Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1874-02-21
The Balance Of Things.

From Notes from the IlueS ~ writer
in a late number Of the American -4griculti-
rist, we take the following:
The Balance of things is beautifully observed
in nature. One Of the most charming as well
as instructive books ever read was one by
Dumas and Baussngault, the translated title
Of which reads, The Physical Balance Of
Organic Nature" 4 translation Of it was
published in this country many years ago, and
it is one Of the works which ought always to
be kept in print. It shows in the most graph
ic manner the relations Of plants and auiuials
to one another and OF bc;h 20 the earth and the
air. In the natural state Of things the balance
between plant and animal life, and tie rela-
tious both have upon tho earth upon which
they live and the air which surrounds them,
aie most admirably adjusted, as are the effect,
Of tie caruiyorcus animals upon those which
live upon vegetables In our cultivation we
break up the natural balance We raise an
excess Of certain plants, and The insects that
live upon such plants increase TO a wonderful
extent; we kill off insect-eating birds. and
complain that insects destroy our crops We
destroy every snake we meet and shoot every
owl upoa sight, and look about for remedies
for trees and shrubs that have been snnwed by
mice and rabbits. In our cultivation we have
undertaken to supplant nature in producing
better crops Of better plants than would uatu-
rally grow, and we must accept tie rest as the
uatur. consequence We pat thousands Of
plants all Of one kind IN A field and we must
expect that the insects that feed upon these
plants will cougregate there, and if we are So
foolish as to kill snakes it is only a natural
consequence that mice abound This remem-
brancc Of the excellent work Of Dumas and
B,ussiugault was brought mp by my
sttempt to cultivate some ch ice
Exotic aquatic Plants in tank in 10y
greenhouse had planted ont the beautiful
New Holland Apuoge'on distqclyum, Limo
ciaTis HumJolU from Central America, thc
blue ' a;u-hly, NympdGa cqrvlea fFoni
Egypt, and other choice things The plants
grew finely, and some were coming into bloom,
when discovered 10 my dismay, that tie
water was alive with gcrgglers7 as the lar
vac Of tic mosquito are called. Tie pau;.
were very desirable, but the lary@, however
interesting they might he as animals present
ing the remarkable phenomenon Of breathing
through their tails, were so many tormcuts 10
prospect had complied with par; q the
conditions Of natural pond. / had my plants.
soil, aud water. We are accustomed to think
that mosquitoes are Of TO use. This is a mis-
take They play an important part in pre-
serving the balance Of nature. It's not the
sole mission Of this most useful insect 10 dis
turb ones sleep and to iofici unpleasant sting.
These are only ircid nts in the generally ben
cfeal career Of the whole race Of mosquitoes.
Possibly one ont Of ten thousand mosquitoes
reaches perfection aud seeks human society,
while o .999 before they emerge from the state
Of wrigelcrs fulfill their destiny as food for
fishes. Why, one man in The State Of New
York raises wIigglars by tae quart as the best
possible food for bis young trout In my case
there was but one remedy, aud that was
FIsu-So made call upon Nj Green
wood, the dealer 10 aquaria in College Place,
who fitted me out with some sticklebacks and
other small fry, which at once gorgei them
selves on wriggers, and in a short time
cleared them ont entirely In some city Bls-
ton think it was, the water suddenly became
bad aud undrnkablc. An investigation show
ed that the trouble was due to minute aquatic
animals, and that the fish Of all kinds were
carefully kept out Of the reservoirs BY means Of
fine gratings Fish were admitted, and the
balance Of nature being restored the trouble
ceased.