CHAPTER XXI 



A Wonderful Woman A Valued Friendship A Royal Recognition. 



IN 1895 I had the privilege of corresponding 

 with, and afterwards of meeting on many 

 occasions, one of the most remarkable 

 women of her time : the late Miss Eleanor 

 Ormerod, of whom it is safe to say that no one 

 of her sex ever rendered such valuable services 

 to agriculture as she did. Born and bred on her 

 father's property near Chepstow, she took a large 

 share, as her father advanced in lif e, in the manage- 

 ment of the farm and the estate, and this gave 

 her that practical knowledge of agricultural affairs 

 which enabled her, later on, to confer so great 

 benefits upon the farming community. Becoming 

 intensely interested in plant, insect and bird life, 

 she directed her mind to seeing how she could 

 best utilize her hobby for the common good. 

 It did not take her long to realize what a plentiful 

 lack of knowledge there was among agriculturists 

 respecting their insect foes, and she set herself to 

 work to rectify this by tapping every possible 

 source of information and by systematizing and 

 correlating what had hitherto been isolated facts. 

 It seems incredible that before she took up the 

 work there had been no attempt in this country 

 at any continuous, methodical investigation of 

 a branch of science so important to agriculture, 



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