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results this year, instead of being improved, were so much 

 worse that a thorough inspection was instituted, and I 

 am sorry to say that a very alarming discovery has been 

 made. The whole collection has been found to be 

 infested with a white grub which forms the larva of a 

 weevil. Tnese pests appear to burrow downwards from 

 the top; they hollow out the stems of the fronds and work 

 right into the very heart of the crowns, so much so that 

 their favourite resting place would seem to be the cells 

 where the fronds for the succeeding year are in process of 

 , formation. The melancholy feature of this discovery is 

 that unhappily there appears to be no cure if once the 

 p3st gets established. The collection to which I refer, so 

 far as it is affected, is about to be destroyed, and all the 

 infected soil is to be removed. The importance of giving 

 publicity to the matter consists in the forearming which 

 arises from forewarning. It is quite possible that if the 

 approach of the marauder was recognised early its ravages 

 might be stayed. What is suggested is a very careful 

 examination wherever established Ferns show signs of 

 failure or lack of vigour. So far as the habits of the 

 weevil have been observed, it appears to attack chiefly 

 the Polystichums and Scolopendviums ; the Athyrlnms and 

 Lastveas seem likely to escape, and no inroad has been 

 made upDn the Polypodiums. I have ascertained that ihe 

 name of the insect is Syagrius intvudens. 



H. Kingsmill Moore. 



With reference to above we have, with the kind aid of 

 Mr. F. J. Chittenden, of the Royal Horticultural Society's 

 Gardens at Wisley, ascertained that the insect in question 

 is a Weevil of Australian origin, wnich has found admission 

 to this country doubtless with imported plants, and has 

 proved terribly destructive to Ferns in the Glasnevin 

 Gardens at Dublin. The insect is very fully described in 



