14 
HOP APHIS. 
« 
this, I believe, was to a certain extent my own fault: I did not 
persevere with washing and stimulants. Last year I grew 20 tons on 
70 acres. I attribute my success not only to washing and the free use 
of stimulating manures, but to early cutting. 
“I commence this work directly the sap is down, and finish in 
January.I find my method ensures an early and strong bine, 
much more capable of withstanding attack of blight than a late and 
weak plant. My bine is now (May 25th) three-quarters up the poles, 
and, with a continuation of favourable weather, will top them in four¬ 
teen days. 
“If frost will injure the shoots of the plant that is cut early, we 
should have found it this season, when we had such a continuation of 
frost all through March.”—J. W. Hopkins, Lower Wick, Worcester. 
Ladybirds. 
Ladybirds. 2, egg, mag.; 3, 4, grub, mag., with nat. size ; 7, Coccinella bipunctata; 
8, C. dispar; 9, C. septempunctata. 
The following notes bear witness to the good done by the Ladybird 
Beetles and their grubs in destroying Aphides, and also the vast 
numbers in which these variously-named Beetles and grubs appeared 
early in the past season. 
Care should be taken that these helpers are not destroyed when 
they appear, as is not unfrequently the case, in such numbers that 
they lie open to being swept up ; and further, as we all know these 
Ladybirds winter in warm dry shelter, that it would be quite worth 
while to examine in Hop districts whether any noteworthy quantity of 
them were to be found in sheds, or amongst heaps of poles or rough 
wood, or any other shelter near the gardens. 
Many insect attacks may be kept down by clearing away such 
shelters; in the case of the Ladybird it is very possible that the 
Beetles might be much more preserved than at present by leaving their 
resorts. Anyway, it would be worth inquiring into. 
“ June 2nd .—Coccinella is now plentiful near Hereford. 
“ July 2nd.—The ‘ Collier ’ is abundant; nearly every Hop plant 
i 
