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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film^ au taux de reduction indiaui ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X / 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Seminary of Quebec Library L'exemplaire filmi fut reproduit grdce it la g6nArosit6 de: Siminaire de Quebec Bibliothique The images appearing here are the bast quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in iteeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. 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Tous les 4utres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commen9ant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iilustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un dfls symboiss suivants apparaitra sur la derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon la cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE". le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis A des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est iWmi dt partir de Tangle supArieur gauch>j, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 iM> ,x:f-ir-''^-^''-* q^^y^^4M''*'^ Jamos rlotcher AUTHOR'S EDITION FROM THE ANNUAL llEPOHT ON TIIS EXPERIMENTAL FARMS FOR TRE YEAR 1894 CAJ<^A.T)A. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANlS f (JAMES FLETCHEE, F.E.S.O., F.L.8.) 1894 OTTAWA GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 1895 I REPORTOFTHE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST ■ i James Fletcuer, F.R.S.C, F.L.S, Wm. Saunders, Esq., Director, Dominion Experimental Farms, Ottawa. Sir, — I have the honour to hand you herewith a report on some of the more impor- tant sybjeets which have been brought officially under my notice during the past season. In afidition to those mentioned in the report, a great many other subjects have been studied, which will be of value on future occasions. The correspondence of this depart- ment is now very large ; there were received in the year 1894 from January 1st to December 31st, 2,404 letters; and despatched during the same period, 2,465. Contained in the letters received are very valuable data and records of observations by correspon- dents. These although not used now are carefully preserved, and will be made use of, when the various subjects to which they refer, are treated of in full : among the latter are insect enemies of root crops, fodder crops, vegetables, forest trees and live stock ; the important subjects of grasses and weeds, which have been much inquired about, will re- ijuire extended treatment at an early date. It will be seen that the greater part of the work of the past season, has been with reference to fruit insects. The matter submitted herewith is such as it has appeared to me, was of the greatest importance to bring for- ward at once, although, in some instances, the information obtained is incomplete. In accordance with an arrangement made last spring, the work upon parasitic fungous diseases is now carried on by Mr. Craig, the Horticulturist. In the arboretum and botanic garden, a good deal has been done during the past season. A large proportion of the part already laid out and planted, has been seeded down to grass. Extensive additions have been made to the collection of shrubs and trees, and two long borders have been prepared and graded for the reception of the col- lection of native and foreign perennials. It is hoped to make this an attractive feature of the botanic gnrden. A large collection of seods of native plants has now been made, and next year these will be utilisicd for the botanic garden. The experiments with native grasses have been continued, and much useful inform- ation with regard to the vaiious species tried here and tested by cor'espondents is being placed on record. The experiments in the treatment of potato r^ i were this year ex- tremely satisfactory and showed the very great advantage of spraying potatoes with Bordeaux mixture to protect them against the disease. In accordance with your in- structions, I prepared for publication, early in July last, a short bulletin (Experimental Farm Notes, No. 'z) on " Potato Blights." This was widely noticed through the press, and I am pleased to learn that many Canadian farmers testod the remedy and found it satisfaftory. Mr. Clarence N. Goodspeed, of Peniac, N. B., writes in regard to spraying potatoes with Bordeaux mixture : " I would say that I sprayed mine twice with very good results. Our land is low and often covered with water by freshets, and seems very liable to potato disease. For the last ten or fifteen years our potatoes have rotted in the ground more or less, sometimes one-third. This year we did not find one potato diser^ed in our field of four acres. We had some on ground that had been planted two yefc , some one year, and some never planted before. In this last plot the best results were obtained, and the stalks remained quite green until the crop was dug. I am satisfied with the results obtained." Many appreciative letters have been received from farmers testifying to the value of the information sent out from this department. I give as an example the following, which relates to one of the most injurious enemies of field crops, but at the same time 184 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. one of the most easily controlled In the beginning of July, Mr. George Thomas, of Jones Falls, Ont, a reoent settler in Canada, but who has had an .xtensive experience as a farmer in England wrote for a remedy for the "cabbage worm," the caterpillar of the I-nported White Cabbage Butterfly, and wua recommendod to use insect powder diluted with four times its weight of common flour. Reporting on his experience, Mr. Thomas says: "Only for your prompt reply, I should ha"o been the loser of 7.000 cabbages, Brussels sprouts and cauliflowers. I ib.d the white butterfly no respecter of sorts ; but it is of conditions, as I noted it was most severe. on the weakest plants I would here respectfully suggest for such the addition of superphosphate, as it is an insecticide and cheap fertilizer, say five cwt. per acre. I think many make the mistake of using the application once and no more. I had to resort to your splendid remedy