Xiir/^eri/ (garden Pests; Weeeils. 'I'.M 
wings, the body black, but the tips of the legs whitish. It 
appears in May and June, and lays its eggs on the rose leaves, 
choosing by preference the wild rose, or even blackberry 
bushes. In the garden it is those varieties which approach 
most nearly to the wild type which generally suffer most, 
though the attack is not confined to them. As is usual with 
saw-flies the caterpillars, when fully fed, go down to the 
ground to pupate, and it is this habit which renders saw-fiy 
pests among the easiest to deal with, for the winter is spent 
on or beneath the surface of the ground under the plants they 
attack, and there is ample time to take measures for their 
destruction before the flies come out in the following spring. 
The first thing is to remove and destroy all dead leaves or 
other shelter in which the pupae may be hiding, and it is 
well to take away the surface earth to the depth of an inch 
or two and bury it deeply, substituting fresh soil for it. Or 
the soil beneath the plants may be dressed in winter with 
some substance likely to kill the chrysalids it contains. 
Mr. F. V. Theobald has made the very pertinent suggestion 
that the pest is very likely introduced into gardens at the roots 
of the briar stocks used in budding for standards. This is ex- 
tremely probable, and it would be a wise measure to make sure 
that no pupae are imported in the earth about the roots, either 
by washing them clean or by dipping in a paraffin emulsion. 
Weevils {Otiorrhijnchns picipes, O. sulmtm). 
A case of severe injury to young plantations of ash, oak, 
lime, and sycamore by the “ clay-coloured weevil,” Otiorrhyn- 
chus picipes, was reported from a Cheshire nui’sery in May, 
the bark being eaten away to such an extent that many of the 
seedling trees were killed. The weevil is a common one, and, 
in company with an allied species, 0. sulcatus, is often accused 
of causing injury in gardens, especially to raspberry and 
strawberry plants and vines. That it is very catholic in its 
tastes was well exemplified in another instance during the 
summer. Some Michaelmas daisies wei'e seen eaten away in 
a very characteristic manner, so that they showed numerous 
slits more or less parallel to the lateral veins. Nothing could 
be found on or near the plants by day, and it was only by 
visiting the plants with a lantern at night that the cause of 
injury was discovered, numerous weevils being then seen at 
work on each leaf. Most of them were 0. picipes, but a few 
of a larger species, Barynotns obscurus, were present. 
In the day time the insects take refuge in the ground, 
where their earthy colour enables them to escape observation. 
In dealing with them it is well to take advantage of this habit, 
for immense numbers may be caught by shaking them off into 
