Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-08-18
lHE DAT -
With TIE BUGS

NLMO strange ana OIVen SuDJle 0ra-
H@SI mas of survival and destruc-
IONSAO tion. Nor is it a noiseless
~N/ underworld. Every evening
after a hot sunset it forms
1881 an orchestra which shrills
out its prowess and faunts
Its coming achievement. And in all the world
there is no orchestra so well paid. To be sure
1t 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. 1t 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
upon 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
fair 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 it to a dollars and cents
basis which all 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-
cation, from the kindergarten to the uniyer-
sity!
Moreover whole sections intended by ma
ture 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, it may we'll 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 giddy re-
frain
The old mule will still be YOUR airv-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 is awry.
Let me tell you of what has been accom-
plished by one mar with a microscope. His
name is Stephen A. Forbes and he is state
entomologist of Illinois. His chief work In
this position Is to exterminate economic in
pGCbS, DIS luOS6 WHICH damage the growing.
things are called. He is also head of the
state laboratory of natural history and pro-
fessor of entomology in the University of I'LL
nois. He has held these offices rs years.
which means that he has spent a quarter of
q century fighting the predaceous instincts of
economic insects, barring an occasional short
lapse to fight the economical instincts of state
legislatures. Naturally he is on Intimate
terms with a vast number of bugs.
For a practical knowledge of an insect. the
ability to recognize 1t in all its phases Is a
mere beginning. It's dietary must be known,
not only what it prefers but what it likes next
best and what it will eat to escape starvation;
how the weather affects its 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 1t is well to know
how its neighbor bugs regard it. Whether the
sight of it arouses the instinct to protect or
7Ghe instinct to kill. For there are bugs so
kindly disposed toward other bugs that they
will 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 a devil-deVastator whose evil intentions are
backed with energy and resourcefulness When
Sft starts to take what it wants from the farm
there Is just one thing it l~eaves-the mort
gage. For more than a generation scientists
In all parts Of the country directed their intel
hgence 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
God"
And right there 1t seemed the problem
would have to rest. But an occasional per.
sistent brain was unable to accept this sou-
tion. Observations went on not only week by
week but day by day, and often even hour by
hour. Even so it was a work that proceeded
slowly. The chinch bug was hard to make
rules for. Indeed, it seemed more an excep-
ton to rule than the French language. For
instance, scientists fattered themselves that
one thing was proved concerning his chinchship
viz, the abandonment of wheat culture meant
an end to chinch bug ravages. But farmers
made the sad discovery, quite unintentionally,
you may be sure, not at all for the sake of
enlightening the men Of science, that the aban-
donment Of wheat may even increase the
chinch devastation. For II they have become
numerous and can find no wheat, they will
accept oats, barley, grass or corn. The aban-
donment Of wheat to be effective against the
4chinch, must take place at the beginning Of
AN outbreak.
Therefore DR.. Forbes Strengthened his NOR
tarboard, polished his microscope and prepared
for wholesale slaughter. He was going to
wade deep, not in gore but in bug Juice. The