on three occasions for successive broods, and it eftectually eradicated the caterpillars I had a perfect crop, wlnle many others in this neighbourhood lost their plants by in- attention, or maybe through ignorance. I like the id^a of mixing with flour, as when applied when the dew is on the leaves it adheres admirably. Such information as this you send and such as is sent by the other departments of the Experimental Farms, i: , I beheve, of incalculable value to the farmers of Canada, and worth thousands of dollars to tnose who will make use of 'K" Mr. Forrest E. Caldwell, of Manotick, Ont., likewise says : "I consider the bulletin which you sent me concerning insects, has saved me a great deal of money. In the case of wire worms alono, I have two fields of ten acres each, and on these almost every gram crop I have sown for the last twenty years, has been a failure. From what I now know, since I got the farm bulletins, '. recognize that the cause of this loss was wire worms and nothing else. Having followed the advice given me at the Experimental Farm, I ful y believe I have been saved a considerable sum of money, and I am glad to testify to the value of the institution to all farmers who are wise enough to avail themselves of the advantages it oflers. When I received the bulletin above referred to, I had just made up my mind to try a series of several experiments which I had seen recommended in newspapers, and which I now know would have been useless and expensive. By following your advice, I have been saved all this trouble and expense, as well as saved my crop. '^ ' Meetings Attended.-Ej permission of the Hon. Minister, I have been pleased to attend and speak at several meetings of farmers and fruit growers, and I believe that good work has been done in showing farmers the nature of my work and convincing them that it is of value to them, and that when applications are made for information concerning insects and plants, every effort wUl be made by the Entomologist and Jbotanist to assist them. b ^ Meetings were attended at the following places :— January.— Manotick, Ont. ; IngersoU, Ont. ; Aylmer, Que. February —Montreal, Abbotsford, Cowansville, Chelsea, all in Quebea April —Angus, Ont. ; Queenston, Ont. j Knowlton, Que. ; Cooksliire Que. ; Danville, Que. ; Richmond, Que. ' June.-Jubilee Point, Rice Lake, Ont. ; Riceville, Ont : Richmond, Ont. August.— Charlottetown, P. E. I. ; Knowlton, Que. October.— East Tempxeton, Que. ; Aylmer, Que. November. — London, Ont. December. — St. Joseph de Beauce, Que. ; Orillia, Ont. Acknowledgments.— 1 take pleasure in again gratefully acknowledging the valuable assistance I have received from my m^ny correspondents in all parts of the Dominion who have much aided the work of my department by making observations and bysendl mg me prompt notice of the occurrence of injurious insects and weeds. My thanks are also particularly due to : Mr. L. 0. Howard, the Unites! States Entomologist, and his staff, for many favours in the identification of insects, for the use of figures and for valuable publications ; to my kind friend, Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod, for many courtesies and for information concerning crop attacks in England similar to some occurring in Canada as weU as for some valuable books and reports, among others the " Agricultural Zoology " George Thomas, of ensive experience the caterpillar of uae insect powder a experience, Mr. le loaer of 7,000 y no respecter of eakest plants. I hate, as it is an aake the mistake lend id remedy on > caterpillars. I leir plants by in- th flour, as when formation as this uental Farms, i; , usands of dollais aider the bulletin ley. In the case every [ now s was wire worms ■imeutal Farm, I in glad to testify ail themselves of ed to, I had just en recommended expensive. By as well as saved so almost rom what REPORT OP THE ENTOMOLOUlST AND BOTANIST. 186 of Dr. J. Ritzema Bos, and a collection of the excellent works of Prof. Alfred Nalepa, of Linz, Austria, upon the Phytoptidae ; to Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, of Laa Crucea, New Mexico, for making a careful study of several species of Canadian Coccidm ; to Prof. T. A- Williams, of Brookings, South Dakota, for the identification of species of Aphididitj, and for the drawing of Aphis mali, used in this report ; to Prof. L. 11. Jones, of Burlington, Vermont, for a series of photographs, illustrating injuries to potatoes by fungous and insect pests. As in previous years, T am under great obligation to Prof. John Macoun for infor- mation concerning the distribution and for identification of native plants. The following donations liave been received in this department during the year : W. R. Carles, Esq., British Consul, Chinkiang, China : bulbs of three species of Lycoris. Mrs. Dunstervillo, Allahabad, India : bulbo of the Aden lily. S. A. Fisher, Esq., Knuwlton, Quebec : bulbs of Amaryllis and Fucharis amazcynica. T. N. Willing, Esq., Calgary, Alberta : specimens of rare western plants and insects. T. E. Bean, Escj., Laggan, Alberta do do Prof. Comstock, Director, Arizona Experiment Station : roots of the new tanning plant, " CaSaigre," for trial in Canada. H. B. Small, Esq., Ottawa : seeds of palms from South America. Frank Cillmor, Esq., Kansas City, Mo. : seeds of Nelumbium luteum. Misa Marion Gordon, Nanaimo, British Columbia : botanical specimens. Ottawa, 31st December, 1894. J. FLETCHER, Entomologist and Botanist. been pleased to d I believe that : and convincing for information itomologist and Quebea loksliire, nond, Ont. ng the valuable the Dominion, ns and bysend- My thanks are ist, and his staff, nd for valuable courtesies and ■ing in Canada, tural Zoology " 186 EXPEIUMKNTA L FARMS. OErtEA-LS. The grain crops of the Dominion have been little injured by insocta during the past year. Hossian-fly and VVhoat-midge attacks were noticeably loss in niost of thii districts where inquiry was made. The American Frit-fly so destructive to spring wheat in the Ottawa district in 1890, this season could not be found in wheat, and only in small numbers in grasses. The Ukain Aphis {Siphonophora aveno!, Fab.) has, as usual, been complained of to some extent from all provinces, but has not been the cause of serious