Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-11-16

/ gttIHAs TIE 1Hitliltttt
! Fairies are fond Of lsittics Tor they
! have SO many pussy willows ard alder
catkins. OecasionalIS one secs
| dainty, light green, lacey winged in
| sect, called golden eyes. These are
very beneficial to man. as the larvae
which hatch from their eggs live on
plant lice. They fasten their tiny
| green eggs en- The top Of stim white
hairs nearly half an inch tall / have
found them in all sorts Of places, on
apples. eueumbers, leaves and once on
| a screen door
| Just as soon as the ice is melted in
! the brooks and marshes the fairies
start their bard concetts. First arc
| the pfpers. OF Pickering tree frogs.
then the deeper bass of the bull frogs
| and in the soft, warm nights Of May,
the love songs of the toads. II hardly
seems possible that So uglY looking
HAIRY could have SO sweet a voice
Yet Hamilton Gibson in sharp Eyes
says. 1T is to me. the sweetest sound
| in Nature" Those warm moonlight
nights, ushered in at sunset. by the
songs Of the hermit thrush and vtery
! followed by the sweet trilIing love
songs Of the toads and the plaintEe
/
ATTEST nights of the year. l listen and
listen and fight away sleep as long as
! ! can
For a few days the last Of June
| if one lives near lake they VII
| sometimes see about sunset. clouds
Of AIax-tlies. in the air. These are
delicate. greenish-yellow insects, with
y wing expanse of nearly two inches,
ard two or three long thread like or
cams from the end OF their body
Their first life stage is in the water
where they crawl about in the mud
"a little black creatures with legs
and ellis along each side of the body.
From these. hatch those beautiful
winged fairies. which only live long
enough to mate and lay their eggs in
the water, for another generation
Las. June I saw them at Wayne Pond
flying IN clouds like great snowfakes
while the beach WIS lined with the
|empty skins Of the nymphs The
dragon fly or Devils darning needle
has a similar life history, as it lives
in the water in the guise of an ugly
black bug the first year. The dragon
~ is harmless to man and a great
bepefactor, as its chief food is mos
auitoes and other small Insects
The white faced hornets ara among
our hest fairy friends as they live on
flies sIugs. and many INJURIOUS in
sects. Bows should know that when
they burn a hornets nest, they are in
turing their good friends
Eumhle-bees. too, which 1--we in de-
serted nests Of field mice are # great
value in fertilizing flowers which have
long honey tubes. The are tie only
beas which can reach INTO the honey
tubes. Some years age, / knew of
two little bows who got some honey
cut of a humble bees nest. hut the
older bov cautioned his little BROTHER
not to go there alone But a day or
two later, the little boys desire for
honey made him disregard the caution,
and he came to the house crying Bit
teri. and told his nether, - went
down in the field to get some honey,
but the old bee was on" There are
MANY kinds of bees but none 50 val
ua bic as the honey bee People gem
erally. think only of lie honey which
tie bees gathei. for is. But, if the
| bees We're DESTROYED, we should lose
nearly all Of our apples. plums.
peaches pears and 9tnall fruits be-
SIDES melons. squashes. eueumbers
II
and three fourths Of our flowers
Farmers who wish to raise fruit should
keen bees. Mr. DeCoster tried an ex-
| pertinent one year BY enclosing one
branch of an apple tree in netting Just
before hlossoming Although that
branch bloomed Just as freely rs the
rest, it bore scarcely any fruit. while
the rest of the tree Was loaded - hat
fa,y apDIns grew. must have beender-
tiiized by the wind The wind car
RES the pollen for such cdtkfns as
the alders and pop,ars and cone bear
ing trees. as well az many of. the de
ciduous trees. BY the way. r. you
know how interesting our trees can be.
even in winter? few years ago I
sent here to Augusta for Edgar f.
Rings little booklet ON the Forest
Trees of Maine arts-TIow to Know
Them 1t is very interesting to learn
the kinds of buds and bark and ar
ltcc9 AoA4S % it-'1' "