INJURIES FROM WASPS. 265 



come off. As the different sorts of wall fruit ripened, such as 

 Apricots, Peaches, and especially Plums and Jargonelle Pears, 

 it was attacked by swarms of them. Even hard Apples and 

 Pears (which had been pecked by birds), and quite devoid of 

 saccharine matter, were fixed on as greedily as some of the 

 softer fruits. The plague continued from the end of July to 

 the second week in September, at which time we had our first 

 frost, cutting up Dahlias, Begonias, and other tender plants, 

 and also putting a check to the quantity of Wasps." 



In regard to benefit or injuries received from the Wasp 

 presence, the evidence shows unquestionably preponderance 

 of the latter. 



The great amount of injury inflicted by them in serious 

 losses to fruit-growers, and pain, risk, and inconvenience by 

 their extraordinary amount of infestation in houses, and their 

 attacks (or onslaughts, rather) on men and horses when dis- 

 turbed in the fields, are matters of very demonstrable evil. 

 Detailed accounts of these and of other inconveniences and 

 losses are given in my special observations of the great 

 ''Wasp plague" of 1893.* But relatively only to the special 

 consideration of fruit injury, it is manifest that where good 

 fruit (and it will be noticed how, in some instances, the best 

 and choicest kinds are selected) is destroyed by bushels, the 

 use of bags by thousands necessitated to endeavour at least 

 to protect it, and possible entrance of the marauders into 

 vineries, fruit-houses, &c., prevented by netting, that there is 

 a very tangible amount of loss and trouble. 



The Wasps' nests, besides being much more numerous than 

 in ordinary years, were noticed in some instances as being 

 of greater than the customary size, and more numerously 

 tenanted. From contributors who especially attended to the 

 numbers of nests destroyed, or kindly obtained information 

 for me, I had notes of destruction of over one liundred and 

 eighty nests on somewhat less than six hundred acres of land ; 

 two hundred nests taken in one nursery garden ; an estimate 

 of about three hundred nests taken on three hundred acres ; 

 and in one instance, where a bonus of sixpence per nest was 

 given, three hundred and seventy-six nests were taken within 

 half a mile of the kitchen garden, which was the centre of 

 operations, and later on payment was made for ninety-four 

 more, within the same area, or a little further away, — four 

 hundred and seventy in all. Other notes gave twenty nests 

 ploughed up in one field ; three dozen observed, or taken, in 

 the radius of a quarter of a mile ; twenty-three nests in 

 ninety-six yards of dry stone wall, or dyke, &c. Of Hornets, 



* See my ' Seventeenth Annual Report,' p^j. 111-140. 