loss. In the Maritime Provinces, particularly in Nova Sootia, a peculiar affection of oats, by which the tips of the leaves turned to a bright crimson hue, was very generally attributed to the attacks of this insect. This however, I believe, was upon insutlicient evidence. I visited the Maritime Provinces early in August, and had an opportunity of examining fields of oats and wheat in Prince Edward Island. At that time, there was no trace of the Grain Aphis in the fields, and the oat plants had outgrown the disease. Mr. J. Vroom, of St. Stephen, writes : "July 21. What is the matter with the grain in this section ? Nearly all the oats and barley fields are blighted, though it docs not seem to be the ordinary blight which the farmers ascribe to unfavourable weather. The newspapers are saying that a ' bug ' is in the stalks, but the stalks seem to me all right." Writing later, on Aug. 8, Mr. Vroom says : — "All t!:e oat and barley fields about here are more or less aflected, whether sown early or late. By newspaper reports from all the southern counties of New Jirunswick, I judge that the disease is widespread, if not general, in this region. At Grand ilanan, where seed time is a little later than on the maiidand, the fields were quite red in July, after those in this and the neighbouring parishes had apparently recovered from the attack. When first noticed, usually when the plants were about 6 or 8 inches in height, the tips of the leaves were turning red, umch redder than in the case of any blight that has been seen here in recent years. An aphis was frequently seen at the base of the diseased leaf, and was by many supposed to bo the causi! of the trouble. When heiUthy leaves succeeded and the fields were again turning green, the aphides disapp(;ared. The fields that were under best cultiva- tion, were least affected, the strong and rapid growth of the pLuits enabling them to quickly outgrow the rust." Although the cause of this disease is not yet explainable, from such itKjuiries as I have been able to make, it seems to have been chiefly induced by unfa\-ourahle cold wet weather in June, followed by a hot dry period. There were also present in the crimson leaves, and probably the cause of that colour, myriads of a bacillus which was referred to on pag(! 179 of the Experimental Farms report for 1800, in an article by Mr. B. T. Galloway, Chief of the Division of Vegetable Patliology, of the United States, in the fol- lowing woids : — " The germ has been repeatedly obtained from diseased oats and grown in various artificial culture media, such as nutritive gelatine, oat broth, hay infusion, etc. Inoculations with this material have produced the disease in every case In shape, the organism is sometimes nearly round, although, as a rule, it is several times longer than broad. So very minute is it, that when magnified a thousand times, it is little larger than the head of a pin." It would appear then that the plants were reduced in vigour by unfavourable atmospheric conditions, and were then attacked by this disea.se, due to a definite and recognizalnle organism ; but that, owing to the removal of the ag- gravating cause by the improvement of the weather, the plants, particularly and more quickly on well tilled farms, to a large extent outgrew the injury. As opposed to the theory that this disease was due to the attacks of the grain aphis, the " crimson leaf " is of such rare occurrence that, when it first appeared in 1890 as well as this season, it was universally noted as something new; on the other hand, theg; 'in aphis is invariably pre- sent in some numbers every year and should, if it were a characit -istic of their attack, always produce the crimson leaves, which it does not. Moreover, m was first pointed REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOOIST AND BOTANIST. 187 uring the past jf th(! districts ; wheat in the only in small compiiiined of loss. In the lats, by which attributed to t evidence. I of examining '&A no trace of sase. iVIr. J. 0 grain in this not seem to be he newspapers Writing later, 'e are more or the southern ot general, in the mainland, ; parishes had an the plants ng rod, much it years. An Miny supposed le fields were [• best cultiva- bling them to iti([uiries fis I rahle cold wet n the crimson 1 was referred by Mr. B. T. .tes, in the fol- its and grown liay infusion, ise In shape, times longer !s, it is little re reduced in y this disea.se, val of the ag- irly and more posed to the inson leaf " is season, it was 1 variably pre- : their attack, first pointed out to me by Mr. John R. McKenzie, a progressive farmer, of Roger's Hill, Pictou, N.S., and since confirmed by my own inquiries, although the " roil leaf " wius prevalent all over the Maritime provinces, the grain aphis was not exceptionally abundant, and was much less so in some districts than is frecjucntly the cose. WiHE woiiMS {Elo.teridcs). Several letters inquiring for the best remedy for wire worms have been received. The experience of the paso shows that the only one of the many remedies recommended wliich has given any measure of success is late fall plough- ing. Last spring Mr. Forrest E. Caldwell, of Manotick, Ont., called upon me, and in discussing this matter, told me that he had one field in v.-hich for the last twenty years every crop of wheat and oats had invariably been badly attacked by wire worms, but that barley and rye in the sumo fields, as a rule, gavcs a good crop. To test the im- munity of rye, which it was convenient for him to sow this year, I recjuested him to put the land undw isc at Ottawa the seeds of the new fod- der plant Lathynis sylvestria-Wagneri on this farm and Yicia cracca growing wild were seriously attacked. Ah far as I can judge from the observations of the pa.st year, the egg ia piobably laid upon the young forming pods, either before or soon after the (lowers have fallen, but occasionally later, as Mr. Cowdry found quite small caterpillars on July 27, when most of the larvas were full-grown. The egg is laid on the outside of the pod, and the young caterpillar eats its way into it. At that tin , it is of course very small, and the hole is soon obliterated by the natural growth of the pod. The caterpillar then begins to fei^d upon one of the seeds, generally