CXXVl 



Prizes for Essays and Reports. 



2. WiREWORM. 



Twenty Sovereigns, or a Piece of Plate of that value, will be given 

 for the best Account of the Natural History, Anatomy, Habits, and 

 Economy of the Wireworm, and the best means of protection against 

 its ravages. 



Competitors will be required to attend to the following points — 



1. The length of time during which the wireworm exists in that 



state. 



2. The vegetable productions on which its depredations are chiefly 



committed, and the mode by which it effects their injury or de- 

 struction. 



3. The places in which the perfect insect deposits its eggs ; and what 



seasons aid or retard the development of the gnat, or mark its 

 changes. 



4. Whether peculiar soils or aspects are more particularly infested 



by the insect ; and whether preceding crops influence it in its 

 selection. 



3. Mechanical Properties of the Plough. 



Twenty Sovereigns, or a Piece of Plate of that value, will be given for 

 the best Essay on the Mechanical Properties of the Plough. 

 Competitors will be required to define — 



1. The form of the cutting and moving parts of the plough, as affect- 



ing the work to be performed on various soils. 



2. The form of the same, as affecting the draught. 



3. The true line of draught, as derived from the shape of the plough, 



and from the structure of animals employed in drawing. 



4. Prognostics of Weather. 



The Gold Medal will be given for the best Account or Record of the 

 Prognostics, or Natural Signs, of Changes in the Weather. 

 Conditions : — 



1. Competitors for this prize will be required to draw the rules which 



they give from such appearances as may be observed, by men 

 living in the country, with ordinary attention to the state of the 

 atmosphere, the habits of animals, and the thermometer and 

 barometer. 



2. They will be required to state whether they intend the rules which 



they give to apply to a hilly or a flat country, to the neighbourhood 

 of the sea, or to inland situations. 



3. The merit of the different sets of rules sent in will be decided upon 



by practical experience in different parts of the country ; and the 

 prize awarded to the person whose rules, after twelve months' 

 trial, shall be reported by the gentlemen selected as judges to 

 have proved most generally correct. 



5. Making of Cheese. 



Ten Sovereigns, or a Piece of Plate of that value, will be given for 

 the best Account of Making Cheese. 



