Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1906-07-13
OUR INSECT ENEMIES.
They Eat Unbelievable Quantities Of
Grain and Fruit, and Cause an Annual
Loss Of $500 900 ,ooo

the fly and bug population will ever take
place, but the hypothesis is interesting
nevertheless as an impressive illustration
Of the tribute levied upon mankind by the
worms and weevils and their many I'M
holy relations; for to say that their num-
bers need be multiplied only ten times in
order to famish the earth Is but another
way of presenting the fact that under
present normal conditions they are exact
ing an annual tax of ten per cent upon
our food. Stated thus 1t may mean very
little or It may mean a great deal A bald
statement of percentage is without sig
nificance or dramatic effect until we know
with what quantities we are dealing To
declare simply that the insects destroy
each year one-tenth of everything we sow
er raise does not signify until we calcu-
late the amount and value of our food
products. Only then do we realize that
this one-tenth means an annual loss to
the people of United States of more than
$500. 900, 900.
This is the value of the produce that
is deliberately seized upon and destroyed
year after year by the insect marauders
OF this invncible republic. II the ASSESS
ment this represents were levied in the
form of a poll tax 1t would cost every
voter of the United States something like
sou year But however II may be di-
vided or distributed, this approximate
billion dollars is a tax which the nation
Is bpllBcu 10 pay eaCn year TO the grass
noppers and the bugs and the worms. To
support these predatory insects costs us
more than it does to support the entire
United states government, and this be
1t remembered, includes not only the army
and the navy. but patriotic band of
million pensioners besides.
And what are these insects, these pests
these ravagers, these enemies of the race
that lay us under bondage and hold before
us the constant threat of starvation?
Their name Is legion. Their number is
countless beyond the proverbial sands of
the shore, and their presence is every
where. Plant a potato crop in virgin soil
hundred miles-a thousand mies-from
any other potato field. and 10, there is
the potato bugl Set out an apple orchard,
and when the trees are ready to bear,
behold. the codlng moth is lying In wait
TO lay Its eggs upon the fruit. There is
perhaps no product that Is levied upon
so rapaciously and so numerousy as the
apple. More than 200 different kinds OF
insects are constantly at work upon it,
They attack 1t from all polnts--the roots.
the trunk, the bark. the stems the leaves.
the blossoms, the fruit The Woolly aphis
Is the leader Of the attack on the roots;
canker worms and caterpilars set the
pace for depredations on the foliage. while
the codling moth is captain OF the fruit
raiders; and why the lot of them together
trees, fruit and all-is n mystery for
whose existence we should be devoutly
grateful.
Those affecting the health and vigor
Of the tree itself-the aphis. the borers
the lice, the worms. the scale insects.
the caterpillars and the rest of their like
lessen Its productiveness nearly 20 per
cent, which is to say that II II were not
for these rascally plunderers the farmer
would get as much fruit from four apple
trees as he now gets from five The
farmer, however, would be more than
contented II he could harvest the present
fruitage Of the five trees: ne would will
lingly put up with the woolly apnis and
the canker worm and the rest of the gang.
II ne could but rid himself OF the codllng
moth.
The codling moth Is the insect that
levies on the fruit Itself. II Is not the
only one. The apple maggot and the
curculto and a score OF lesser lights follow
Its example more or less industriously:
but II so far outranks the others I'm the
extent OF its depredations that II is natur-
ally looked upon as the chief offender
The larva which matches from the eggs
laid by the moth resembles a small white
worm. and this Is the creature that works
the mischief by burrowlng into the fruit
and thus either ruins it or renders II I'M
Mt for marketing. 1t is this puny worm,
this dab OF mushy Wilderness scarcely
the sixteenth Of an inch in length when
1t makes its appearance upon the globe.
that constitutes the unit OF a destructive
force which each year causes a loss of
food valued at no less than 1000, 900.
Fully 80. 900 bushels Of apples are
annually spoiled or made unmarketable
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 COM
mercial apple orchards are sprayed with
poison every spring for the purpose OF
checking the ravages OF the codling moth.
This operation involves an expense aver
aging fve cents a tree. A nickel for each
apple tree may not seem worthy of mem
ton as an investment, but multiply 1t
by l65, 900 0O0-the number of trees that
are annually treated to n dose OF arsenic
and the resulting $S,250.O00 is no small
item to be tackled on to an already exist
ing bill of $12 900. 900 for spoiled apples
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 these creatures that attack the
growing grain, though the chief work of
destruction is in charge of less than half
a dozen species. Straw worms bulb
worms. army worms and cut worms and
sawflies of various sorts and dispositions.
not to mention locusts and grasshoppers,
are quite pad enough ana are capable of
working a deal of mischief in the course
of season; but 1t is the Hessian fly the
chincn bug and the plant louise that hold
the record for destructiveness and pos
sess the ability, II so minded, to eat up
the entire wheat crop.
The Hessian fly alone has no trouble In
destroying so 000,0 900 bushels of wheat I'm
season, and this is mis- average record.
This is equivalent to about a million tons
OF -four or enough to make over two
billion loaves of bread-25 apiece for every
man. woman and child in the United
States. A full grown Hessian fly is about
an eighth of an inch long and looks very
thin and delicate. 1t is much more raven
GUS some years than others, and win often
single out certain sections of the country
for particularly heavy onslaughts. About
five years ago for example, 1t selected
Ohio and Indiana for special invasion,
and as consequence the farmers OF those
two states found II next to impossible to
raise wheat at all. OF the area normally
devoted to the growing OF wheat more
than two and a half million acres were
abandoned and planted in other crops.
This represented more than half of the
usual wheat area, and of the grain that
was raised on the remaining acreage the
Hessian fly Helped itself to about 25
million bushels, or two thirds of the entire
one seasons special activity 1t caused a
loss in these two states OF $4,000 900.
Its record for the entire country that
year was over 500, 900 900. This exhibit
ton Of its capabilities warrants the pray
AN