AUGUST 167 



sucking proboscis, four legs armed with double claws, 

 and an abdomen divided into from sixty to ninety 

 segments. It is easy to detect in winter the buds 

 affected by mites by their swollen appearance. Slit 

 one of these buds longitudinally, and the folded leaves 

 will be found open at the apex ; while in healthy buds, 

 where morbid action has not been set up by irritation, 

 the embryo leaves are always closed at the apex. The 

 presence of a colony within a bud results in its 

 becoming what gardeners term 'blind' that is, it 

 produces no flowers, and consequently no fruit. No 

 remedy or palliative has been discovered for this pest. 

 Spraying is of no use, for the mites are protected by 

 the outer covering of the buds at the time they are 

 working the mischief, and it seems likely that before 

 long we shall have to dismiss black currant jelly from 

 our list of luxuries. 



There are many other species of gall-mites. Birch, 

 beech, hazel, yew, all have bud-inhabiting mites 

 peculiar to themselves ; but none has caused so much 

 damage as the currant-mite. The yew, perhaps, has 

 suffered more from its bud-mite (Phytoptus taxi) than 

 any other forest tree, most of us being familiar with 

 the disfiguring blight on the foliage which is popularly 

 attributed to the action of frost. Of the causes pre- 

 disposing to the spread in recent years of the currant- 

 mite plague, it may be said that nothing has been 

 ascertained. 



Neither has observation conducted from imme- 

 morial times ever since man began to till the ground 

 resulted in any connection being established be- 



