PARK AND CEMETERY. 
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by means of a contact spray such as kero- 
sene emulsion, whale oil solution, tobacco 
decoction, and in the case of scale, lime- 
sulphur solution. By contact spray we 
mean that the liquid must be forced onto 
the insect itself so as to come in contact 
with the breathing pores. In many cases 
this is quite difficult on account of the 
curling of the leaves, especially in the case 
of so many species of aphis or plant lice. 
(b! Leaf-eating insects are more easily 
kept under control for several reasons'. In 
the first place they are more exposed to 
the attack of predatory and parasitic in- 
sects, birds and diseases. In the second 
place their food plant can be sprayed with 
some poisonous solution like lead arsenic, 
Paris green, etc. 
The two remaining classes, (c) and (d), 
are among the hardest to subdue — they are 
more protected. They have not as many 
enemies. It is a hand-to-hand fight either 
by mechanical means or by the use of poi- 
son baits. 
We now come to a consideration of the 
outline previously suggested : 
First: Practice Clean Culture. This is 
the most important step in the control of 
insect pests. The practice must be care- 
fully adhered to year after year. Under 
this head the weed problem deserves a 
passing notice. Many species of weeds 
offer good feeding ground for some of our 
insect enemies. In many cases there are 
other causes at work. The old saying re- 
garding the number of kernels of corn to 
the hill is an apt one : 
“One for the blackbird, 
Two for the crow, 
Three for the cut-worm 
And four to grow.” 
To sum up — if clean culture is strictly 
adhered to, at least one-half of the battle 
is won. In cases where an insect has se- 
cured a good foothold we may have to 
resort to one or more of the following 
methods : 
Practice rotation of crops. Deep fall 
plowing. Change to a different location. 
Second: Secure a Vigorous Plant Growth. 
Plants are much like human beings If we 
can secure healthy, vigorous plants they 
will tend to ward off disease and insect 
attacks. Vigorous plant growth can only 
be attained by thorough cultivation and 
high fertilization. We have known many 
cases where the green aphis of the apple 
has been entirely balked by the thrifty 
growth of the new shoots, so that spray- 
ing was unnecessary, although the pests 
were much in evidence. 
Third: Encourage Birds and Other 
Friends. We cannot overestimate the value 
of our bird friends in this relation to the 
solution of the insect problem. They are 
a host in themselves and we should look 
to their protection with the utmost vigi- 
lance, especially the following: Bluebird, 
chickadee, chipping sparrow, fly-catchers, 
kingbird, martin, meadowlark, nuthatches, 
phoebe, robin, song sparrow, swallows, 
thrushes, vireos, warblers, etc. ; and for 
night birds I would include the nighthawk 
and whippoorwill. The two great offices 
that the birds fill in the economy of na- 
ture, as applied to the gardener and orch- 
ardist, are the destruction of insect pests, 
and the reduction of the bountiful crop of 
weed seeds. 
It has been stated on good authority that 
if our bird friends were all destroyed the 
earth would be stripped of vegetation and 
thus become uninhabitable. I saw a state- 
ment not long ago regarding the amount 
of food consumed by a robin ; it stated 
that a young robin consumed at least fif- 
teen feet of worms each day; at this rate, 
on the supposition that Maine has 60,000 
farms and that there is one pair of robins 
to nest on a farm each season, and that 
each caterpillar averaged one inch in 
length, if these could be placed in single 
file and marched from Boston they would 
reach around the world twice and as far 
as China on the third lap. 
If one pair of robins to a farm in the 
state of Maine alone could accomplish this 
feat, what might we expect of the great 
army of other varieties of birds that are 
equally voracious. Of our other friends 
perhaps the toad plays the most important 
role. The Ohio Experiment Station Bul- 
letin states that a single garden toad dur- 
ing the months of May, June and July con- 
sumes 9,720 injurious insects, including 
such species as cutworms, weevils, ground 
beetles, etc. English and French garden- 
ers pay $25 per hundred for them. Skunks, 
moles and even snakes play an important 
part in insect control. 
Fourth: Know Our Beneficial Insects. 
We need to know our friends as well as 
our foes. Our friends are found among 
the parasites, predaceous bugs and beetles, 
Tachanid flies, scavengers, etc. The ex- 
tensive work done by the federal govern- 
ment in conjunction with the state at the 
insectary of Melrose Highlands is recog- 
nized by all students of entomology. 
Fifth: Learn the Life Histories of Our 
Insect Pests. This is quite an undertaking, 
but is highly important and very essential 
to success. The outline of the different 
stages in the life history of many of our 
injurious insects has already been given. 
With this as a guide one can learn to rec- 
ognize the leading ones found in the gar- 
den and orchard. 
Sixth: Destroy All Refuse Material 
Where Insects Hibernate. We are begin- 
ning to realize the importance of this 
statement. Quite a percentage of .our gar- 
den and orchard pests pass the hibernating 
period under cover of stones, pieces of 
boards, refuse, piles of weeds, discarded 
vines, brush heaps, bark of trees, etc. 
Habit is one of the leading factors in the 
success or failure of an undertaking; 
therefore let us get into the habit of keep- 
ing things of this class picked up and de- 
stroyed. No refuse should be allowed to 
remain, but should be gathered and dis- 
posed of by burning. A good, convenient, 
out-of-the-way place should be provided 
and all material of this nature carted there 
and destroyed. This method will not only 
tend to control insect pests, but many of 
the fungous diseases as well. 
One fruitful source of insect increase is 
found among the weeds that grow in the 
neglected fence corners, along stone walls, 
on pastures, by the roadside, and in too 
many of our gardens. Until such places 
receive a share of our attention our per- 
centage of loss will continue to run high. 
It is safe to say that the stone walls of 
New England harbor each year enough in- 
jurious insects to reduce the revenue from 
our farm and orchard crops by at least 5 
per cent. Add to this the lack of care in 
removing and destroying other refuse, 
such as dead limbs on fruit trees, small 
fruit bushes, etc., we shall raise this 
amount to 10 per cent. With a direct loss 
of from 15 to 40 per cent due to insect 
and fungous troubles, added to the above, 
leaves the average farmer with but 50 to 
75 per cent of his crop, due to these 
causes alone. 
Seventh: Look Out for Wild Food 
Plants. This applies to plants closely re- 
lated to the ones under cultivation, as 
many insects pass through the first larval 
stages, feeding on weeds and other wild 
plants, and easily migrate to the cultivated 
ones later in the season. Clean cultiva- 
tion and the removal of all wild plants 
growing in fence corners will materially 
check the development of insect life in the 
orchard and garden. 
Eighth: Use U p-to-Date Methods in the 
Destruction of Insect Life. We are begin- 
ning to realize, as never before, the abso- 
lute necessity of the intelligent and per- 
sistent use of insecticides, fungicides, 
traps and baits to control, as far as possi- 
ble, the annual loss occasioned by these 
ever present and insidious pests. I recall 
my first experience in insect collecting. 
There was but little literature on the sub- 
ject. The admirable work of Mr. Harris 
on “The Injurious Insects of Massachu- 
setts” was the only available work at the 
time. In killing the moths and butterflies 
I used a large darning needle dipped in a 
solution of oxalic acid ; this was thrust 
into the thorax of the victim and the spec- 
imen held between the thumb and finger 
until the dose took effect. Later this was 
followed by ether or chloroform and more 
recently by potassium cyanide. Equally 
crude were the methods used in insect con- 
trol. When the Colorado potato beetle 
first appeared in New England the only 
