Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1900-03-29

dreds~ of places by gnatlike insects;
forms over the injured parts, whore
eggs are deposited, odd-loolzing
growths which protect the offspring
of the gall bug until they are able to
come forth, lay other eggs, and per-
haps sting the very stem which fos-
tered them.
A microscope is required to see the
wood-boring larvae. In one jar, which
is partially filled with sawdust instead
of sand,, several pieces of bark are to
be seen, completely riddled and honey
combed by wood-borers. They bury
themselves in the sawdust during the
the winter, just as others bury them
seles in. the sand. When they come
forth and are large enough to be seen
with the naked eye, they are removed,
killed and stuck on pins in boxes, &C.
cording to their species, numbered and
described in the scientific library OF
reference books. Each insect has its
scientific name, and the students here
give the full history of its develop.
I ment.
b Dealers in large quantities of wheat
and -four have lost on their invest.
ments, sometimes heavily, because -four
! beetles and wheat moths have de.
|. stroyedi their property. Here in jelly
glass containing little wheat -four
are some Of the beetles at work. They
are watched in their progress from egg
|: to larvae and from larvae to beetle
The wheat worms and joint worms are
seen feeding upon the stems of the
wheat plant. There are also jars show
ing the work of root-devouring bugs
When they have eaten up the roots in
|; their jars they come to the surface, but
. cannot escape, because inverted jars
cover them. They do Z, not burrow
through the ground. They eat roots
destroying plant life. Then they come
to- the surface and travel to the near
est contiguous plant, burrow to its
roots. and begin their deadly work.
Most singular of all to an uneducated
observer of these singular things is
the fact that upon all of these insects
the microscope discloses parasites
which devour the insects themselves
Long years ago DR.. johnson said:
"Great fleas have little f1eas upon their
backs to bite 'em; while they, in turn
have lesser ones, and so ad infinitum.'
The writer was not a great scientist
but he had some idea of what these
learned students of insect life have
disclosed so plainly. Cyrano de Der
gerae, in the sixteenth century, wrote
of some discoveries of the same kind
made by himself. But these writers
were only able to imagine that what
they saw with the naked eye must be
going on in the lower forms of life
There is no Imagination, however, IL
the things which are now to be seen IL
the agricultural department., and IL
the scientific institutions of some o:
the great universities. +
This study of parasites is distinct
from the study of the insects. When il
is known that certain parasites speed
lily destroy the insects, the, parasite:
are cultivated and encouraged to in
crease and multiply. The oranges O
California which have been destroyed
by the fluted scale insect are nov
saved by the dissemination of the Aus
tralian ladybug, which preys upon tn
scale, but does not injure the oranges
The chinch bugs of Kansas are being
destroyed by the fungus which eat
the chinch.
This is the practical part of tn
story. These bug students have learned
which parasites will kill the bugs, an,
then they have sent the parasites fortl
on their mission in. various sections o
the country. Vegetation is sdestroye'
by the insects, and the insects are de
stroyed by the parasites. BY putting
into the field big armies of parasite
the insects are eaten up, and vegeta
ton is saved from it's almost invisibl
enemies.
These pale-faced young men AM
these bald headed veterans In the sci
ence of bugology are quietly doing
whole lot Of good for all Of US; for tn
farmers in the fields, and for the dwell
ers in cities who depend upon the farm
ers for the food which sustains thei
Tires. sMrrHsn. FRY.