358 EFFECT OF SEASONS ON VEGETATION. 



in certain states, is to be conceived ; but all this is 

 conjectural, arid our knowledge of the causes which 

 produce these partial honey-dews is yet to be ac- 

 quired. 



In the years 1825 and 1826, the foliage of our 

 hedges in the spring months was unusually mangled 

 by the caterpillars of different moths ; but in 1827 

 these creatures had increased so much, that the 

 entire leaves of the sloe, and the white thorn, were 

 consumed by them ; the hedges, when consisting of 

 these shrubs alone, presented for miles the appear- 

 ance of winter sprays, covered with a cottony web. 

 The other hedge plants were little injured. The 

 larvse of several species of small creatures were 

 concerned in this annihilation of verdure ; but the 

 little ermine moths (phalaena evonymella, and ph. 

 padella) were the chief performers in this denuding 

 process. In July the perfected moths swarmed 

 about the scene of their birth in vast numbers ; yet 

 such was the retrieving power of nature, that by 

 the middle of August only a small portion of the 

 injury occasioned by these creatures was to be 

 observed, the summer shoot bursting out, and 

 covering the sprays with the verdure of spring. 

 The chief singularity in all this was the appearance 

 of the sloe bush, all the foliage being consumed by 

 insects, or crisped away by severe winds, leaving 

 the sprays profusely covered with the small young 

 fruit, perfectly uninjured, and proceeding in its 



