El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-01-30

There was. for example, in ancient
Egypt a beetle which was held 70 pc
sacred. Records in regard TO lt so
back at least as far as the year 5OVO
B. c., so that its history may be said
to have begun much earlier than that
of any other knwn insect. Called the
'scarabaeus," it was q near relative OF
our tumble bug" which may be seen
on summer days pushing its ball OF
dung and burying it in the warm earth,
just as its Egyptian relative buried
hers in the desert sand.
In the course of time the egg
Matched. and the beetle emerged alive
out of the sand. But the Egyptians,
not knowing about the burial Of the
egg believed that the beetle had the
power of reviving itself after death,
Hence the sacred character attributed
by them to this insect, which became
in their art the emblem OF immortality
Since those days, and particularly
within the last 80 years. a wonderful
amount OF really accurate knowledge
has been obtained in regard to in
sccts. their life histories, and methods
o. COntendin5 against injurious species
But now such knowledge enters new
phase, inesmuch as, no longer restrict
cd to the scientist, it is being rapidly
extended to the farmers, who are en-
abled thereby to understand their own
bug-fighting problems.
some Bugs Not a Menace.
knowledge OF methods whereby in
furious insects may be dealt with er-
fectively has progressed so far that
many kinds of bugs, formerly regarded
as destructive pests, have ceased to
be a menace.
This is notably true Of the grass
hoDper-the locust of the Bible, and
q very ancient enemy of the farmer.
Up to within very recent years there
We're plaques" OF ErGssboppers in the
west-cspeciaIly in the DGkotas, wy
oming, Montana and Colorada-at not
infrequent intervals, bringing enorm-
Gus devastation to the cultivated
crops Such a happening on large
scale is now practically unknown.
The reason is not far to seek.
GrasshopBcrs plant their egS-mlsses
in the ground. in former days they
may be said to have seeded" in this
way thousands of square miles of ter
ritory-the resulting crop being count
less hordes of young locusts. which,
acquiring wings, flew WhlJherSoeNer
I there was green and growing food TO
! be had. But 10, the farmer has come
along and subjected these grasshOpper-
producing areas to cultivation. turning
the land up with the pillow and Incl
| dentally destroying the grasshopper
eggs. Consequently, the Srasshopper
crop has become steadily less, until
now it does not amount to much.
Cotton Danger Removed.
The cotton caterpillar, which form
erly was very destructive in the south,
has been rendered almost harmless by
the introduction of varieties of the
cotton plant that are of short stature,
/ with fewer leaves for the insects to
feed upon. Indeed, this caterpillar
has actually become help to the cot
horsepower Late in the summer, by
eating the leaves. it exposes the plants
to the suns rays, which destroys the
bOll-Weevil.
The worst enemy Of wheat is the
chinch bug which does something like
| 100000. worth of damage to that
crop every year. But effective means
are being found for fighting it. ChinCh
I bugs usually spend the winter in
( clumps of wild grasses. If the farmers
4 would go over their lands with a
plumbers torch and burn these clumpS,
! they could prevent serious outbreaks
Beating the Boil WeeviI
Although so much destruction is