66 AUTOBIOGRAPHY [CHAP. ix. 



completing most of the histories of our seriously injurious 

 crop and orchard insects, but in the report for 1899 it was 

 requisite to make some arrangement for insertion of dis- 

 connected additional observations of appearance, habits, 

 &c., of insects, previously referred to. These I gave 

 accordingly in an appendix under the heading of " Short 

 Notices," not to encumber the report with repetitions that 

 could be avoided. 



In 1901, when about to publish my report of observa 

 tions of the preceding year, it appeared to me that a large 

 proportion of the new information contributed bore on 

 points of scientific entomological interest, or of occasional 

 appearance of little observed attacks of very little interest 

 or use to the majority of our agriculturists and orchard 

 growers, and quite foreign to the broad scale consideration 

 of pests, which was the object of these reports. It seemed 

 something more than unnecessary to continue this work, 

 and I, therefore, inserted the following notice in the preface 

 of my Annual Report for 1900, thus closing the series with 

 the closing century : 



" But now, although with much regret, I am obliged to say 

 that I feel the time has come for discontinuing this series of 

 Annual Reports. When I commenced the work in 1877, 

 comparatively little was known of the habits and means of 

 prevention of insects seriously injurious to our crops, and 

 of this little a very small amount was accessible for public 

 service, and I undertook the series of reports in the hope 

 (so far as in my power lay) of doing something to meet 

 both these difficulties. Firstly, by endeavouring to gain 

 reliable information of the kind needed ; and secondly, by 

 publishing this, with all requisite additions, and especially 

 with illustrations, at a price far below the publication 

 expenses, so that it might be accessible to all who wished 

 to purchase, but especially by sending a copy of each 

 Annual Report to each contributor who had favoured me 

 with useful information. It seemed to be but right and 

 fair that those who kindly helped in the work should have 

 their courtesy acknowledged to the best of my power, and 

 I have continued the reciprocation throughout. But the 

 work was hard ; for many years for about five or six months 

 all the time I could give to the subject was devoted to 

 arranging the contributions of the season for the Annual 

 Report of the year, with the addition of the best informa- 

 tion I could procure from other sources (in every case, 

 whether of contributors or otherwise, fully acknowledged). 