at the upper end. Sometimes, only one pea is injured, but frequently two or thice uio more or less eaten. The caterpillar havmg attained full growth about the last week in July, gnaws a small round hole through the pod, from which it falls to the ground, and burrowing a short distance into the earth, spins a thin but close oval cocoon of white silk, thickly covered outside svith grains of earth, in which it remains torpid until tlio following spring. It then changes to the chrysali.s, and tlui perfect moth appears about the time the peas are in flower. There is only one brood in the season. Tlu; following extracts from letters by Mr. N. H. Cowdry, who is a careful observer and an experienced entoniologi.st, give many valuable data concerning the life history of the in.sect : "June 9, 1894. — I send you by to-day's mail two pea plants, each with one pod tied up inclosing the caterpillar. Mr. Kooney, of Le Hoy, N.Y., and 1 took a drive in the country last Saturday and looked over plenty of material, but only found the speci- mens sent you. It is likely, therefore, that they havo not damaged the early varieties of pease this year to much extei.t, or the excessive rain may havo diminished their num- bers." "July 17. — So far, I have not yet found the moth, but suspect that it may be iden- tical with two specimens which I was unable to cntch. They were about a third of an inch long, whitish with brown markings. Almost all the pease infested, were full sized, never very young and only partially matured. Often, however, the small pea at one end of the pod in almost matured pods would be damaged, but only those very small ones which would not mature. I could never find any trace of the caterpillar in very immature pods, only in those in which the pease were nearly or quite matured. So far, I have only examined crops of Extra Early, Alaska and American Wonder, all of which will be harvested this week. " About when or where the egg is laid, I can give you no information, but it ap- pears to me that the larva generally begins its work near the upper end of the pea. From the very immature larva) that I havo observed in nearly mature pease, I think it very unlikely that the egg is deposited on the flower, and I have never been able to find any trace of the pjissage of the caterpillar through the pod. It is very probable that numbers of the pupaj can be found under the bunches of pea straw in the fields." "July 27. — I opened several pods in the field and noticed as before that no yery immature pods were attacked. The small abortive pease in the green, partially matured 190 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. pods, were often eaten, however. The cater nJIIni qc c^ f j ^ havelTntaJ!;:srertre\tiirb7tlwf f ^•^-^'-^ ^-f-^y- '^" «'e early varieties weeks. I will try to fi.SX cCah tS i.ir'fh T> ' 1 '?" .""* f'^'-^P'^ ^"'^ ««'^- barns or sumewliore thereabout ^ ^ '^'^* "' ''^" ^' ^^"""^ ""d«'' ^^^'^^^ ^'^ ^-^^^^attheyS^^J::;:^--^^ " July 30.— I now want to find out where the pupre are to be found ^n fa- T i ...... f ,l''.;;3Ls, :f „;iri\r "So-rtJ ,*;::;.?;..";;;.l ?■" the influence of sowi.K. early or late on S, ^t'T i ?. P' "°"'^ evidence as to sometimes badly dama^e.l. Thev have howe' e.- I ei?^;.! ^ uf "A"^ T'^*^'^' '""« later ripening vL-ieties! High ground 'is";:;;o:;d o p ^d^crctpf morf r^ f "^ worm eaten pease than low land. Some farmers thint f> f ^ ^"'*' ^'''"" damage in dry seasons th'in in wpV on! \f' "< ''s tl'mk that pease are more liable to ageis^/drrtknl'^whu tb-ins . uTr'S t o^;!" ''"l'""^ ="t ^'"^ ''■^™- too hard to gnaw. I noticed several caterpiars rt e^. ly'^'l' "!?^" '^\ P^'^^« ««* ■u a small lot of h.e garden pease, i opei^d alir rl^;L^l^> Z 1S\^^ -^ c d a a h t t g • r REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 191 the legs much I caterpillar very slightly changed. It v^as, of course, shorter, and with drawn m, but otherwise not at all like a chrysalis. " The following letter is from a large buyer of seed pease, and gives reliable inform- ation as to the nnportance of finding a remedy as soon as po.ssiblo for this serious pest : < December 31,1894.— Repiyijig to your valued favour of i-ind December, the dam- age done to the pea crop in this vicinity by the Pea Moth, conc.>rning which I wrote you last summer, has steadily increased during the last six years until now it has come to be a very serious matter. Many crops, especially such as have to be fit for seed, con- tain from J to 2o per cent of moth-eaten pease which have to be picked out by hand at great expense, in order to make the sample a satisfactory one. I do not know of any remedv for this evil. •' " Our farmers find that pease grown after pease are apt to be more seriously affected than pease grown after sod, but even in cases of tlfts kind the damage is frequently very considerable, especially in smooth varieties of pease. Am very much in hopes your in- vestig,ation may result in discoveries which will enable our farmers to successfully com- bat tins serious enemy of the pea crop and restore the pea-growi.Kr industry to its former prosperity." — J. M. Brooks. <= « j ■ Remedies.— ThevQ is little danger of this insect increasing largely and becoming a serious pest in gardens, because i.i most instances, the pease are picked early, and the larvaj destroyed liefore they are full grown. Miss Ormerod suggests that where " mag- got attack is noticeable, the pea haulm should be cleared away directly the crop is gathered, so that all stray pods (which are very likely to be infested) may be cleared otl the ground before the maggots leave the pods. This haulm should be carefully de- stioyetl at once ; the safest way is to burn it, and it would be a good plan to lay it along the rows where the infested peas stood and burn it there, so as to get rid at once of all grubs remaining in the pods or near the surface of the ground. For field treat- ment, as the haulm could not well be spared, it would be desirable if a pea f'rowinlv to have worms than crops grown where pease have not been previously grown for some years. This would seem to confii'iu your belief that the caterpillars spin their cocoons near the sur- face of the soil." " August 6.