Word: insectes
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...Newest symptom of pushbutton living is the Feller-Matic Insect Control Unit, which is said to be death on flying varmints, harmless to people, pets, wildlife and vegetation. A network of copper or plastic pipe is laid around the garden, patio or swimming pool, with nozzles set inconspicuously at intervals. The plumbing is connected to a tank of water-base Pyraid insecticide; when the owner flicks a switch, a pump jets the lethal mist over the area. A two-minute spray is effective for about half a day, gives off a pleasant lemon odor. The device is made by Feller...
...Insect Paradise. Lovers of wildlife often rhapsodize about the "balance of nature that keeps all living creatures in harmony," but scientists realistically point out that the balance was upset thousands of years ago when man's invention of weapons made him the king of beasts. The balance has never recovered its equilibrium; man is the dominant species on his planet, and as his fields, pastures and cities spread across the land, lesser species are extirpated, pushed into refuge areas, or domesticated...
Some species, most of them insects, benefit increasingly from man's activities. Their attacks on his toothsome crops are as old as recorded history-the Bible often refers to plagues of locusts, canker-worms, lice and flies-but their damage was only sporadically serious when population was small and scattered. Modern, large-scale agriculture offers a paradise for plant-eating insects. Crops are grown year after year in the same or nearby fields, helping insect populations to build up. Many of the worst pests are insect invaders from foreign countries that have left their natural enemies behind...
Agricultural scientists try hard to find ways to check insect pests by tricks of cultivation. They import the ancient enemies of invading foreign insects and foster the resident enemies of native pests. They are developing bacterial diseases to spread pestilence among insect populations. Because these tactics alone are seldom enough to protect the tender plants of modern, high-yield farms, the use of insecticides is economically necessary. Tests run by the Department of Agriculture show that failure to use pesticides would cost a major part of many crops; a 20-year study proved that cotton yields would...
...smaller orchards of prespraying days, fruit had a better chance to escape heavy insect damage, and since quality standards were lower, moderately damaged fruit often went to market...