Annual  Report  for  1909  of  the  Zoologist.  355 
gravid  animals  might,  without  fear  of  danger,  be  placed  in  the 
field,  and  so  kill  the  rumour.  In  the  other  case  cows  suddenly 
became  paralysed,  and  in  a few  days  died.  The  post-mortem 
examination  showed  acute  inflammation  of  stomach  and 
bowels,  and  this  was  attributed,  of  course  erroneously,  to  their 
eating  rye-grass. 
William  Carruthers. 
The  Laboratory, 
44,  Central  Hill,  Norwood,  S.E. 
ANNUAL  REPORT  FOR  1909  OF  THE 
ZOOLOGIST. 
Contents. 
Corn  Crops — page 
Frit-fly,  &c 365 
Root  Crops — 
Necrophorus  in  Mangolds  . 356 
Farm  and  Garden  Crops — 
New  Asparagus  pest  and  its 
treatment  ....  357 
Hop-strig  Maggot  . . 358 
Forest  Tree  Pests—  page 
Beech-scale  and  its  treatment  369 
Fruit  Pests  ....  359 
Animal  Parasites  . . . 360 
Miscellaneous  Notes — 
Wasps 360 
Pests  in  Buildings  . . . 361 
The  subjects  on  which  the  advice  of  the  Zoologist  has  been 
asked  during  the  past  year  have  covered  a wide  range,  as  may 
be  gathered  from  the  following  notes,  in  which  they  are  grouped 
under  the  headings  of  corn  crops,  root  crops,  other  farm  and 
garden  crops,  forest-tree  pests,  fruit  pests,  and  parasitic  diseases 
of  animals. 
Any  seasonal  peculiarities  are  generally  reflected  in  the 
applications  made  to  this  department,  and  the  past  season  was 
noteworthy  for  the  extensive  failure  of  the  oat  crop,  and  for 
the  multitude  of  blight  insects  which  occurred  in  various  plants. 
A new  asparagus  pest  is  noted,  and  some  rather  unusual 
attacks  by  already  known  insect  pests  are  alluded  to. 
Corn  Crops. 
A remarkable  feature  of  the  season  was  the  extensive  failure 
of  the  oat  crop,  due  in  most  cases  to  the  work  of  the  frit-fly, 
though  eel-worm  disease  (“  tulip  root  ”)  was  also  prevalent. 
Other  corn  pests  do  not  appear  to  have  been  particularly  active, 
though  a few  cases  of  wheat-bulb  fly,  and  of  corn  saw-fly  were 
reported,  and  the  omnivorous  “ leather- jacket  ” grubs  did 
considerable  harm.  An  account  of  the  principal  corn-crop 
pests  was  given  in  the  Zoologist’s  Report  for  1900  (see  R.A.S.E. 
Journal,  Vol.  61,  page  744). 
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