Say mites. 2& 



Bury St. Edmunds in the same year and at the same date, mentioned 

 the Mites as then making their appearance from a stack of Clover 

 saved for seed ; that the stack was covered with them, and (the 

 observer wrote) " I could have no difficulty in sending you a peck 

 of them." 



Yet another observation sent much later, namely, on the IGth of 

 November, in the same year, from near Garve, Ross-shire, N.B., 

 mentioned that from weather circumstances the haystack from which the 

 Mites were sent me was not made up from the large rucks in which the 

 hay had remained until late in September. About a month after there 

 were severe frosts (15° Fahr.), and the following day, on each side of 

 the stack, there was a layer, about two inches deep and six to eight 

 inches wide, of these Mites, and at date of writing (16tli November) 

 considerable quantities still remained. 



The above notes show the extraordinary quantities in which these 

 Mites occur from time to time in autumn. I do not remember their 

 presence being reported in these great quantities later than the above 

 date, that is in the first half of November, but I have had a note of 

 Mites being found in April with seed taken from the floor of a hayloft 

 near Skene, Aberdeenshire. 



Where the Mites feed and breed during summer is the point which 

 we especially want to know with certainty. The hay in which they 

 are found is in most cases reported to be good hay, or well-saved hay, 

 or some term used to show its good condition ; and in a note by Mr. 

 John Speir, of Newton, near Glasgow (a well-known authority on 

 farming matters), he remarked, in reply to some of my enquiries : — 

 '• No one need annoy himself about having Mites in his hay, as it is 

 only well-saved hay which produces Mites." The point which suggests 

 itself on comparison of the different reports is that in all probability the 

 Mites are very generally present in hayfields, but that the amount of 

 their presence in the stacks is very much influenced by what may be 

 the treatment of the grass between the time of cutting and of stacking, 

 and also by the amount of heating, or absence of heating, of the stack. 



I have had two reports of Mite presence from Ireland, a few from 

 England, but most of the returns have been from Scotland ; and 

 amongst these I find special allusion to hay being collected in large 

 cocks or tramps in the field, and these being carried at convenience, 

 or when weather permits. In one of my two Irish reports, I find the 

 same kind of treatment noticed. This was at Knockreven, Clonmel, in 

 1886, and it was mentioned : — " It is second crop hay, which was cut 

 about the 20th of August, and saved without rain ; but it remained 

 some time in cocks on the field." ..." The rick heated a little for 

 about ten days after it was made, but only slightly, as the hay is now 

 coming out good." — (T. R.) 