— We cannot give you the names of farmers who state that pease grown on land previously cropped to pease are more liable to attack from the insect un- der discussion than new land ; but this is the general opinion among all growers, and they try to avoid growing pease after pease, as far as possible, on this account, as well as to avoid the danger of impoverishing the soil." The above records will show the importance of three things: (1) the plantin" of pease as early as possible, and for a time at any rate growing the earliest ripenincr "var- ieties only, in an infested locality; (2) the advisability of using every year fresh land, as far as possible removed from fields used bef )re for the cultivation of seed pease ; (3) the "alue of deep ploughing so as to bury the chrysalids so deep that the moths could not emerge. If, as suggested by Miss Ormerod, applications can be made to the growing crop in order to prevent the moths laying their eggs, the most suitable for the purpose would probably be carbolized plaster, or some other carbolized dry powder such as wood ashes or slaked lime, I pint of crude carbolic acid with 50 pounds of the diluent. Mr. Cowdry writes with regard to remedies : — " I think ploughing deeply so .as to bury the .coons fai- enough to prevent the moths from getting to The surface, 'is prefer- able to shallow ploughing; as it is probable, if the cocoons are on the surface, that they would withstand the frost and not be a very tempting morsel for birds. 192 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. When a crop is badly infested, I think it would be well to cut it before it ia quite mature; most of the larvae would then be taken into the barn, where the conditions would not be so favourable for their development, and those which did survive and become moths, would have less chance of doing damage next season. Harvesting when not quite mature, would not materially affect the value of the crop, which would already be damaged by the caterpillars. Sowing oats and pease together I think is well worth a careful trial, especially when good seed is required. The pease can easily be senarated from the oats by a fanning mill." ^ Fig. 2-The Army Worm. THE^RMY WORM. (Leucania unipuncia, Haw.) Attack.— Brown, or sometimes blackish, striped caterpillars (Fi""g grass and grain crops, and' ^.uuuce .ne motns m June. These lay eggs for the second brood, which is usually much the more abundant and destructive. By the latter part of July, in this part of' Canada, the young caterpillars are large enough, when abundant, to attract attention by their depredations. They are full grown by about the hrst week in August, when, burrowing an inch or two into the month "'"' ^"^ '^'"■>'''*'^l>d« ^'"^ emerge as perfect moths towards the end of the ;nie chief con.plaints of depredations by the Army Worm this season have been received from North-western Ontano, along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Matcawa, Ont., July 11. -Inclosed you will find specimens of a worm or cater- pillar which is invading gardens and fields in myriads. It has already done considerable damage to corn, and is now attacking everything else, and I am afraid it will destroy everything unless you can advise some remedy. We have more or less of them every season. — C. G. Huedman. -' " Baillieboro', Ont., July 16.-I am sending you a sample of worms which have got into my pasture. They eat everything and appear to incre^e very rapidly. It ia Z, flat land, such as they call ' beaver meadow.' » R. H. Wood, ^ ^ ^ ° '""' Fiff. 3. — Chrv-siilis and moth of the Army Worm. produce the moths in June. REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 193 e it ia quite J conditions and become g when not I already be ell worth a ) separated tillars (Fig. and many iing off the mgth, and, n one food irs burrow 1 which in noth of the in June, idant and iterpillara They are 0 into the ad of the lave been Railway. or cater- isiderabla 11 destroy em every have got [t ia low, "Sturgeon Falls, Ont., July 17.-It is reported that a small black worm or cater- pillar about one inch long, is making considerable havoc in our locality. This insect attacks oats especially, the leaves of which it eats up, leaving only the stem : the .'round IS all covered with them. Last year this insect made its appearance in the neighbour- ing township, Caldwell ; but there were none Here. "—Joseph Gu^rin. "Mattawa,Ont., July23.— Onafarmofminesome 26 miles from here, on the Ottawa river, an arrny ot the most destructive bugs have made their appearance, and seem likely to entirely destroy the late sown timothy grass, oats and corn It is a dark colourea grub, black on back, striped lengthwise with lighter markings, lighter col- oured on the under side. They feed on the tender leaves of corn at night and hide in the centre of the shoots during the day, and on oats they hide under anything on the ground that affords them a shelter. They are complet.;ly destroying oats. Please let me know what can be done to stop the ravages of this, to me, new pest. Could I use an insecticide on corn?"— A, LuusDEN. In the reply on July 24, the insect was named, and then its habits were described. With regard to an insecticide, it is of course very ditiicult to apply any remedv to such a crop as timothy, and I should imagine at this time that that crop is sutHcientlv advanced to be cut. The tields might then be rolled to destroy the caterpillars It is even more dilhcult to make any application to corn, and the only one that occurs to me as likely to be practicable, would be dusting the plants with a mixture of Paris careen and flour, wood-ashes, land plaster, or any other fine and perfectly dry powder in the proportion of one pound of Paris green to 50 of the powder. » ' " August 1.