228 THE MICROSCOPICAL NEWS. 
about 20 years, but does not appear to have caused such havoc as 
in foreign countries, probably because vine culture here is carried 
on under entirely different circumstances. The gardeners of this 
locality (and, in all probability, of other localities) have for some 
years past expressed very much dissatisfaction with the results of 
their labour and care in vine growing. With all their care, and 
with the most assiduous attention, the crop has been small and of 
poor quality, and in some cases there has been great difficulty in 
keeping the vines alive at all. In one or two instances fresh vines 
have had to be procured every three or four, or four or five years. 
It has been a matter of friendly controversy among them as to the 
cause of their difficulty—some attributing it to the soil, others to 
red spider, a small arachnid attacking the leaves; or to the weevil, 
a villanous beetle, which is certainly a great pest in this locality, as 
it is found in thousands in almost every greenhouse. The first 
supposition is disproved by the fact that in more than one instance 
fresh soil has been procured from Clitheroe, and still the vines 
showed the tuberculated leaves, and eventually failed to fruit as 
previously. The latter hypothesis has had most supporters, be- 
cause there was the tangible fact of the presence of those insects, 
and certainly their presence in such vast numbers seemed to the 
most of them a sufficient cause for the state of the vines. The 
paragraph at the head of this paper, however, set one of the most 
intelligent and well-read of them thinking that, perhaps, here was 
a solution of their difficulties ; he was so much interested as to go 
to Mr. Lightfoot’s place and make inquiries, which confirmed his 
suspicion, as the symptoms were apparently identical with those 
shown by his own vines. He further brought with him some of 
the roots which had been dug up, and on returning to consult with 
some of the fraternity at Rawtenstall, was brought to my house, 
where the roots were subjected to a microscopical examination, 
resulting in the insects being found in great numbers. The follow- 
ing day, feeling himself sure of his case, he dug up one of the most 
affected of his own vines, and the day after I went to examine 
them. We overhauled them for a considerable time before finding 
anything but red spider, but at length first a few and then greater 
numbers of minute yellow insects were seen. To make assurance 
doubly sure that we had indeed got the dreaded phylloxera, the 
day following more roots were brought to me, with the result that 
these beautiful insects were found in the cracks of the roots, and 
crawling all over it in hundreds. Several were carefully picked off 
under a glass with a mounted needle, and compared on a glass 
slip with authentic specimens from Accrington, leaving no room 
for doubt that the principal cause of the difficulties under 
which the cultivators have laboured in this locality was the dreaded 
vine pest, Phylloxera vastatrix, As may be readily imagined, the 
