526 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
AUG. 16 
possible see this matter as I now do. Work f Yes we have 
done a good deal of hard work on our fruit garden, come 
to think of it; but it was for ourselves, for the home, for 
better health, for more of the luxuries that naturally per¬ 
tain to our calling. Why, the work has been snowed under 
so deep for the last two months in delicious berries that 
we had almost forgotten it. Set out a fruit garden, friends, 
and then do not trust in Providence to properly till it, and 
keep the weeds out, and send seasonable rains so the 
berries will not all dry up. Perhaps this is a little too hard 
on our Kansas friends. Possibly it was so hot that they 
could not have saved their crop. But I do not know. 
There is hardly anything that man cannot do. 
Summit County, Ohio. T. B. TERRY. 
BENEFICIAL INSECTS. 
V. 
Beetles. 
In the last article I gave a brief account of the most 
beneficial Diptera or two-winged flies. That order, which 
includes our mosquito and common house fly, is peculiar 
in the fact of the varied habits of its members. Some 
Jts. 
Tiger Beetle. Fig. 206. 
live on plants, some on other animals, some suck 
blood, some are scavengers. So we can find dipterous in¬ 
sects with habits like those of the insects of any other 
order. The same is hardly less true of Coleoptera, or 
beetles. These insects are named Coleoptera-sheathed- 
wings—because their upper wings are thick and so sheathe 
or shield the under wings. So the primary or elytra, as 
these wings are called, are of little value for flight, being 
useful only in protecting the under wings which serve to 
bear the insect as it wings its course in woodland or over 
meadow. These insects are often called bugs. This is 
quite incorrect. They are beetles, and are as widely separ¬ 
ate from bugs, as are turkeys from geese. As the beetles 
have such diverse habits, we should expect some friends of 
the farmer among them. Nor are we mistaken There 
are three large, beautiful and most interesting families of 
beetles, all of which are our abettors in the work of fight¬ 
ing our insect foes. 
The Tiger Beetles (Cicindilidae) are the first of these. 
These insects (Figure 306) are quick, trim, beautifully 
colored beetles, and are handsome in form and proportions. 
They illustrate natural mimicry in an interesting manner. 
Thus some frequent sand, and rest on the bare path and 
road-bed. These are sober gray, and are scarcely visible 
as they lie on the gray earth. Others are resplendent in 
green and rest on grass and leaf. These are also hid from 
view by their very color. Thus as predaceous insects they 
Mouth Parts of Tiger Beetle. Fig. 207. 
can capture their prey more easily, for their prey will not 
see them, and thus will dare beard the tiger beetle in its 
den. Again, as stated in the last article, the tiger beetles 
have foes, for I have seen them fall victims to the fierce 
robber flies. Of course, any peculiarity that would hide 
them from such foes would be of signal benefit. Thus the 
tiger beetle is often saved by its sober garb or by its bril¬ 
liant green, which serves as well to conceal it. The mouth 
organs of the tiger beetles (Figure 207) are very strong and 
formidable. These beetles fly but little, and then only 
for a few feet. When they are startled into flight, they 
dart ahead and soon sink again to rest on the grass or 
sand. Their grubs or larvae live in holes in the earth. 
These can be told from ant holes, as they do not have the 
little mounds of particles which have been carried out by 
the ants in making their excavations, and which are al¬ 
ways seen around their holes. The fierce, savage, large- 
jawed grubs of the tiger beetles rest in the holes, close to 
the top, waiting for some luckless ant, caterpillar or other 
insect to pass along, when the latter is quickly grasped 
and served up for dinner. Thus both grub and mature 
beetle are ever on the alert to kill and eat our noxious in¬ 
sects, and so do immense service to the farmer and 
gardener. 
