Horace Greeley on Insect Pests.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 178, 13 November 1886, Page 1

Horace Greeley on Insect Pests.

Lnt his book "What I know about Fanning* Horace Greeley just speaks our sentiments with regard to men who take no pains to keep clown insect pests. He says :—: — " I lay down the general proposition that no man who harbours caterpillars has any right to apples,. That each farmer should be required to make his choice between them. Slovenly farmers say ' Oh, there are so many of them that I can't kill halt so fast af> they multiply.' Then I say, ' Cut down and burn up the trees you can beet spare until you have no more than you can keep clear of worms ' If it were the law of the land that whoever allowed caterpillars to ne&t and build in his fruit trees should pay a heavy fine for eacli nest, we should be comparatively clear of the scourge. In the absence of such salutaiy regulations one man fights them with persistent resolution only to see his orchard again and again invaded and ravaged by the pests hatched and harboured by his careless neighbours. He thus pays an,d repays the penalty of others' negligence and misdoings, until, discouraged and demoralised, he abandons the hopeless struggle, and thenceforth repels the em my from a few favourite trees around his dwelling, and surrenders his orchard to its fate."