— Since the reception of your letter of July 24th, I have visited my farm and found it to be an army worm that was destroying the crops there I am arxxious to know of some method of compassing their destruction, and told my farmer to follow out your suggestions as well as one of my own, of giving them shelter under straw in tlie early morning and then burning it in the heat of the dav, say 2 p m Where the oats, timothy and clover plants grow, the young feed first on the grass, then attack the oats, but rarely toucx. clover, as is evidenced by a Held seeded to grass last year when they first appeared. This year there is an immense growth of clover, but not one blade ot timothy, and they are doing the same thing this season. I had uy men kill them out of the corn, which is now getting past them. I find the grubs are now enter- ing the second stage of their existence, and I find them in large numbers about an inch under the surface of the ground, at the roots of plants. Will these remain hyberna- ting all fall and winter, or may we expect a destroying army this fall again? Could you .suggest somo method of destroying them in the soil, or would fires kept burnin" in June at night, catch the moths ? I found the worm in destructive force as far north as the upper end of Lake Temiscamingue, 325 miles from here."- A. Lumsden. The following letter was received from the Fanner's Advocate, of Winnipeg with some specimens of ears of wheat, the chaff of which had been much nibbled on the outside : — "I send by mail a few specimens of the caterpillar that has done such havoc to the wheat during the exhibition week. When I left home on Thursday, there was nothing to be seen. On Sunday the whole field was covered ; by Wednesday almost every head was the same as those I inclose, and every leaf stripped from the stock By Sunday they hful pretty well disappeared, and had apparently gone into the 'vrc>und to turn into the chrysalis state, and I inclose a few in that condkion. They l-.ave only ap- peared in the now land and summer fallow, but far worse on the new land I hope you will be able to find out what they are and say whether they are likely to appear next year."— James Glennib. ^ ^ ^ In The Nor'-west Farmer for August, 1894, is an article on the Army Worm in which the statement is made that the caterpillar was reported by visitors at the Winni- peg Industrial Exhibition to have been seen in considerable force on wheat crops 15 or 20 miles north-west of Portage la Prairie. Sc— 13 i 194 EX-PERIMENTAL FARMS. i ! ^ewerft^.".— Althou-h only occurring occasionally in oxceasive numbers, and then n but tew localities, this moth is very widely distributed in Canada, and may crenerallv be tound m most parts in low lands where the caterpillars have suitable condftions for growth and an abundance of food. It has also been observed that the Army Worm is most abundant in wet seasons following a dry autumn, the damp weather giving them the same conditions over a large area as they would find in their own special habitat viz., low, swampy, and grassy places. ' When the caterpillars appear only in moderate numbers, they have an abundant tood supply, and do not then acquire the habit of " marching," which is merely moving trom one place where all the food has been devoured, to a fresh pasture. When how- ever their appearance is excessive, they must of necessity move on to some other place or starve, iliey may be prevented from marching from one field to another by plough- ing a deep furrow across their path. This should he cleared out so as to have the ed-'e nearest to the held to be protected, perpendicular or slight! v overhanging. Along the trench so formed, pits must be dug about 12 feet apart. When the caterpillars come wakllnn!! \ll'"''.T^'''? "'^"'^ "P *^^ °PP"'^^'^« «"'«' ^"^ ^'^'^^ ^ ^^^ trials, walk along until they fall into the pits, when they may be destroyed by covering them with earth and tramping it down, or, as Prof. Lugger, of Minnesota, suggests, "with a liberal dose of kerosene oil and water. Even a shallow ditch will answer this purpose It the earth is made friable enough to keep the worms from ascending. If a lo^ is dragged continually through such a ditch, nearly all the worms collected there "are eitner killed or maimed. If pits are not dug, where the caterpillars occur in large numbers, the trench will soon be filled, and they will walk over on the bodies of their fellows. In case any of the worms succeed in crossing the ditch, a narrow strip of the plants on the opposite siae of the trench should be dusted or sprinkled with a strong mixture of Paris -reen diluted either with 2.. times its weight of flour, ashes or land plaster, or mixed "with water as strong as one ounce to a pailful of water. When an attack has been very severe in any locality, much good may be done by burning the old grass and stubble in autumn or spring; in this way many of the younc^ larvre are destroyed, as well as the old stems, which it seems are the favourite place for the spring brood of moths to lay their eggs upon. ^ * f ^'\ e.'f ouraging fe/iture in connection with an invasion by the Army Worm, is the tact that It IS extremely rare for the insects to appear in large numbers two years run- ning in the same place This is due to the fact that they are almost invariably attended by parasitic foes, which destroy them so eflectually that the occurrence of two "Army Worm years in'the same locality is almost unknown. FRXTITS. The following concise report on the fruit crops of the year has been kindly supplied b^ my colleague, Mr John Craig : « Apples were a light crop in Southern Ont..r3nd1 wL ^ T^ "'"P "' '^' '"^''^ K^'\ "^ '^^^ P'-^'""'^^' ^' ^^^" '^^ i" Q^-bec and Nova Scotia. There was an exceptionally large crop of pears and of unusually good (luality tlrlTA^' "' '"'""'ui P""'' ""^''^•■'^^ '^''^' ■•" ^'''"'^y yi«'^ > -either rot^or curcu Ho fZlT. PI ''''''" Tf ^'™''^'' ' '^"^"''^^' '"^ '»'"'y "'«t°^"«<^« ^^o"ld I'^ve been advan tageous. Plums and cherries were a good crop, but suffered considerably from rot and curcuho. Of small fruits, grapes yielded and ripened well everywhere; raspberXs were a light crop in Eastern Ontario and Quebec, owing to injuries sustained duHn™ prev ous winter. In Western and Southern Ontario the crop was light also on account of dry weather. Strawberries were injured in Central and Southern Ontario by la"e frost ; in Eastern Ontario and Quebec the crop was heavy, but the fruit soft nn .ocount of continued wet weather during the picking season." Other small fruits yielded ^ J REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 196 lumbers, and then and may generally ible conditions for be Army Worm is ather giving tliem n special habitat, have an abundant 1 is merely moving ure. When, liow- ) some other place .nother by plough- 3 to have tlie edge ging. Along the caterpillars come fter a few trials, by covering them uggests, '< with a swer this purpose ling. If a log is )llected there are s, the trench will I. In case any of s on the opposite •e of Paris green r, or mixed with may be done by any of the young ivourite place for my Worm, is the i's two years run- ►•ariably attended e of two "Army I kindly supplied M-n Ontario and a Juebec and Nova lly good quality, rot nor curculio ave been advan- ly from rot and ere ; raspberries ained during the . also on account Ontario by late ', soft on account II fruits yielded Fig. 4.