THE HESSIAN FLY. 13 



As full particulars concerning last year's visitation of the 

 Hessian fly have appeared in many journals, it is only needful to 

 say that the first specimens noted in 1886 were forwarded to Miss 

 Omerod from barley-fields near Hertford. Subsequent reports of 

 its occurrence came from three other places in Hertfordshire, 

 from Romford, Essex, and Luton, Bedfordshire. Later in the 

 season the fly was found north of the Tweed near Inverness, and 

 near Crieff, localities where its appearance is certainly singular. 

 Though no complaints that I am aware of were made with 

 reference to the spring brood on the early corn, it must have bred 

 to some extent, for early in the summer of this year wheat and 

 barley were found to be infected in several of the places which 

 had produced the insect last year, and by degrees intelligence has 

 been received of a number of fresh attacks, the districts being often 

 wide apart, and as before both in England and Scotland. Mostly 

 they are not spread over a wide area, I believe, except in South 

 Lincolnshire, which has suffered considerably. It is not suppos- 

 able that all these localities have been infected by the progeny of 

 the flies noticed last year ; we must conclude there have been new 

 importations of the enemy. " Where has the attack come from?" 

 asks Miss Omerod, and Echo answers, "Where ? " It is mysterious, 

 but there can be no dispute that in the " flax-seed '' or pupa state 

 the insect must have come to us from the Continent or from 

 America. Probability points to the former. That we should 

 have escaped hitherto may be deemed an encouraging circumstance 

 for the future, as we may hope the climate of Britain is not 

 particularly favourable for this fly, or it would have got a lodgment 

 before, since the pupse must have been brought over by accident. 

 It is considered as proved they do not come in grain ; they must 

 therefore travel in the straw, either when that article is imported 

 as cargo, or when it is used for packing. An examination of what 

 is called " corn rubbish " has yielded " flax-seeds," so that this 

 medium may convey the insect from one locality to another in 

 Britain. As yet, however, I cannot say it is clearly made out how 

 pupae contained in foreign straw can be distributed over our corn- 

 fields. One way that has been suggested is this — To London, and 

 to some other towns, quantities of goods are sent from various 

 countries of Europe packed in straw ; the surplus of this is sold off 



