49 



Pendle Water — commencing at Duckpits if you will, or, better 

 still, at Barrowford Higher Bridge. Here, not far from the river 

 side, is the largest oak tree in this district ; the main trunk is 

 seventeen feet in girth at the thinnest part, and from this, branch 

 out eight or nine other trunks, each as large as an average oak 

 tree. Close by is also a very fine willow. The pale pink flowers 

 of the passion dock present a charming patch of colour in this 

 cool corner of the meadow, where in the shadow of the trees, I 

 lie down to rest ; a large humble bee is busily intoxicating him- 

 self with the juices of the common bugle; the purple loose strife 

 and the blue forget-me-not are growing in sweet companionship 

 by the river's edge, but the alder trees overhead present a curious 

 and phenomenal appearance. The undersides of their leaves 

 are covered with a thick white fluff. A similar fluff but of a 

 gi-eenish cast, is on the sycamore trees, whilst the mountain ash 

 is afflicted with another of a slaty colour ; the trees for miles are 

 covered with it. If you ask the farmer he will say, " Oh it is a 

 blight," but if you examine it for yourself you will find the leaves 

 swarming with millions of aphides, such as you occasionally see 

 on rose leaves, excepting that the whoolly aphis does not exude 

 honey-dew — as does the green one — and that here they are of 

 three distinct varieties each on its own particular food plant ; 

 and hiding from the birds or other enemies under cover of this 

 peculiar fluffy substance, which they manufacture for their own 

 protection ; and which to some extent imitates the natural down 

 that is found on the underside of the white poplar, " that with 

 silver lines his leaf," the white beam tree, the wayfaring tree, 

 and several others. I examine leaf after leaf until eventually I 

 find one foe, who will reduce their numbers by thousands ; at 

 present he has gorged himself until he lies helpless and ready to 

 burst: this is the larvfe of the common "lady-cow "or "lady- 

 bird," a pretty little beetle that we are all familiar with. But 

 lady-birds and the two-winged yellow barred flies that we see 

 hovering about currant and gooseberry bushes, and which look 

 like so many miniature wasps, must be very scarce about here, 

 or these aphides could never have increased to such an enormous 

 extent, although they are amongst the most prolific creatures in 

 the universe, and this notwithstanding that they neither "marry 

 nor are given in marriage," they simply eat, and drop young 

 ones whilst eating, they have no time for anything else ; the 

 young instantly fall into rank at the bottom of the group and 

 commence eating and eventually dropping other young ones. 



Alphouse Karr says, one aphis wHl produce nearly twenty 

 young ones in the course of a day, i.e. a volume equal to ten or 

 twelve times its own body. A single aphis which in the beginning 

 of the season would produce ninety young ones, which ninety, 

 twelve days afterwards would each produce ninety more, would 