— The Codling Moth. The Codling Moth (Carpocapsa pomonella, L. Pig. 4) was last season a cause of great loss in all parts of Canada where this insect occurs. A great many letters have been received not only concerning its depredations, but testifying to the great value of spraying with the arsenites. The experience of the past enables us to state posi- tively that Paris green in the proportion of one pound to 200 gallons of water, to which one pound of lime has been add ad, sprayed over the apple trees by means of spraying pump and nozzle, at the time the eggs are laid, is the best, cheapest and most effective remedy for this insect. Careful observations made during the last ten years convince me that in this part of Canada there is only one regular brood of this insect in the year. This is, I believe, the case as far west "■s Toronto. In the fruit-growing districts of \\ estern Ontario there are two broods. Prof. Saunders tells me that about London Ont., during his long experience there as a fruit-grower, the second brood was invariably the more destructive. In California there are known to be at least three broods. It IS claimed that so far there is no authentic record of this insect having been found breeding in British Columbia. Should it get introduced, it is probable that there would be two or three broods. The British Columbian Government have wisely adopted stringent measures to prevent the introduction of such a serious pest. Referring to the second brood of the Codling Moth, Mr. L. Woo'lverton writes aa follows : — "Grimsby, Ont., Dec. 21.— The late brood of the Codling Moth did much harm to the ripening fruit and needs more careful attention in future. The injury done by this insect in Canadian orchards must amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. If our practical fiuit growers could be induced more generally to use faith- fully those methods for insect destruction pointed out by yourself and other careful experimenters, it would result in an immense increase in the prolits of their business The trouble is that they only half try the remedies, if at all, and then lose faith because they do not secure such good results as they expect." As to the extent of the injury by the second brood, Mr. Murray Pettit writes •— " Winona, Ont., Nov. 7.— In reply to your inquiry in re Codling Moth, the late brood was much worse this season in this locality than ever before to my knowledge I think fully one-third of the Bartlett, Flemish Beauty and Kieffer pears ripened before attaining full size. Some dropped, and part of them were picked with those naturally ripened." Mr. A. W. Peart, a careful experimenter, writes as follows :— " Freeman, Ont., April 10.— As you are aware, I have been spraying for several years. Paris Green I find effective against the Codling Moth, but am not so certain about its effects on the curcuho. I have used lime in water with Paris green of usual quality, and find no damage to foliage." « December 10.— I have sprayed for Codling Moth for many years and am satisfied that I check its ravages in a measure. This year the proportion of worms was larger than for years ; but this I account for by the rains interfering with the action of the poison, and the unusually light crop of apples ; the lighter the crop, the more worms re- latively, IS, I ihink, about an axiom, as well as the converse : the heavier the crop the fewer the wr r w are in proportion. The curculio was also bad ; in fact, I do not re- member any ;. e;i during the last decade, which produced so many insects and fungous pests. We shall certainly have to take more energetic measures to cope -with these pesta than we liave in the past, if we want to make fruit growing profitable." " 8C-13J 196 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. Figr. 6.— The Plum Curculio Novembe?20Th!T89?: "' ^' ''"" ^""^""^ ^- ^^^^^^^ ^--" of Industries. Toronto, Where'l"ey hl^^^^ ^^7 '^ '^ ^''' *««*« °^ ^P-^-^ W'e tree. almost raarvollous-larr7nl . ' ' T ""'' *]'""'. *' •'^^"'"^'^'^ '^« n.sults have been say the best tlerhave ?v;r hi Z' o; """u".' ^''"^^'-P-kers from Huron County been but few apples cathererl^nH/i i o^-fl^ards near by not sprayed there have wormy and scabby "^'''"'^ '''"'' ^""'"^^y ^^''^ '^' '^'^"'«. being little, gnarled. Vf ?? ^"^''?\ Curculio (ConotracMua nenuphar, Herbst, hg. 5.)-Plums and apples in some districts have been severely attacked during the season, but pea! chos less than usual, by the Plum Curculio. Owin^ to the enormous crop of poaches, the limited destruction by ^^ ^ the curculio and rot isthought by Air. Craig to have been _^r_ iSg^ r ^1.'' "'"" "^^P- ^ ^'•^'^t many lefters have ^JHffi» ^ffil th"" 'ece.ved trom Ontario and Quebec, cn.plaining of ^^^fT ^m ,on. ""^ , ""' ^'?^'^ "^^^ P'""'^- Its depre°da- ■^ -^ -v»=« tions on apples were also noted. Mr. T W Ramm writing from Ross Mount. Ont., on August 24," says ■— 1 send you the worst specimen of an apple that ha.s a« bad, that either fell off earlvnl^ T ""'"''/fu"^ P>°^' '"'^ ^ had hundreds about this injury I attbutrtotLcur^eulotr'^^ '" ^T *^' '''"^ "'^'^^'f' ^uch of apples, and it is ten tLesworTe^^^h^^^ ''"''''"•^^ «""g« ^^e greonToratS t'Su" t^tT^ "f >-nity of a crop ,p„yed with Par. growers in Ontario :-' ' ^ ^^^ ''^' °^ ^'^^ '°''^<^ ^^^^^^^^^ '^'^d successful plum 3 ounce'^Tari^JrLm'To^rO^Lt^^^ r^'. *'T "^^''^,^^ ^P^^^^^"" ^^ *-«« -^'h from four to six'times atcordini to th« wL ^"•■^^f^.^'^Pt '"^^^ .stirred. I usually spray covering of the young prmtTulltilfoTe^rnet Se' 'st^T^^ f V''^ not begin to bite before wnrm Ti-oofU„„ i ■ i I .