f 
'if 
I 
■y 
I *’ 
C 24 ) 
decim of Linnaeus), which often do fo much injury to our orchards^* The American Philofophical Society, by 
calling the attention of the public to the decay of our Peach-trees, has brought us to a better acquaintance with 
the caufes of this decay, and with the means of preventing it. Infeds are no doubt one of thefe caufes.f We have 
made fome progrefs in preventing the mifchief of the Bruchus Pifi, or Pea-Fly, which proves fo deflruclive to 
one of the finefl efculent vegetables. But all that has yet been done is very little compared to that which re- 
mains to be done. The fubjed is as new as it is important. 
I am very far from imagining, that the prefervation of fome of thofe fpecies of birds which I have mentioned would be the 
only means of guarding againft, or of limiting, the depredations of any of our noxious infeds. In a fyflem fo 
complex, and fo difficult, as this, many agents muO: be employed. Mod of them have a neceflary connedion 
•with the indulfry of man, which is an implement that gives him an immenfe, an almoft unlimited, command over 
all the living objeds of this earth. It is in his power to increafe or diininifli the number of animals and vege¬ 
tables about him ; and even to dedroy whole fpecies. Some of thefe means mud be fuggeded, if they cannot be 
put into immediate pradice, by the ingenuity of philofophers, or obfervers. Their fpecuiations wall fometimes, per- 
liaps, be trivial, and ufelefs. Now and then, their “ wild blunders and rifible abfurdities'’ (to ufe the words of Dr. 
Johnfon,|,on a fubjed, indeed, very different from the prefent) may for a time furniffi folly with laughter, and 
harden ignorance in contempt; but ufeful diligence will at length prevail.” 
The few fads which I have mentioned will be fufficient to ffiow, that fome good in the prevention of mlfchlevous 
infeds, may be expcded from different fpecies of birds. Every American farmer’s experience will furniffi him 
with fome additional fad in fupport of this notion. If careful obfervatlons on this fubjed are made, we ffiall 
foon know wffiich are our friends, and which are our enemies: which deferve to be cherifned and preferved, 
and which it will be our intereft to baniffi or deftroy. 
~END OF PART FIRST. 
POSTSCRIPT. 
preceding « fragmentary rubblffi” (to ufe the words of Donne) is thrown upon the public with fome degree of confidence: 
— with confidence, merely becaufe it regards a country, the natural hiflory of which has hitherto been fo little attended to. I muff 
obferve, though perhaps the reader will not believe me, that I could render thefe pages more worthy of his notice. But I w'ant 
leifure. It is this want of leifure that has prevented me from publiffiing a number of trads, relative to the natural hifto'ry of 
North-America, which have long lain in my clofet, in a flate nearly as imperfed as thefe very imperfedl Fragments. Whether 
they will ever be publiffied, will depend, in fome meafure, upon the reception given to the prefent work. 
I afk, I look for, no flattering reception. All I afk, all I require, is to be informed, by thofe who love and ftudy nature, that 
my prefent labours are not altogether ufelefs, and unentertaining. Until there fliall arife among us fome happy genius, qualified 
by that union of talents, of leifure, and enthufiaftic ardour, which is neceflary to form the charader of a genuine naturalifl, every 
collcdion of fads, every individual fad, that will tend to iliuftrate the natural hiltory of the United-States, ought to be received 
with candour, and indulgence. 
I have entitled thefe Fragments, “ Part Firfl,” becaufe if this is favourably received, I ffiall publiflr, in the courle of the next 
year, two other parts, relative to other fubjeds of the natural hillory of our State. I have made confiderable progrefs in an 
extenfive work on the Vegetables of Pennfylvania, and fome of the adjoining States. But this will appear in a feparate form: 
—I will not fay when. For who does not know, that the promifes of authors are like the promifes of lovers r” 
* It is only the female Cicada feptemdecim that does mifchief to our orchards, &c. This fhe does hy making inclfions into the tender branches, to depofit her eggs. 
In confcquence of this operation, the leaves perifh. The infedl does no mifchief “ by devouring the leaves,” as has been afferted by fome refpcdtable writers. See 
Tranfadlions of die American Philofophical Society. Vol. III. Introduction. Page xxii. 
f The pcach-infedl: (It is an Ichneumon) Is ohferved to injure young trees more than old ones. Perhaps the beft remedy againfl; the mifchief of this infedl is to dig 
up the ground about the roots in the fpring-feafon, and to take out the larva or worm. This may be done without much difficulty, and the operation does not in¬ 
jure the tree. Do not the peach-trees fuffer more from our late night-frofts than from infedls? Thefe riight-fiofts, efpecially after rainy whether, in the months of 
February and Alarch, when the fap isafeending, are certainly very pernicious. They occaiion the bark to crack fo that the fap is permitted to run out. I fufped that 
this is one of the principal caufes of the decay of our peach-trees. 
J See the Preface to his Didlioaary of the Englilli Language. Quarto edition. 
