1910.] Distribution of the Large Larch Saw-fly. 981 



information respecting this estate appeared in the Journal for 

 June, 1909, p. 219.) 



Alice Holt Forest. — In the Report of the Departmental 

 Committee on Forestry, to which reference has been made, 

 it was recommended that the Forest of Alice Holt should he 

 made available as a demonstration area for the practical study 

 of Forestry. In order to carry out this recommendation as 

 far as possible the Commissioners of His Majesty's Woods 

 and Forests obtained in 1904 from Dr. Schlich, Ph.D., 

 CLE,, an exhaustive report on the condition of each of the 

 woods comprised in the Forest. In this Report Dr. Schlich 

 expressed his general approval of the operations which had 

 recently been carried out, and developed in detail a working 

 plan for their continuation in the future. In drawing up the 

 working plan regard was had to this point, one of the objects 

 being the provision of the best object-lesson in the treatment 

 of woods of this description from a practical point of view, 

 according to the methods of scientific forestry. 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE LARGE LARCH 

 SAW-FLY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



During the summer and autumn of 1909, the Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries instructed one of their inspectors 

 to inquire , into the prevalence of the large larch saw-fly, 

 Nematus Erichsoni, which was known to be widely distri- 

 buted in the Lake District, and to be present in certain parts 

 of Wales and Scotland. 



In view of the destructive nature of the insect and the 

 damage it has done in other countries, it was felt to be very 

 desirable to ascertain whether it was spreading in Great 

 Britain or whether its natural enemies were keeping it in 

 check, and further, to ascertain whether any economical 

 method of getting rid of the pest existed. 



Damage Done by the Saw-fly in North America. — The 

 large larch saw-fly has done an enormous amount of damage 

 to the larch in North America. Mr. Gifford Pinchot says 

 of it : " . . .a worm which afterwards develops into a saw-fly 

 has, since 1882, killed nearly every full-grown larch in the 



