PREFACE. 



The past season of 1893, looked at from the point of agricul- 

 tural entomology, has been remarkable for the effects of the 

 unusual meteorological conditions (notably the long- continued 

 drought) on the amount of various kinds of insects, and of other 

 crop and fruit and forest infestations, and also the effects of this 

 presence on the infested crops. 



For those who wish to study the records of the ' Spring 

 Drought of 1893,' much excellent information is given in the 

 paper by Mr. G. J. Symons, F.E.S., published in Part II. of the 

 fourth volume of the Journal of the Eoyal Agricultural Society*; 

 but for just a short statement as a general guide to date, locality, 

 and amount of deficiency of rainfall, the following few lines, 

 extracted from the paper by Mr. Fred. J. Brodie, F.K.Met.Soc, 

 entitled ' The Great Drought of 1893,' f may be serviceable in 

 connection with some of the observations in the following Eeport 

 on variation in amount of insect infestation. 



Mr. Brodie observes: — "Enquiry showed that although an 

 unusual amount of fine weather was experienced over England 

 during the greater part of 1893, the drought itself was confined 

 to the spring and early summer months. The finest and driest 

 weather of all occurred in the ten weeks commencing with the 

 beginning of March, and ending with the middle of May, but a 

 great deficiency of rain continued in most districts until the end 

 of June, and the period selected for investigation therefore 

 included the whole of the four months, March, April, May, and 

 June." 



Further on in the same paper Mr. Brodie notes : — " Taking 

 the period of four months as a whole, the aggregate rainfall 

 amounted to less than half the average over the entire southern 

 and eastern half of England, as well as in certain portions of 

 Durham and Northumberland. Over a considerable portion of 

 our southern counties, as well as in Cornwall and South Wales, 

 the fall amounted to less than one-third of the average ; the only 

 southern localities in which this proportion was exceeded being 

 some of the more central parts of Devonshire." — (F. J. B.) 



In the following Report it will be found that the severity in 



- ' The Spring Drought of 1893 ' (with Tables and Maps), by G. J. 

 Symons, F.R.S. Journal of the E. A. S. E., Thhrd Series, Vol. 4, Pt. II., 

 pp. 339—354. 



t See ' The Great Drought of 1893,' by F. J. Brodie, F.R.Met. Soc. 

 Pt. IV. of Vol. quoted above, pp. 849—856. 