The Ground Beetles.— The Ground Beetles (Carabidae), 
are much like the tiger beetles in habits. They prey upon 
other insects, both as grubs and when mature, and do 
great good. The name ground beetles, comes from the 
fact that we usually see them running on the ground, 
though they can fly and do often fly into our rooms at 
night, doubtless attracted by the lights. They (Figure 208), 
are usually rather long and slim, have long legs, and are 
usually black. Some few are yellow or green. Thus these 
are also concealed by their color. Like the tiger beetles, 
they have long, strong jaws; but when affrighted they 
rarely take to flight, but run into some crevice, grass, or 
other place of concealment. The larvae are long, slim, 
black insects with very strong jaws. They do not hide in 
holes, but burrow through the mellow earth, and thus 
feast on cub-worms, white grubs, etc. They are ravenous 
feeders, and it is interesting to keep them in confinement, 
and see them grasp, kill and suck dry or bloodless, the 
much larger cut worms which may be placed within their 
reach. Thus these insects prey upon our most dreaded in¬ 
sect pests, and are even more our helpers than are their 
neighbors, the tiger beetles. This family—the Carabidae— 
is a very large one, and it is impossible to measure the 
good they do. Even now, the cut-worms, white grubs and 
wire-worms are terrible plagues. What they would be 
were it not for these beetles which have the virtues of the 
mole, without his evil characteristics, it is impossible to 
Imagine. The cut-worms have been a serious evil in Mich¬ 
igan the past sAson. I have found their carcasses many 
times left bloodless by the rapacious ground beetles. 
The Lady-Bird Beetles.— The third family is the 
Coccindidae or lady-birds. These little rounded beetles 
are very attractive, and are generally admired by children 
and others, who would shriek at the sight of any other 
beetle or other insect. The larvae or grubs (Figure 209) are 
conical: the pupae (Figures 209 and 210) are small; while 
the imagoes may be, and usually are, yellow or orange, 
dotted with black (Figures 210, 211 and 212), though a few 
have not the black dots. We have one small species (Fig¬ 
ure 212) that is black, with a bright red spot on each wing 
cover. Like the tiger and ground beetles, these feed on 
other insects, both as larvae or grubs and as imagoes or 
mature beetles. They are specially helpful in destroying 
plant lice. The mother lady-bird places her groups of cyl¬ 
indrical yellow eggs in clusters of plant lice on the cherry 
and plum trees, or on grains and vegetables, and the 
ravenous grubs that come from these eggs are mighty 
agents in ridding us of these blighting lice. Hardly less 
important than the Braconid and the Chalcid flies or the 
Syrphus flies in the destruction of plant lice or aphides, 
are these little lady-bird beetle larvae. Thus these beetles 
are not only intrinsically handsome; but handsome be¬ 
cause “handsome is that handsome does.” Within a few 
days two of our best horticulturists, one of Ohio and the 
other of Michigan, have sent me larvae of these lady-birds, 
asking if they were the cause of the lack of vigor apparent 
in their cherry and plum trees. The fact was the plant lice 
were destroying their trees, and these grubs were destroy¬ 
ing the lice. To destroy these would be to kill our best 
friends. These often pupate in great numbers on the 
twigs, so that by cutting and burning a small twig one 
would destroy a score of these little friends (see Figures 
209 and 210). How necessary then that all engaged in 
horticulture and pomology should know these beetles in 
all their stages. Nearly all know the mature beetle, while 
many do not know the larval forms or the pupae. How 
wise is that man who boxes some of these common forms 
and rears the mature insects. It is easily done, and gives 
important knowledge. A. J. COOK. 
COLLAR AND HARNESS FOR CATTLE. 
The picture shown at Fig. 214, was re-engraved from a 
photograph taken on the streets of Vineland, N. J., by the 
Gage Tool Company. The oxen have become perfectly 
familiar with this harness and work as contentedly in it as 
they ever did in the yoke. No experiments have been 
made to determine whether they can haul a heavier load 
with the collars and traces, but it is believed that there is 
little difference in this respect; while it is evident that the 
oxen are more comfortable, more easily guided, and freer 
to walk or trot. The idea of trotting oxen may seem 
ridiculous to those who regard the “ toiling ox ” as emble¬ 
matic of slow and laborious movement. Oxen can be 
trained to walk or even trot at a fair pace. We have seen 
active Devon steers that could walk faster than auy span 
of horses. Oxen will surely find walking more comfortable 
in this harness than when carrying a heavy yoke on their 
necks. There has been a great deal of discussion among 
mechanics as to the point of the body from which the ox 
can draw the heaviest load. The horse draws from his 
shoulders or breast, while with the usual yoke the ox must 
draw from the neck. In parts of Brazil where almost all 
the carrying trade must be done with ox-teams, animals 
have been bred for thick necks and straight shoulders that 
they may do full service at the yoke. With such oxen the 
yoke may be most suitable, but for the animals usually 
worked it would seem that some more desirable harness 
might be found. The Germans for a long time fastened 
the traces directly to the horns of the oxen. Many of them 
still have a stout strap bound around the base of the horns 
Larva, Pupa and Beetle. Fig. 209. 
