Insects, etc.. Injurious to Currayits. 241 



The mites produced a dense growth of buds, every here and there, 

 which were found to be teeming with them. At the same time the 

 shoots bearing the attacked buds were abnormally swollen, many 

 twice the thickness of normal ones. 



Although the buds were teeming with mites, no trace of eggs 

 could be found. The dense mass of buds occurred in smaller areas 

 all up the stem, as shown in the photograph. 



This new working of the gall mite is certainly far more serious 

 in the red currant than in the black, and growers cannot do better 

 than burn all bushes in which it appears, on the first sign of disease, 

 as was done in this case. Carpenter also records (12) this pest in red 

 currants in Ireland, but says, " the presence on that kind of fruit 

 seems to have no serious effect." 



Natural Enemies. 



So far no natural enemies of any account have been found. The 

 following may, however, be mentioned. 



A ToRTEix {Tort fix podcma, Scop.) Feeding in Big Bud. 



Mr. E. Leonard Gill, writing from Barras Bridge, Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne, on the 29th of May, 1906, sent twigs of black currants badly 

 attacked with " big bud." He wrote as follows : — " I sent samples 

 of black currant twigs which have been damaged by some insect. 

 The bushes in this neighbourhood are being damaged a good deal in 

 this way this year. The caterpillars in the samples appear to be 

 those of a Tortrix, possibly an Antifhcsuf" etc. 



In early June, Mr. Gill wrote saying that there did not appear 

 much hope that the caterpillar was doing much to check the increase 

 of the mites, but that he was obtaining evidence to bear on the 

 subject. 



On the 19th of June, Mr. Gill wrote : " I have been unable to 

 obtain a proper supply of ' big buds ' to feed the Tortrix on, and 

 they seem to regard the ' big buds ' very definitely as their proper 

 food. Two of them have already spun up in leaves, and it is possible 

 that these will emerge in due course." 



Finally, Mr. Gill wrote on the 21st of August that he had bred 

 Lozotcenia fulvana {pyrastrana or i)odana), but that he does not see 

 that they will have any definite effect in checking the disease (8). 



A number of this Tortrix have been since bred from the " big 

 buds," but at present there is no evidence to show that they do any 

 good. None have been found in clean buds. 



With regard to the presence in diseased buds of other mites and 



11 



