10 COKN AND GRASS. 



kuot, only just under an inch and a half in length. In this instance 

 the attack was traceable from the top of the Barley ear down to the 

 first knot; and the little maggot which had caused the mischief dropped 

 from the stem on opening the sheath. 



One other report it may be worth while to give as it is accompanied 

 by notes of date of sowing, and of fresh growth from the root after rain. 

 This was sent me on the 17th of August from The Lodge, Massington, 

 Wansford, by Mr. H. Stokes, with the observation : — "I am sending 

 you a few ears of Barley ; . . . you will find they have been eaten by 

 an insect from the top down to the knot below the ear, and since the 

 showery weather it has started to grow again from the root." . . . 

 " The Barley is taken from a 24-acre field, and appears to be affected 

 all over ; it is after a root crop fed off by sheep, and drilled with the 

 Barley on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of April." These specimens also 

 showed Chlorops injury. 



In the case of a Chlorops attack on Barley, of which specimens were 

 sent me at the end of July, by Mr. Thomas Bunker, of Goole, Yorks, 

 the loss by the attack in the field, from which the insect-blasted ears 

 were sent, was estimated by the farmer to be one-third of the crop. 



The following communication with which I was favoured by Mr. J. 

 J. Willis, on the 16th of September, from Harpendeu, Herts, is of such 

 important interest relatively to good effect of properly selected manure 

 in lessening effect of infestation, that I offer it with many thanks for 

 the reliable observations: — "You may be interested in the following 

 particulars. During the present season much injury was done in this 

 neighbourhood to the growing crops of Barley by tlie Gout Fly 

 {Chlorops tceniopus). The Barley experiments of Sir J. B. Lawes, at 

 Kothamsted, also suffered greatly from the same cause ; but it is a fact 

 of much interest that the infestation was considerably worse on those 

 plots which were deficiently manured, while on those plots which were 

 fully manured, that is, received all the necessary constituents for 

 healthy and vigorous plant growth, the injury done was insignificant." 



Prevention and Remedies. — One very special point of information 

 to be learnt from the past season's observations, is the great degree to 

 which the effect of this kind of attack is influenced by age or condition 

 of the plant, or state of its surroundings. In most kinds of insect 

 attacks it is leaf, or root, or flower, or seed, or it may be attack to the 

 outside of the stem, or inside of the timber ; and though infestation 

 may in any of these cases be fatal to hopes of a crop, still there is a 

 good chance of some return. With Chlorops attack it is different. 

 This comes on the very centre of growth, and if the plant is still young, 

 it ruins both the ear and the straw. Later on, as the point of deposit 

 of egg is the sheath of the ear, we may save a fair amount of straw, 



