J. Rennie 123 



the interval between the times of examination there had been a good 

 deal of rain. 



On the 3rd of May the field was visited at 6 a.m. The tw^o previous 

 days had been dry and sunny, but in the end of April there had been 

 much wet. The morning was fine, and at 6 a.m. the sun's rays had 

 reached the western end of the field only. The eastern end was still 

 in the shadow of the trees. 



A search was commenced at the eastern end where there w^as some 

 frost in the ground. In about 45 minutes 94 larvae had been collected. 

 In the southern hollow where the sun had now reached, 42 were obtained 

 in about 10 minutes ; on the crest of the field at the west end (in sun) 

 75 were found in 20 minutes, and on a low part (N.W. corner), in the 

 sun, 15 in 15 minutes. Tw^o collectors were at work. In all in about 

 1| hours 226 larvae w-ere obtained. In some cases from six to a dozen 

 were found in a single piece of turf. The smallest number appeared 

 to be present in the shade at the highest level of the field (E. end). 

 The larvae were found mostly under the turf clods, and largely in the 

 "mids"; sometimes they were lying on the soil below, and sometimes 

 embedded in the turf with heads w^ell buried amongst the roots. They 

 were not seen distributed generally amongst the sown grain. 



The field was again examined on the 10th of May. There had 

 been continuous and heavy rain for several days previously, and the 

 ground was very wet. The oats had "brairded" early in the week, 

 but the wet weather had rendered rolHng impossible. At the time of 

 search rain was not falling, but there was a mist close down to the ground. 

 Larvae were frequently found beneath the loose turfs upon the surface, 

 and they w^ere also to be seen crawling freely on the ground. Some 

 trouble was taken to find them in the act of attacking the young crop, 

 but with no success. The ground in a number of places w-as scraped 

 with a toothed digger and the plants turned over. A few larvae were 

 found in the ground in this situation, i.e., free from turf clods and 

 amongst the soil in which the oats w^ere growing, but none was seen 

 actually attacking any part of the crop. The oats were scarcely an 

 inch above ground. In many places no corn could be seen and here 

 the ground was turned with the digger. A few larvae were found in 

 this way, but it could not be said that they w^ere more numerous than 

 in other situations. It w^as found that mostly the seed in these places 

 lay deeper and w^as growing all right. 



During the following week the weather improved and there had 

 been several warm and dry days. On the 17th the field was again 



