Introduction

Abstract

The Destructive Insects Act 1877 gave the Privy Council powers to prevent the introduction into this country of the Colorado beetle, which was then causing great damage to the potato crop in America. In spite of this, the agricultural work of the Privy Council continued to be mainly concerned with diseases of animals. Nothing was done by any government body, until 1885, to disseminate information on pests or diseases of plants. As far as pests were concerned, the gap was filled by Miss Eleanor Ormerod, who, at the end of 1877, started issuing annual reports of observations on injurious insects. These reports were compiled from observations sent to Miss Ormerod by voluntary contributors and consisted mainly of records of pest damage, habits of the insects, and methods used to control them. Initially the information was confined to 16 insect species, but the coverage was soon extended to other injurious insects and later to other crop pests, including birds.