472 



Eeport for 1919 ON Plant Pests. 



[A.UG.,. 



suffered most and the Southern Counties least, probably because 

 in the south the oats grew away very rapidly during the latter 

 half of May. The attacks of Frit Fly in winter wheat occurred 

 in crops sown on ploughed-up grass, especially on rye-grass leys. 

 Other insect attacks on cereals are noted, the drought in May 

 and June combined with late sowing of Spring crops being held 

 responsible for some of them. In the case of roots, it is noted 

 that during the drought in early summer widespread damage 

 was done by Flea Bettles; mangolds suffered especially, the 

 difficulty being much increased by the slow and irregular germi- 

 nation which occurred during the drought. 



With regard to fruit, the most notable occurrence of the year 

 1919 was the outbreak of the Lackey Moth, which occurred in the 

 Sittingbourne area of Kent, and to a lesser, though nevertheless 

 serious, extent in other Southern and Midland Counties. In the 

 Sittingbourne area well over 1,000 acres of fruit were involved. 

 In the worst cases, hundreds of men and women were employed 

 to fight the attack, with the result that perhaps half of the crop 

 may have been saved. "The cost of the necessary labour to the 

 growers, however, added a heavy outlay to other charges, and 

 coupled with the loss of half the crop, made the business far from 

 profitable for that season to the particular growers concerned. 

 One grower is said to have spent £1,000 on labour in dealing 

 with this pest alone. Winter Moths were rather less destructive 

 than usual in the chief fruit-growing areas, except perhaps in 

 South Devonshire. The Ermine Moth, a web-making species, 

 like the Lackey Moth, was abnormally harmful and called for 

 special attention in many districts. The Capsids did considerable 

 damage to apples, notably from Wisbech northwards into ]jin- 

 colnshire. Some divergence of opinion as to the results of lime- 

 washing for this pest is reported, but nicotine in all cases appears 

 to have been reasonably effective. 



The situation with regard to attacks of fungi, bacteria, etc.,. 

 in the year 1919 is also dealt with. Broadly speaking, little in- 

 formation has been available with regard to the distribution 

 of these pests and the losses they bring about in this country. 

 Comparing the Eeport for 1919 with those for 1917 and 1918. it 

 is at once clear that much progress has been made. 

 The list of authenticated fungus diseases noted in the 

 Report numbers 255, not including fungi in which the 

 attacks are trivial or occur only under special conditions. With 

 regard to fungus diseases in cereals, excellent results were ob- 

 tained against Bunt and Smut by proper pickling. Eeports ^how 



