land from destructive- 
insects, but to be certain that those efforts are well directed. 
Great benefits may be derived by selection of crops, by modes 
of cultivation, by manures and dressings, but, above all, by manual 
labour. Animals also whose economy tends to dimmish de- 
structive insects ought to be encouraged, and no doubt we are 
benefited, to an extent which it is impossible to conceive, by the 
parasitic insects whose instincts lead them to prey upon the eggs 
and caterpillars of our enemies : they are, as we have shown in 
former memoirs, multiplied to an almost incredible extent, and 
labour incessantly in their vocation. These are discoveries which 
have been gradually developed by the industry, perseverance, and 
research of the naturalist, for the improvement, amusement, and 
benefit of his fellow-creatui-es ; and I concur entirely with Mr. 
Hope that " Agriculture may derive valuable assistance from the 
science of Entomology ; and I feel fully convinced that we can 
scarcely do a greater act of kindness, or be of more service to the 
farmer, than by pointing out the nature and habits of those insects 
which destroy his crops." * 
We will now return to the opinions of practical men regarding 
the best modes of culture for keeping in check the Wireworm ; 
* Trans. Ent. Soc, vol. iii. p. 156. 