to which the traces are fastened. A subscriber of The R. 
N.-Y., on Long Island, has invented an ox harness which 
is an improvement on the German method. In this, the ox 
draws from the forehead, a padded band fitting around the 
head just above the eyes. We expect to have a picture of 
this interesting device before long. The R. N.-Y. thinks 
that many oxen that are worked in heavy yokes waste a 
portion of their strength because their necks are too light 
to stand the full weight of their bodies and their shoulders 
are not straight enough to properly fit into the bow. Many 
of these oxen would do far better work in the harness 
shown at Fig. 214. 
BEEF BULLS FOR THE RANGE. 
T. F. B. SOTHAM. 
Good demand for pure-bred bulls to Insure prime beef 
for home and foreign markets; investments of 
foreign cattle syndicates have built up the West to 
the loss of the investors; fancy whims instead of 
intelligent discrimination guided their investments 
in pure-bred bulls; recent depression when thorough¬ 
bred bulls could hardly be “given away;” healthy 
revival of business on a sound basis. 
The promises for this year as regards the demand for 
pure-bred bulls for the range counties have been more than 
fulfilled. I have now been selling and shipping bulls 
Mr 
Pupa and Beetle. Fig. 210. 
(mainly Herefords) to the Western States and Territories 
for 10 years. When I first engaged in the business the 
ranges were thought to be unlimited, and ranchmen sought 
numbers rather than quality; later English, Scotch and 
other foreign and Eastern capitalists eagerly sought invest¬ 
ments in Western cattle and ranches. Money floated in, 
and the West may be said to have been built up as largely 
from this influx of capital as from any other source. 
Precious few ever again received the principal, “ let alone ” 
the interest, forthismoneystaidin the West. Largeamounts 
of it were invested in blooded bulls, but looking back on 
those days, I do not believe the money so placed was intelli¬ 
gently invested, but ratlier the investment was made from 
a theoretical fancy than od sound business principles. 
True, many good bulls were placed on the ranges at long 
prices, but it was also true that too many inferior bulls— 
which in these days are called “thoroughbred scrubs”— 
were also bought at long prices. There was far too little 
discrimination between the good and the inferior, and this 
fostered the “ scrub ” dealer. But my main reason for be- 
Beetle. Fig. 2 11. 
lieving that in those earlier days pure blood was not intelli¬ 
gently used, is the fact that with the relapse of depression 
in the industry pure bred bulls could hardly be given away. 
In the years from 1886 to 1889 the ranchmen seemed abso¬ 
lutely to have “no use” for good bulls, and it has taken 
them three years to discover that well-bred bulls are not 
playthings, created to satisfy a whim or fancy, but that 
they are a very legitimate investment, and that their intro¬ 
duction into a herd, followed by good common-sense man¬ 
agement of the bulls and their produce means dividends 
where before there was a deficit. The daily markets at 
Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, and St. Louis afford 
the most practical lesson of the value of good blood. 
It has been demonstrated that the only hope of the cattle- 
raiser who would better his condition and make more than 
a beggarly living lies through the pure breeds of beef 
cattle, which will enable him to produce an article fit for 
Beetle. Fig. 2 1 2. 
the tables of the well-to-do of America and fit for the his¬ 
toric board of John Bull; in short, enable him to breed 
for the block instead of the cans. It is such choice beef as 
graces the shops of the Eastern and English markets that 
is scarce and high-priced ; thousands, yes, millions of half- 
civilized and ignorant people are engaged in various parts 
of the world in rearing cattle for their hides and a pittance 
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