PREFACE 



The past year has been remarkable for presence (more or 

 less) of most of our common farm and garden insect pests, and 

 also for bad attacks of several kinds of which the habits and 

 means of prevention had been little recorded previously. To 

 give the long list of infestations regarding which inquiries were 

 received, would be for the most part a mere enumeration of our 

 best known insect pests, as Wireworms, Daddy Long-legs, Carrot 

 grubs, &c. ; but so far as I could judge by the reports sent to 

 myself, there was a remarkable difference in amount of presence 

 of some of our very commonest attacks. Some were present to 

 an unusual amount, some unusually absent. 



Amongst corn attacks little was reported of Gout Fly 

 (Chlorops), though it was mischievous to some degree; and 

 very little either of Corn Sawfly, or Hessian Fly; or of the 

 deformed growth in Oat plants, known as " Tulip-root," caused 

 by presence of " Stem Eel-worms." On the other hand Wheat- 

 bulb maggot was prevalent and injurious to a serious extent ; 

 Corn Aphis was more than usually reported, and a few attacks 

 were observed of the malformation of grains in Wheat-ears, 

 popularly known as " Purples," or " Cockle-galls," which are 

 due like " Tulip-root " to the presence of Eel-worms, though of 

 a different species of Tylenclius. 



The Mediterranean Flour Moth (see pp. 46 — 52) continues to 

 spread its destructive presence in Wheat-flour mills and stores, 

 and since my paper on the subject has passed through the press, 

 I have been favoured from Dr. Charles Lindeman (the well-known 

 authority on agricultural Entomology in Kussia) with information 

 of the pest having been discovered in a locality in Moscow, to 

 which it had been imported from London in infested sacks. 



Ee verting to attacks on the growing crops. Amongst Turnip 

 infestations the very common attacks of Flea Beetle, Surface 

 Caterpillars, and Turnip Aphis, were less reported than is often 

 the case. On the contrary ; Turnip and Cabbage-root maggots 

 were very injurious in various places. Turnip-seed and Turnip 



