Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1900-04-05

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.
microscope is required to see the
wood-boring larvae. In one jar, which
is partially filed 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
oording 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 it's develop
ment
Dealers in large quantities of wheat
and flour have lost on their invest
ments, sometimes heavily, because flour
beetles and wheat moths have de-
stroyed their property. Here in jelly
glass containing a little wheat flour
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 woodworking 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 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 feas have little 1eas upon their
backs to bite 'em; while they, in turn,
have lesser ones, and so ad infnitum."
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 Ber-
gerac, in the sixteenth century, wrote
OIL SO1HS QlSCONeT1eS Oh Gn0 same kInUs
made by himself. But these writer's
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, in
the things which are now to be seen in
the agricultural department, and in
the scientific institutions of some of
the great universities.
This study of parasites is distinct
from the study of the insects. When it
is known that certain parasites speed
lily destroy the insects, the parasites
are cultivated and encouraged to in
crease and multiply. The oranges of
California which have. been destroyed
by the fluted scale insect are now
saved by the dissemination of the Aus
tralian ladybug. which preys upon the
scale, but does not injure the oranges.
The chinch bugs of Kansas are being
destroyed by the fungus which eats
the chinch.
This is the practical part of the
story. These bug students have learned
which parasites will kill the bugs, and
then they have sent the parasites forth
on their mission in various sections of
the country. Vegetation is destroyed
by the insects, and the insects are de-
stroyed by the parasites. By putting
into the field big armies of parasites
the insects are eaten up, and vegeta-
ton is saved from its almost invisible
enemies.
These pale-faced young men and
these bald-headed veterans in the sci
ence of bugo1ogy are quietly doing a
whole lot of good for all of us; for the
farmers in the fields, and for the dwell
ers in cities who depend upon the farm
ers for the food which sustains their
lives. SMITH d FRY.