CLAY-COLOURED WEEVIL. 79 



which soon occurs. The eggs are laid a little below the surface of 

 the ground. 



The first note regarding the presence of this species on Hop was 

 sent me on June 11th from Badshot Farm, Farnham, Surrey, by Mr. 

 H. Gardner, with a large number of specimens of Otiorhynchus picipes 

 accompanying, and a request that I would suggest some method of 

 destroying the weevil " in the ground sent herewith." 



Mr. Gardner mentioned that the first traces which he had seen of 

 them was in the previous year (1897) in a piece of young Hops, but 

 this year (1898) they seemed to be much stronger, and were spreading 

 to a great extent in the Hop-ground, and there was reason to fear that 

 if something was not done the whole garden would be destroyed. 



In Mr. Gardner's reply to such information as I was able to give, 

 he favoured me, on June 28th, with the following note, which I take 

 leave to insert in the hope that it may be of some service : — 



" The only practical way I found to deal with the weevils was as 

 follows : — Select what bines had not been injured and lay them out 

 on the ground, as they were much safer there than up the poles. 

 Then stripped all the leaves off, and searched closely around the 

 crown of the hill, cracks in the poles, and under any bark on the 

 poles, sometimes finding as many as twenty-five on a hill, and at the 

 same time stopped the cracks in the ground and around the poles ; 

 then put a few leaves on crown of hill with a stone on top of them ; 

 put the bines up the poles, and searched the hills daily, till at last we 

 could scarcely find one in an hour. It has been a most expensive job, 

 but, as there are seventeen acres of Hops in the field, it was a serious 

 matter." — (H. G.) 



The above, it will be seen, is a plain commonsense application 

 of the principle of trapping these night-feeding beetles, which hide 

 anywhere convenient to themselves during the day. Several other 

 methods of arranging shelters under which they may creep and thus 

 be readily collected together for a morning clearance are given further 

 on ; but there appears no reason why the great Hop leaves, which are 

 at hand, without outlay in collecting or fetching, should not answer 

 excellently, when weighted down as above mentioned. 



On May 14th another communication was sent, with specimens of 

 Otiorhynchus picipes and of injured bine accompanying, from a firm in 

 the Borough, with the observation : — 



" We send you by post a sample of a new enemy to the Hop 

 farmers. Can you kindly inform us how to get rid of the pest ? They 

 eat the bine (as per enclosed sample), and you will see they are most 

 destructive just at the present period of the year." 



In the case of many of the fruit trees or lower growing crops which 

 are attacked by these weevils, the surest way of getting rid of them is 



