Other popular treatises, though attractive, have proved of very little practical value, and the student will find even the reports above referred to imperfect, as they were prepared for a limited region, and do not mention several insects that are common in other parts of the country than the States for which these reports were prepared. It were much to be desired, that every State Society would have similar reports, respecting the insects, peculiar to its state. Thus the author found himself compelled to investigate this broad field of study for himself--it became necessary to grasp the elements of the classification, and to go into the field and the orchard, to use his eyes, and to observe for himself. This was a labor of time, and required considerable effort; but it brought its own reward in the pleasure attendant upon this delightful study. At the same time there was great satisfaction in the thought that all these facts, gathered from the works of men of science, confirmed by personal observation, and rendered useful and applicable in practice by his fellow laborers in the garden and orchard, would be a valuable contribution to them, and would constitute a useful portion of the _American Pomology_ he was then preparing. Unfortunately for himself, he has discovered that his collections, in this department, covered several hundred pages of manuscript, and that, if printed, they would render his volume too cumbrous. Upon consulting with his publishers, it was concluded best to lay the matter aside, for the present at least, and to prepare anew a brief account of some of the insects most injurious to the orchard, with short suggestions as to the best methods of combating their ravages. This conclusion has been the more readily yielded to, because the public now have a medium of communication with the scientific entomologists, which well supplies the great want we had begun to experience. I refer to a monthly publication, issued by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, in which the questions, that are constantly occurring to farmers, are answered in the most simple, clear, and satisfactory manner.[23] Besides this, we find in our best agricultural journals, a page or a column, devoted to the consideration of insects injurious to vegetation.[24] For the sake of convenience and system, these notes will be presented in the order of the approved classification of insects. Omitting further introduction or discourse upon the wonderful instincts and habits of insects, and explanation of their metamorphoses and the principles of classification, and confessing my poor qualification for the task, let us proceed at once to the catalogue. =COLEOPTERA.=--BEETLES.