New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1905-11-11

the curculio and a score of lesser
lights follow it's example more or less
industriously; but it SO far outranks
the others in the extent of its depre
dations that it is naturally looked
upon as the chief offender. The larva
which matches from each of the eggs
laid by the moth resembles a small
white worm, and this is the creature
that works the mischief by burrowing
into the fruit and thus either ruins it
or renders it unfit for marketing 1t
is this puny worm, this dab of mushy
whiteness, scarcely the sixteenth of
an inch in length when it makes its
appearance upon the globe, that con-
sititutes the unit Of a destructive
force which each year causes loss of
food valued at no less than $12, 900, =
600.
Fully 80, 900, 600 bushels of apples
are annually spoiled or made unmar-
kertable by this one insect, the codling
moth; and when we take into account
the cost Of fighting this pest its tax
upon the country is vastly increased.
Practically all commercial apple
are sprayed with poison every spring
for the purpose of checking the raw
ages of the colding moth. This op-
Grafton involves an expence averag
ing five cents q tree. A nickel for
each apple tree may not seem worthy
of mention as an Investment, but
multiply it by I65, 600, OOO-the num-
Der of trees that are annually treated
to dose of arsenic-and the resulting
80 $50 900 is no small item to be tack
ed on to an already existing bill of
$l2 900, 900 for spoiled apples.
Such a tax as this upon the apple
crop is necessarily a matter of econo-
mic Importance; but of more vital
significance is the loss occasioned by
the insects that prey upon our wheat.
AS in the case of the apple, there are
several hundred different kinds Of
creatures that attack the growing
grain, though the chief work of de-
struction is in charge Of less than half
dozen species. Straw worms, bulb
worms, and sawfiies of various sorts
and dispositions, not to mention To-
Gusts and grasshoppers, are quite bad
enough and are capable of working a
deal of mischief in the course of a sea-
son; but it is the Hessian fly, the
chinch bug, and the plant louise that
holds the record for destructiveness
and possesses the ability, if SO minded
to eat up the entire wheat crop.
The Hessian fly alone has no trou-
BILE in destroying 80, 1000, 600 bushels of
wheat in a season, and this is his av.
erage record. This is equivalent to q
million tons of -four. About five years
ago, for example, it selected Ohio and
Indiana for special invasion, and as
consequence the farmers of those two
States found it next to impossible to
raise wheat at all. AS the result of
this one seasons special activity it
caused loss in these two States alone
of $24, 600 900. Its record of the en-
tire country that year was over 800,
600 900. This abominable creature is
legacy from King George III. He
sent it over here in the straw that &C.
companied his dirty Hessian troops
and since that time it has been stead
lily at work levying a retributive tax
upon the American nation for its re-
bellion against the motherland. The
cash represented in the losses caused
by twelve months work on the part of
this fly is sufficient to have paid the
entire cost of our eight years war
with Great Britain-a source Of grim
satisfaction, no doubt, to the shade of
the willy King George.
Then there is the chinch bug. It is
twice as big as the Hessian fly and
four times more villainous The en-
tomologists say that no other injurious
insect causes anything like the damage
that is chargeable to this pert. Let
us be thankful therefore, that the
chinch bug is fond of corn and oats
and several other things besides wheat
otherwise we would not have any
wheat
Nor does this tell the whole story.
This is merely the tax we pay to the
insects of the field After we have
gratefully gathered in the crops they
have spared us we find ourselves at the