IV 
PREFACE. 
Kingdom than £1,750,000 (that is one and three-quarter million 
pounds sterling) from this year’s blight; with the addition of the 
loss to labourers of at least £200,000. 
Many notes are given of loss by Wireworm, but just taking a 
few of these one gives a loss at the rate of 2 quarters per acre over 
a 17 acre field of Barley, this amounting at the then market- 
price to £8 per acre, or a total of £51; another gives a deficiency 
on 15 acres of Wheat, estimated at £8 8s. per acre, consequently 
£126 on the field; and an estimate of the money loss in an 
average of seasons on 850 acres of a 1000 acre farm, in 
Hampshire, is given as £2 per acre, that is £700 loss yearly. 
Loss by Weevil attack to Peas is estimated in one case as not 
less than £20 on 6 acres; in another case as not less than £50 
on 9 acres, besides further loss on deficiency of straw, &c., 
estimated at £20 more; and there is also an estimate of loss by 
weevil on 2 acres of Vetches amounting to £20. 
Many other notes of loss are given, and each year’s Reports 
show more and more the heavy losses that occur; but they show 
at the same time that in many cases they may be much lessened 
by measures falling within the common course of husbandry. 
Cleaning the ground well beforehand, and destroying weeds 
and rubbish which shelter the insect vermin (and which in any 
case are better away), act at once towards lessening the numbers 
of some of our worst pests; and the good husbandry which grows 
a hearty crop very much lessens the effect of attack in any case. 
This matter may seem so plain as not to be worth mentioning, 
but the practice long held its ground, and often does so still, of 
neglecting all care until the enemy is in possession, and then too 
often it happens that to the loss of the crop there is to be added 
also the outlay for applications that did no good. We need to 
know the method of life of the crop-pest to be able to apply 
special care serviceably, and it will be seen that some information 
long needed has been worked out in the past season. 
The discoveries of the place of feeding of the Pea and Clover 
Weevils ( Sitones ) are very important, and new observations have 
also been made as to Cabbage-root and Onion Flies, Wheat-bulb 
Fly, Ash-bark Beetle, Pine-bud Moth, and a small Midge-gnat 
that forms galls in the cone of the Spruce Fir. 
It will be noticed (especially in the Wireworm report) that 
although, as we all know, Rooks are of great service in clearing 
ground of grubs and Wireworm, that there are drawbacks to 
