86 MANGOLD. 



following note of enquiry was sent me on the lOtli of June, by Mr. W. 

 J. Harris, of Halwill Manor, Beaworthy, N. Devon : — " The Mangolds 

 here are coming up splendidly this season, but all the earliest plants 

 have been attacked by the Beet Fly, and we are wondering how it will 

 turn out. Some farmers fear that they will lose the crop. Can you 

 throw any more light on the subject ? " 



On the 11th and 16th of June, specimens and communications sent 

 by one of our leading firms of seed-growers, noted presence of this 

 attack in Essex and Bedfordshire ; and on the 13th of June the 

 following remarks sent me by Mr. Geo. Drewitt, from Guildford, 

 showed the very early age at which the Mangold plants were liable to 

 be struck by the fly. 



Mr. Drewitt observed : — " I enclose the leaves of some Mangold 

 plants showing different stages of mischief caused by a maggot living 

 between the skins of the leaves ; apparently the eggs are laid when the 

 plants are just putting out the second pair of leaves, and the evil shows 

 when the plants have a leaf about the size of this rough sketch " (here 

 a sketch was inserted of a young Mangold leaf, half an inch wide by 

 about an inch and a quarter long. — Ed.) 



" Evidently the attack is not to be despised, for about 35 per cent. 

 of the plants have two or three leaves infested, and although they will 

 probably survive the present attack, I am anxious to know what will 

 occur a little later on." 



That the attack was not confined to the westerly or southerly dis- 

 tricts, is shown by the two following notes. The first sent by Mr. W. 

 Meesom, Doggetts, Eochford, Essex, on June 13th. In this, after 

 alluding to some other specimens sent, he added further : — " I have 

 also enclosed some leaves from young Mangold plants taken from a 

 field I have at Battlesbridge, Essex. These you will find have a white 

 maggot, sometimes two, in between the tissues of the leaves. There 

 is a good plant of the Mangold, but from the leaves being so much 

 injured they do not make any progress, and the weight of roots per 

 acre will be much diminished. 



"I have another field of Mangold which has lost plant, I think, 

 entirely from the attack of these maggots at an earlier stage, as the 

 leaves and plants withered quite away. Shall be glad to receive any 

 remarks or suggestions you may be so good as to send me with respect 

 to them." 



The following east country observation was sent me on the 14th of 

 June, from Hunton Hall, Norwich, by Mr. Chas. N. Douglas, in 

 which, after noting the method of injury of the Mangold maggots sent, 

 he remarked : — " This maggot is doing great havoc round about here. 

 Can you give me any information about it, and how to stop its 



