28 Insect Life : Its Why and Wherefore 
At the present the nuisance of blight is 
increasing year by year. Of that there is 
no doubt whatever. The order has gone 
out from many an officious local committee 
that wasps’ nests are to be destroyed — 
when Nature sent us wasps on purpose to 
counteract this evil of blight. Nature will 
do much more than preserve her own 
balance if left alone, but when man begins 
to interfere, then the consequences he must 
reap. Some months ago a gardener 
pointed out to me a hover fly, and told me 
that he did not like to see them in the gar- 
den, as they were, he believed, the cause 
of blight, and if only he could find a solution 
of some kind wherewith to syringe his trees, 
he would keep them off. Poor man ! keep 
off his greatest friend — a ceaseless antagonist 
of the aphis. 
The ladybird is still regarded by a good 
many with suspicion, and even with dislike. 
What would our hop gardens be without 
them ? Where would our rosebuds be ? 
I would like to see ladybird nurseries, 
where they might be reared and pro- 
pagated. We have not half enough of 
them in many parts of this country. When 
