66 THE NATURALIST ABROAD. 



and bill to desecrate the dryads. Perhaps in the nutting season, or when the 

 blackberries are ripe, "children in the wood" may truantize away a happy 

 fearful holiday here. September may show the sportive 'squire eager for the 

 slaughter of the " birds " once a-year, but happily not here now. But who wan- 

 ders hither to find emotions and pleasures which no one can deny bring the con- 

 templative mind nearer to the deity ? Alas ! none. Though while here forgetful 

 of life's cares and woes, there is a taste of Paradise for all who will seek it. Look 

 at the delicate Wood Vetch ( Vicia sylvatica), festooning every tree with its blue- 

 streaked flowers of transcendent beauty and delicacy ; look at those Fritillary 

 Butterflies as they hurry past, whose mosaic markings, and the pearly lustre of 

 whose under- wings, are matchless in elegance ; behold those bright Campanulas, 

 blue as the bright cserulean, just visible through the net-work of branches before 

 us, and with devotion in our hearts, and praise upon our lips, who would not 

 wish to be a constant dweller in the wilderness ? Well, thank God for this 

 glance into the vestibule of his temple ; for if envy, malice, and detraction's cor- 

 rosive influence is excluded here, if reflection on these minor works of creative 

 wisdom induce the highest and sublimest feelings, what may we not hope when, 

 in a superior scene, injustice, error, and ignorance shall be banished for ever ? 

 But I must digress no further. An opening suddenly appears in the wood, and 

 from its deepest solitude and gloom, we emerge into noontide irradiance, and the 

 warmth of light and joy. The field before us swarms with the Green Forester 

 (Ina Statices, Leach) covering the flowering grass in all directions, but seen 

 only in the field close by, for beyond we totally lose it ; though where the Broom 

 spreads its scattered bushes, the beautiful Six-spot Burnet ( Anthrocera filipen- 

 dulce) opens its gorgeous green wings to the blaze of day. 



The Hop-yard just before us next invites attention, and for a moment we 

 will inspect the plants, now mounted to some height upon the poles, and see the 

 condition they present from the attacks of the " fly." The " fly " is a technical 

 term given by the Hop-growers to the Aphis of the Hop (A. kumilij, which 

 sometimes infests the plants to such a degree as entirely to prevent a crop, 

 by drinking up the juices required to bring them to perfection. Hence it has 

 been observed, that this apparently insignificant insect is capable of abstracting 

 £453,000 per annum from the treasury of Britain, such a large sum having been 

 once deficient from the usual duty paid to government upon Hops.* In all pro- 

 bability, however, certain peculiarities in the season, when that occurred, com- 

 bined with the ravages of the Fly to destroy the Hops, and many years may 

 roll away before such a circumstance again happens ; but undoubtedly some 

 plantations suffer in a greater or less degree from the Hop Aphis every year. 



* Rusticus in Entomological Magazine. 



