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The cholera enters suddenly his herd of fattening swine and cuts 
down a dozen of his finest porkers, worth perhaps $15C or $200. He 
feels the loss severely, and properly appreciates any effort made to 
find out the cause and devise a cure, but at the same time the insects 
in his 200 acres of corn have lessened his crop five or six bushels per 
acre without arousing him to any effort to devise a remedy or prevent 
the loss, although double that occasioned by the cholera. Why this 
difference ? Simply because the loss in one case* is so marked and ap¬ 
parent that it cannot be overlooked, while in the other it is less ap¬ 
parent and not brought so palpably to his notice. 
But the question arises, can anything be done to counteract these 
evils and prevent these losses? I answer, } r es ; not because I have a 
sure and perfect remedy at hand to propose, but because there are 
facts staring mein the face which warrant me in giving this answer, 
or at least in asserting that they can be greatly lessened. The sim¬ 
ple fact, known to all, that there was a time when these evils did not 
exist in the same ratio they do now is proof of itself that it is possible 
to bring about conditions in which these evils will not exist to the 
extent they now do. 
In order to remedy an evil we must first fully appreciate it—on this 
point I have already spoken ; next, we must ascertain as clearly as 
possible the nature of this evil, which, when applied to our insect en¬ 
emies, means that w r e must learn to know them and to understand 
their history and habits. 
To this part of the subject, so far as it relates to the corn crop, I will 
now direct attention, giving brief descriptions in plain language oi 
the various species that operate on the corn crop in Illinois, dwelling 
briefly on the less important species, but giving somewhat fully the 
historv of those which are most destructive, following each with 
an account of the remedies heretofore proposed, and adding such 
as I have to suggest from my own observations and investigations. 
WIRE-WORMS— (Larva? or Grubs of Elaters or Snapping Beetles.) 
The cold days of winter having passed away and spring having 
opened with all its exhilerating influences, the farmer prepares his 
ground and plants his corn with a strong hope of a rich harvest. But 
scarcely is the seed deposited in the ground before the lilliputian ene¬ 
mies begin their work of destruction. Having waited the allotted time 
for the appearance of the shoots above the soil, he passes through his field 
for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the embryo crop. Ev¬ 
ery few steps he finds a hill missing where replanting is necessary; this 
is ascribed to some climatic influence, as the cold nights, moisture, 
drought, etc., or possibly to a few crows, blackbirds or other birds 
w'hich have been seen in the fields, when, in all probability, a careful 
examination would show that hidden insect foes are the real culprits. 
This is by no means a fancy sketch, as any one may see by looking 
over the reported condition of crops, as given in the monthly reports 
of tiie National Agricultural Department. The spring and early sum- 
