nearest approach to human intelligence.

Their Role in Agriculture

Some insects may be very destructive to crops, others are beneficial, while the majority of insects are of no importance to man or agriculture. The various forms of pests such as the chinch bug, potato beetles, and others do an enormous amount of damage each year. They destroy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crops annually in the United States alone. They devour enough to pay for the entire cost of running the school system of our country and nearly enough to meet all the expenses of our government. In view of these facts it is the duty of each and every farmer, young or old, to acquaint himself with these destructive pests and prepare himself for combating them. With a knowledge of the methods of controlling these pests much of this enormous loss can be prevented.

While some insects are extremely injurious, others are very helpful. The products of the honey bee in the United States alone amount to several million dollars a year, to say nothing of its value to the farmer in pollinating fruits. The annual output of silk, all of which is spun by the silkworm, is worth millions of dollars. Many other forms are of value to man by producing material of commercial value such as lac, shellack, dyes, medicines, etc. Of all the beneficial insects those which are of greatest value to man are the parasites and similar forms which help to keep in check many of the severest pests of the farm. Insects are not all bad fellows by any means. One must acquaint himself with those which are good and those which are bad before he can hope to deal with them intelligently.

—Longfellow.

Chapter II

COLLECTING INSECTS

—A. G. Oehlenschlaeger.

In the life of every normal human there comes a time when he wishes to make a collection of some kind. It may be a collection of coins, postage stamps, post-cards, shells, relics, birds' eggs, pressed flowers or insects. If the child grows up in the country, the result of this craving is usually three or four cigar boxes of insects or an almanac or geography stuffed with the most attractive wild flowers of the field. A collection of this sort may be small and poorly kept and yet it is worth while. In later life one will search in his mother's closet or attic for the old cigar boxes which contain the remains of youthful efforts, usually a mass of gaudy wings, fragments of insect legs and bodies and a few rusty pins. This desire to make a collection is natural and should be encouraged in the child. It tends to make him observe closely and creates an interest in things about him, and if properly directed it will add a store of information which can be gotten in no other way.

Directions for Collecting

A convenient home-made net for catching insects; note the broom-stick handle, heavy twisted wire and mosquito net bag.

A cyanide jar for killing insects; note the lumps of the deadly poison potassium cyanide in the bottom covered and sealed by a layer of plaster of Paris.

Many boys and girls of the rural schools will have little time or inclination to provide themselves with apparatus for collecting insects. An old straw hat or a limb will serve their purpose. From their point of view what difference does it make if they tear off most of the legs and break the wings? They succeed in securing the "bug" and when pinned in the box it will mean just about as much to them as the most perfect specimen ever prepared.

This method of catching insects will prove effective where nothing better is available, but any child can easily make a small insect net by attaching a loop of fairly stiff wire to a broom handle or other stick and sewing a bag of mosquito netting or other thin cloth to the wire. By means of such a net one can catch insects more easily and at the same time there is less danger of tearing such insects as butterflies. Care must be taken in handling the stinging insects.

The country boy and girl will have little trouble getting hold of insects, but they are often puzzled when it comes to killing them. It seems cruel to pin up an insect alive and have it squirm for a day or two and some means of killing them should be devised. Most of the soft insects, such as flies, butterflies, etc., can be killed by pressing their body, in the region of the wings, between one's thumb and forefinger. Such forms as beetles and wasps can be quickly killed by dropping them into coal oil or a strong soap suds. Any method which can be devised for quickly killing the insect, and which will not seriously mutilate it, can be used.

A convenient killing bottle can be made by sealing a few small lumps of the deadly poison, potassium or sodium cyanide, in the bottom of a strong, wide-mouthed bottle, with plaster of Paris; or a few drops of chloroform or ether on a wad of cotton in a similar bottle, will also serve as a convenient killing jar.

Pinning and Preserving a Collection

Method of pinning different kinds of insects.

After the insects, have been caught and killed, they should then be prepared for the permanent collection. Most insects such as wasps, beetles, flies and grasshoppers should simply have a pin thrust through their bodies until they are two-thirds the way up on the pin and then put them away in a box. Such forms as butterflies and moths make a much better collection if the wings are spread so as to bring out their gaudy markings. In order to spread butterflies' wings, one needs a spreading board, which can be made in ten minutes by taking a pine board two feet long, and six inches wide and on this nail two strips an inch thick, so that there is a crack between them. The crack should be half an inch wide at one end and a quarter of an inch wide at the other end, and in the bottom of it press strips of cornstalk pith so as to have something soft in which to stick the pins. After a pin has been stuck through the body of a dead butterfly between the