We may discover lady-
bugs--small red or yellow and black beetles--among our vines, and
many persons, I fear, will destroy them with the rest. We should
take off our hats to them and wish them godspeed. In their
destruction of aphides and thrips they are among our best friends.
The camel-cricket is another active destroyer of injurious
insects. Why do not our schools teach a little practical natural
history? Once, when walking in the Catskills, I saw the burly
driver of a stage-load of ladies bound out of his vehicle to kill
a garter-snake, the pallid women looking on, meanwhile, as if the
earth were being rid of some terrible and venomous thing. They
ought to have known that the poor little reptile was as harmless
as one of their own garters, and quite as useful in its way. Every
country boy and girl should be taught to recognize all our helpers
in our incessant fight with insect enemies--a fight which must be
maintained with more organized vigor and intelligence than at
present, if horticulture is ever to reach its best development.
Wasps and hornets often swarm about the sweet and early ripe
varieties. A wide-mouthed bottle partially filled with molasses
and water will entrap and drown great numbers of these ugly
customers. Some of our favorite birds try our patience not a
little.
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