The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1910-08-27

T> underworld. Every evening
NJ after hot sunset 1T forms
- an orchestra which shrills
out It's prowess and faunts
Cts coming achievement And in all the world
&herc Is no orchestra so well paid. To be sure
It gets little in the matter of attention, but in
ways more substantial it is rewarded hand
somely. For 1t is permitted to levy toll upon
the corn and the wheat, the cabbage and the
apple as they grow. It is allowed to eat the
profits OF the miller and the grain dealer. Ger
tain members of the shrilling tribe go farther
and demand greater concessions in their greed
Not satisfied with money tribute, they exact
human lives. Their gruesome tracks are made
lpon The faces of little children. Then from
places where poverty forces women and ba-
bies into filth and sickness, they take wing
and they bear their death message into homes
&air and clean-homes where the inmates can
not concern themselves with life's wretched
ones. And SO nature in her inexorable circle
from which neither the proudest nor the poor
est can escape, herself supplies the link which
brings the miserable home to the fair one
But reducing 1t to a dollars and cents
Basis which ali of us understand, what would
you say the insects of this country cost US
each year? Millions of dollars! More in fact
than our entire system of public school edu-
GatioEs from the kindergarten to the untver-
9ityl
Moreover whole sections Intended nv ma
sure for the production of particular crops
often are compelled to abandon them for no
other reason than insect infestation This is
especially true Of horticulture Myriad, in
deed, are the insect foes that infest vegetables
and fruit If ever the life of this underworld
is brought upon the stage as that of the barn
yard has been, 1t may well open with this
plant of the truck grower:
The insects are busy in clover and grass
A-hatchin' out sorrer fer my garden sass
They're happily hummin' this glddy re-
frain
The old mule will still be your atrv-o
plane.
Now the farmer has found himself help
less before this foe which must be fought
with microscopes and laboratory mysteries.
Consequently he has appealed to the man
OF science whom everyone despises in the
day OF prosperity and rushes to consult when
the world Fl awry
Let me tell you of what has been. accom-
plished By one man with microscope His
name is Stephen a. Forbes and he il state
entomologist of Illinois. His chief work in
this position is to exterminate economic in
sects" as those which damage the growing
things are called. He Is also head of the
state laboratory of natural history and pro-
lessor of entomology in the University of uli-
nois. He has held these Offices rs years.
which means that he has spent quarter of
century fighting the predaceous instincts of
sccuomie insects, barring an occasional short
lapse TO hight the economical instincts of state
legislatures. Naturally he is on intimate
terms with vast number. of bugs
For a practical knowledge of an insect the
ability to recognize it in all its phases is a
mere beginning. Its dietary must be known.
not only what 1t prefers but what it likes next
best and what 1t will eat to escape starvation:
how the weather affects it's health, its temper
and Its power of multiplying; is it subject to
contagious diseases? If so, how may it be
Induced to catch one? Also it is well to know
how its neighbor bugs regard 1t. Whether the
sight OF 1t arouses the instinct to protect or
the instinct to kill. For there are bugs so
kindly disposed toward other bugs that they
VIII carry them to their food supply. hatch
their eggs for Them and bring up their Off
spring The sole duties they leave to those
they protect are breathing. eating and multi
plying.
First let me tell you about the fight against
the chinch bug As everyone knows the chinch
is devildevastator whose evil intentions are
backed with energy and resourcefulness When
1t starts to take what 1t wants from the farm
there is just one thing 1t 1eaves-the mort
gage. For more than a generation scientists
In all parts of the country directed their intel
ligence against its instinct; and instinct won
the victory. 1t seemed that reason could not
fathom the cause Of the outbreaks nor find a
way to prevent them. In despair the men of
science were for saying as did the old Irish
woman of the rain that spoiled her potatoes
There's no raison in 1t, it's just the will of
Godi"
And right there 1t seemed the problem
would have to rest, But an occasional per-
sistent brain was unable to accent this solu
Jon. Observations went on not only week bv
week but day by day, and often even hour by
lour. Even so it was work that proceeded
'lowly. The chinch bug was hard to make
'ules for, Indeed, 1t seeraed more an excen-
ion to rule than the French language For
scientists battered themselves that
me thing was proved concerning his chinchship
L., the abandonment of wheat culture meant
n end to chinch bug ravages But farmers
aade th4 sad discovery. quite unintentiona1lv
gu may be sure, not at all for the sake OF
nhghtening the men of science that the ahan
onment of wheat may even increase +ba
htnch devastation. For If they have become
umerous and can find no wheat thew will
ccept oats. barley, grass or corn. The aban-
Onment Of wheat to be effective against tha