The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-20

ting out when the soil is in its best con-
dition- II is not al all a show job when
done at the right time"
Those who have had intelligent obser-
walton OF field and forest for the past four
or five years need not be told that there
are very few birds compared 10 what there
Were twenty-five or thirty years ago.
From one cause or another they have dis
appeared almost entirely in some sections
OF our country The dictum Of fashion and
the habit Of bird-nesting revived with in
creased fervOr on the part Of school. chill
dren TO possess the largest collection OF
bird eggs, have pretty well destroyed near
~ all the birds. song as well as Others that
we looked to TO destroy or keep in check
the injurious insects of garden or field.
The thoughtless have little or no idea how
very serious the results are likely to prove
as the result Of the determination of the
farmers natural allies.
II would seem that every plant that is
grown has its special insect foe and for
tunately for US that insect has. in turn,
its special parasite, and but for which we
would soon be at the mercy of the worm. -
II Is true science has done a great deal
to enable US to mitigate the ill-conse-
quences arising from this destruction of
our bird allies, but X must be admitted It
does not, cannot perhaps, cover the whole
ground, and thus render the loss of the
birds trifiing affair So many farmers
and fruit growers are yet lacking in the
necessary knowledge that would enable
them TO give protection to their crops. If
nothing more, some are dilatory and neg
hgent, fa1l to properly anticipate the dan
medal measures advised by science when
II is too late to accomplish the purpose
1t requires considerable watchfuiness
and almost daily examination Of
detect the threatened attack of certain
insect foes. The eggs are laid in a night.
In few days the resulting caterpillar is
at work, and soon doing marked injury.
We have observed. as no doubt others
have. the total destruction in the frames
and outside of the young plants of pepper,
tomato he a a
very few days from the depredations of
that active and ubiquitous little insect,
the flea beetle In the aggregate this in
sect causes immense loss ever year. so,
in the case of beans. a whole crop may be
destroyed or so injured in the course of a
few days by the dlabrotica and other lit
tie beetles commonly termed bean bugs"
The cutworms, too! What an immense
amount of harm this tribe, with its num-
berless families, does every year. 1t comes
as a thief in the night and can cause cal
culable and incalculable damage in a
tomato, cabbage, corn or egg plant field,
not to name other crops that it depre-
dates upon, and occasionally to some ad-
vantage, as in a cotton field, where there
are apt to be too many stalks usually.
In one instance that came under our OBJ
servation an acre of cabbage started with
a full stand of 5000 plants, lost over 1905
| plants from the attacks of cut-worms
| alone, and there were no plants left TO
replace those destroyed. Other losses of
| like character are familiar to us. Only
| last year we noted the almost complete
| destruction of pretty crop of bush but
| ter beans by the larvae of little butter
| fly, whose presence was not suspected until
| the ruin was wrought.
The most destructive insect thus far
| noted this season, up to April Is, is the
| larva of the cabbage butterfly.
At that date the eggs and young cater
pillars could be found on nearly every
| plant. While some few plants were unin-
| tested others had from one TO three eggs
and a like number of young caterpillars
actively at work on the tender leaves
| including the bud of the newly started
crop. The cut-worms are not so bad as
| usual. AS previously observed, the flea
/ beetle was present in strong force as
| early as February, and has done consid-
| cradle damage.
| 1t required an active boy a half day tc
| properly worm a couple of thousand OF
4 the young cabbage referred to, stoppine
| from time to time to kill the butterfly, as
| it fitted along over the patch. The
| grower that would make a success of cab
| bage culture is called upon to fight th'
| insect in an intelligent manner. The fore
runners of other noxious insets have beer
observed. We will refer to these later.