Chapter XV 



I 



HAVE been reading through the manuscript o£ the preceding 

 chapters, and I see that I have omitted to tell about many inci- 

 dents that were quite as interesting as those that I have men- 

 tioned. But there should be a limit to the ramblings of an elderly 

 man. This chapter will therefore contain a few things that may 

 seem out of place, but that would have extended some of the 

 chapters, and it will also include a brief account of some recent 

 experiences. 



I see that Chapter II as I have written it is rather too long. 

 Certainly it is too long to be added to. And yet there are one or 

 two things that really ought to be said concerning the period from 

 the spring of 1879 until the spring of 1881, when Comstock was 

 chief of the Service. One of these is of special interest from the 

 viewpoint of practical work with insects. 



In the late 1870's and early i88o's, great damage was done to 

 the clover seed crop in the eastern United States by a little midge 

 that laid its eggs in the flower heads of red clover. The hatching 

 larvae devoured the contents of the seed-pods. It was the custom 

 in those days in New York and adjoining states to cut three 

 crops of clover annually. The first two were cut for hay and the 

 third largely for seed. The third crop was the most important 



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