The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-09-04
INSECT ARMIES DRIVING
FARMERS TO THE CITY
.,,o B1LL1oN DOLLARS AN.
,,1 TOLL ON TILLERS OF
co11 IN UNITED STATES.
COME FROM EUROPE

-. From Old World Nations Cross
I limited States Coast Lines in Over
,,helning Hordes as Uncle Sam
Rattles Against Them in Vain.
ooa ont of every six bushels OF
- one out of every six bales OF
@ton one out of every six baskets
fruits or vegetables are eaten by
Sng.-;ust plain, pestiferous, boring
bugs. :, r. ,r
t.ovn-tail moths from Holland and
T.onco. fruit worms from the Far
ran = a4'N Hessian flies from Germany
L. @s,, of all kinds from the old
Sa Sorid, corn borers and Japanese bee
W. w. al mite to eat up the farmers
u ,,' and steal away his living.
Fyerv year during the last decade
he money value Of crops laid waste
~ the United States by bugs from
,ron , amounted to 100000, 900
B rp of the total agricultural pro-
Fuction, A. Ar
And or TOP of this there were g.
10000 deserters from the farm last
sarw2 100000 folks lured away by
h bright light of the city!
survey made by the department
agriculture shows that the average
presfment on an American farm is
ID 400 and that during 1922 the aver
De- cash return was but $715 net after
602 had been spent for farm machin-
~ and live stock and 1924 for fuel
Id the cost of production OF food
tufts for the farmers family: The
ross return, therefore, was $l,211 on
investment of $1,000, and work
Inn IA to 10 hours day to get this.
The world war, which rocked the
stions of the earth, is no more Sc
bus than the bug war, which threat
TO shake the American home from
foundations. If things continue as
ev are now the city will have to
Owe out to the farm and take hand
N the battle
Every foot of the United States,
Eom the St. Lawrence river to the
I'm of Mexico, has been covered by
a bug army in its march into Amer.
The sources of the food supply of
IL whole nation are threatened with
&struction.
Enemy Seizes Fields.
Cotton plantations have to great
tent fallen into the hands of the enc
nv; the great stretches OF wheat lands
the middle west are being attacked;
100000 acres of corn fields are IN
niger; in shorr, everything produced
provide food, clothing and shelter
menaCed.
losses on crops this year, although
lures are incomplete, include: Ce-
bis, $43O,204,600; hay, $116,250,5OO;
ptton, $300,000,000; tobacco, $4,000
%; sugar crops, $426,800; vegetables,
49, $4,000; fruits, Sal, 264, 800; farm
a.1rest products, 2,138,o00
81 Now the American farmer, deserted
by several million of his soldiers,
haS found a friend in the program OF
AnCle Sam The department of agr1-
culture has experimental with spray
slng fields and orchards from airplanes
sand has found it successful. Poison
4gas is being used on the cotton fields
lot the south and the corn fields OF the
Iwest.
Many thousands of insects are be-
ling shipped from foreign nations to
aid in the battle. These insects are
pest destroyers and have been used
with success on western farms. Then,
too, there are native birds-and their
importance is great
The Invading Army.
But despite the efforts of the farm
ers and the helping hand from the
government the farmer is forced to
watch, at his expense, battle IN
which the invaders seem to hold the
upper hand.
More than 70 major insect enemies
nave been catalogued. The average an
nual loss chargeable to each is many
millions of dollars. Not only do the
invaders work in the fields while the
crops are maturing, but also they are
present in the barns, where the crops
are stored The farmer must wage
war without ceasing, day and night
IN Held and barn, against crawling.
burrowing and flying insects-a1ld
even then he is sure of only a small
harvest.
Two Brave Defenders.
On the defensive are the Japanese
green beetle and the lady bug. The
former eats ten times its weight IN
catterpillars each day. The latter IS in
valuable in the destruction OF the San
Jose scale insect, which costs an an
nual loss of S10,000,000 in the apple
and peach orchards.
Myrlads of birds think insects are
panty morsels and eat down the tlg-
pres OF the farmers loss. The despls-
81 hop toad" is another garden clean
Certainly better use could be found
.or the more than $1,000, 100000 that
lnSectS cost the American farmer each
year.
Wipe Out Nations Debt.
%, the $2,OO0,00o,OOO could be ap-
pned to wiping out the national debt,
Ptltfl the result that in a few years all
y! the country's obligations would be
discharged, after which the annual in
come of several billion dollars would
axe care of government expenses
4,:ithout resort to income and other
Hrect taxation.
america was aghast when linden
ruIg $ troops swept over the fertile
'eids OF Belgium, but little notice is
p :iS the fact that an apparently irwin