8 PKEFATORY EEMARKS. 



acquiring serviceable information regarding the injurious 

 crop insects of India, and also kindly giving me a copy 

 of the official reply. 



I do not see that you could do better, as a commence- 

 ment, than thus bring the subject shortly and clearly for- 

 ward ; and, as far as I can form an opinion, I think that 

 the course you suggest would be the constant means of 

 saving thousands of pounds yearly occasionally (perhaps 

 more than occasionally) of saving millions. I found this 

 opinion, of course, on consideration of the unremunerative 

 outlay so often occurring on some of the great crops, 

 notably (as coming specially tinder my notice) the loss 

 by ravage of coffee-plant grubs. 



The information that is needed could be given by 

 plain and simple jotting down by various persons of 

 what they themselves have observed. 



One man notices, perhaps, how deep the grubs go ; 

 another, how long they live ; and so, by collating the 

 points, we get to know the whole history of habits, 

 which is what is needed to work on. It may take a 

 few years to get the whole life history of the insects, 

 but we soon get in the way mentioned above (on which 

 plan my own reports are formed) to learn the main 

 points, and then all observers are requested to find the 

 missing part of the history. 



If reports were formed in this way, there would very 

 shortly be a great increase of useful knowledge through- 

 out the Indian empire. 



I present my reports yearly to the contributors, thus 

 they take a personal interest in the work, and, what is 

 immensely important in things of this kind, the book 

 comes to them on publication ; they have not the 

 trouble of ordering it. The expense would be a mere 



