SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE. JUNE 10. 



Ivii 



the exudation nor the blackened cuticle exhibited any trace of fungus, 

 either mycelium or sporules. In section the fruit seemed to be in a 

 perfectly healthy condition. The whole appearance was rather that of 

 some sudden check, either from change of temperature or some external 

 circumstances, unconnected with any organic disease." 



Iris, overgrowth of. — Miss E. Cocker sent specimens of Iris squalen* 

 which had apparently grown too fast and too vigorously, and in which in 

 consequence the stems had snapped across as from some injury. 



Moth on Pear. — Mr. Berry sent specimens on which Mr. Saunders 

 reported : — " The little Pears are attacked by the grubs of a small two- 

 winged fly, the 1 Pear Midge ' (Diplosis pyrivora). The fly lays her 

 eggs in the blossoms before they are really open by piercing the petals 

 with her ovipositor, and depositing her eggs on the anthers ; sometimes 

 they pierce the calyx. The grubs are soon hatched and they make their way 

 into the embryo fruit and feed there until they are full-grown. They then 

 make their way out of the Pears and drop to the ground, or if the Pear has 

 already fallen they merely crawl out ; in either case they bury themselves in 

 the ground about an inch below the surface and become chrysalides, from 

 which the flies emerge in the spring. In the case of espalier or other low 

 trees, the best remedy is to pick off the infested fruit, which can easily be 

 known by its distorted appearance. With large trees, where this method 

 is impossible, a good dressing of kainit should be given where the Pears 

 or grubs are likely to fall ; this should be put on at once. In the autumn 

 the ground should be well dug, and the surface turned down so that the 

 little grubs or chrysalides may be buried so deeply that the flies when 

 they emerge from the chrysalides cannot reach the surface." 



Mr. Alfred Gaut, of the Yorkshire College, Leeds, also wrote on the 

 same subject : — " Enclosed are some young Pear fruits infested with the 

 larvae of the Pear Gnat Midge (Diplosis pyrivora, Riley). I have visited 

 several orchards and gardens between Malton and York this season, and 

 find the attack is very bad indeed in this district. In some places almost 

 the whole crop is destroyed. 



" The most effectual methods of combating the pest are : — (1) As the 

 larvae, when they leave the fruits, bury themselves in the soil close to its 

 surface to change to pupa?, to clear away the soil round the trees during 

 the autumn or winter months and bury it deeply in trenches bringing 

 back some food soil to the trees ; this will also act as a top dressing. 

 (2) To catch the young fruits on cloths as they fall to the ground about this 

 time of the year ; many of the larvae can be destroyed in this way. (3) In 

 orchards with grass, kainit or quicklime might be tried both at this time 

 of year and also in early spring when the imago emerges from the pupa in 

 the soil to lay her eggs in the Pear blossoms." 



Tomatos. — Mr. Berry also sent specimens of diseased Tomato-stems in 

 which no fungus was visible. 



Apple Leaves crippled. — Mr. Getting, of Ross, showed Apple leaves 

 puckered, and of a deep green colour. No aphis or fungus was visible. 

 They had already been submitted to Mr. Newstead, who said that he 

 could not find any insect present and that he did not consider the injuries 

 had been caused by insects at all. Dr. Cooke, having examined them 

 for fungus, reported that " although the Apple leaves may suggest an 



