TNSECT; 
85 
dent that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, nor the pupa 
state; the enemy, in these stages, is beyond our reach, and is subject 
to the control only of the natural but unknown means appointed by 
the Author of Nature to keep the insect tribes in check. When they 
have issued from their subterranean retreats, and have congregated 
upon our vines, trees, and other vegetable productions, in the com¬ 
plete enjoyment of their propensities, we must unite our efforts to 
seize and crush the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded, 
or burned, to deprive them of life ; for they are not affected by any of 
the applications usually found destructive to other insects. Experi¬ 
ence has proved the utility of gathering them by hand, or of shaking 
them or brushing them from the plants into tin vessels containing a 
little water. They should be collected daily during the period of 
their visitation, and should be committed to the flames, or killed by 
scalding water. The late John Lowell, Esq., states, that in 1823, he 
discovered on a solitary apple tree, the rose bugs u in vast numbers, 
such as could not be described, and would not be believed if they 
were described, or at least none but an ocular witness could conceive 
of their numbers. Destruction by hand was out of the question” in 
this case. He put sheets under the tree, and shook them down, and 
burned them. Dr. Green, of Mansfield, whose investigations have 
thrown much light on the history of this insect, proposes protecting 
plants with millinet, and says that in this way only did he succeed in 
securing his grape vines from depredation. His remarks also show 
the utility of gathering them. “ Eighty-six of these spoilers,” says he, 
i: were known to infest a single rose bud, and were crushed with one 
grasp of the hand.” Suppose, as was probably the case, that one half 
of them were females; by this destruction, eight hundred eggs,.at 
least, were prevented from becoming matured. 
Daring the time of their prevalence, rose bugs are sometimes found 
in immense numbers on the flowers of the common white weed, 
or ox-eye 'daisy, (Chrysanthemum leucanthemiim,) a worthless plant, 
which has come to us from Europe, and has been suffered to overrun 
our pastures, and encroach on our mowing lands. In certain cases, it 
may become expedient rapidly to mow down the infested white weed 
in dry pastures, and consume it with the sluggish rose bugs on the 
spot. 
Our insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of these insects, 