^^ ueiore, as I hnd the curculio does saved my crop for so ne twe Tv" Z-s whln^I W?" '"'^ f'""' """ ^ ^^^« ^'-^>'-^ up as required, and would not .eturn Tn t h • "'"''^"'^ ^* P'^P^^ '^""'^ '^"d kept it tion. I^ever' use an^ 1 L wi ^ pLis .In'Tn '?' ""'"^''^ "f T "'^^'^^ ^^"^ ''"'^"^dera- scorched on one side w uTtire mr™f i ■ l,"''^' ^'"'^ ''"*' ^ ^"^^ ^^«^« ^^ trees the barrel, which had not be n pro^; jTst ;,S"S?:hr'-";°° ^^°f *^ '^^ ^^^^ "^ find no trouble in saving my cro'p a^s f'm'the curruli:'''"" " '^^^ "^^' ^^^"''^' ^ or thfee ytTa^ilT;;/ S\'' .?r::!t ?'"'?/-" ^ 'T' ^P^^^^ ^^ P'-« ^^ two when the frui was nicdrfo med ancf 1 \1 '"-'^ i^^"^"^' ^'^^* ^P""« ^ «P'-'^y«' I had a splendid crop of plum I^n ce Stb '"' '" '^""' *"" "''^'^^- ^^ '-^ •'-^"'t- the trees and I know that ome of my neH 1^^ T'' r" ' T' "^ P'"'"^'^ ^^^ ^■'•°'» their plums." ^ neighbours who did not spray, lost nearly all A REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 197 nduatries, Toronto, I 1 •aying apple trees. > results have been •om Huron County rayed there have ing little, gnarled, c.helus nenuphar, in some districts, le season, but pca- rculio. Owing to ted destruction by )raig to have been many letters have c, complaining of 3. Its depreda- '■• T. W. Ramni, gust 24, says : — an apple that has J hundreds about nyself. Much of rculio stings the i apples gnarled, ihis year satisfies > following varie- is, Yellow Trans- rayed with Paris benefit to make bter is from Mr. successful plum g five times with I usually spray ? at the time the he curculio does I have always me and kept it r any considera- >v cases of trees 0 the bottom of i; well stirred, I y plums for two aring I sprayed i. As a result, )Iums fell fronj , lost nearly all Fi(<. (>.— Fall Canker-worm : a, h, Biiloand end view of egg ; e, mass of eggs ; /, caterpillar ; c, en- larged segment of caterpillar. Canker-worms {Anisopteryx). — Reports of damage by Canker-worms have as usual been received from various districts. Identification of the exact species has in most instances been impossible. The following letter from Mr. A. W. Peart, with which specimens of the Fall Canker- worm {A. pometaria, Harris, Fig. 6), wore forwarded, ia of special interest, giving the late date in the year when the female moths were active in the Hamilton district: — "Freeman, Ont., December 17. — I send you by this mail female Canker-worm moths. We had a sharp frost of at least 16'' about November 28, and the following day, in going through the orchard, I was surprised to find many dead moths on the trees. Their bodies were rigid and firm. Upon pressing them with the small blade of a knife, they offered such a peculiar and strong resistance that I concluded they must be frozen. There has been a heavy rain since ; and the moths have been washed to the ground among the clover, and are hard to find. Living females are still climbing the trees. I first noticed the female moths climbing the trees about the middle of October, and they are still moving, though in fewer numbers at this date. In my experience, both in this and previous years, the Canker-worm ia con- fined almost exclusively to the Northern Spy, although many other varieties of apple are adjacent to and scattered among the Spys. Spraying with me was not very satisfactory this year, on account of the frequent rain falls during the spraying S'jason. However, I did manage to keep the Canker-worm in check fairly well by the use of Paris green, one pound to 200 gallons of water, with a little lime added." TuE Shot-bouer (Xyleborus dispar, Fab., Fig. 7.). Some useful ob- servations have been made on the habits and life history of this injurious enemy of the apple and plum. Some of these I give herewith. "Church Street, N. S., May 8. — Have been examining my apple trees to see if the borers are at work yet. I cannot find any nor any of their fresh work. " " Juno 7. — In your last letter you wished me to keep watch for the apple borer. Have been working among young apple trees every day this spring, and on Juno 2, I saw the first and only one this spring, and this in a young tree in an old orchard." — Leander Woodworth. In 1893 Mr. Leander Woodworth wrote to me that he had seen the beetles at work on the bark on June 10. '' Berwick, N. S., December 2, 1893. — I first discovered the borers last spring, when I found 25 of my best young trees with the bark turning red, and upon examina- tion found them full of borers. I cut down all but a few and burned them. I washed all my young trees with lime in June. Then I made a wash of soft soap, 1 gallon ; water, 3 gallons ; carbolic acid, ^ pint, and washed the trees with this mixture twice in June, once in July and once in August. I have examined the trees carefully and cannot find any work of the borers this year. The trees that had the borers in them vere young, healthy, fine-growing trees, as good as any that could be found in the valley." — John S. Woodworth. " Berwick, N. S., December 1, 1893. — I do not know for certain at what time the borers begin to attack the trees, but I think about the end of May. As far as I know, Gravenstein trees (young ones) seem to suffer most, and I am of opinion that the borer will attack healthy trees as well as diseased ones." — W. H. Woodworth. From the above it would seem that preventive washes should be put on the trees from the beginning of May ; three washes one month apart would probably be sufiicient. The Orlique-baxded Leaf-roller (Cacaecia rosaceana, Harris) has caused consi- derable damage to fruit in some districts during the past season. It not unfrequently is troublesome on apple trees and currant bushes ; but this year it was sent to me as an «neiuy of buch, apple, peai-, gooseberry and black currant. Three unusual and inter- esting attacks were : on garden geraniums in which the leaves were eaten ; on the Silver Fig. 7.- The Shot- borer. 198 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. i'"ig. ».-Tlie i'oui- 81nfe'. o^nt%^irwtrhS;X io: r :i T'^ Trr-^^^ -^ ^°"-^ out ; and junous to the young fruit eS 1^. ^ ^ t''™^^^ the leaves, but were particular vTn as Professor olllettf descwS^"^': SHi U^;.^" the fonnin, pears, in'the s! "e'Va;" apples^ ^A*/. 19, Colorado State Agri^Tt,^J^^^^ Wulker, on man Ont in sending the speciml^'B writ ^-''fc ^r J.S^Freepan.of Free- the pears they are sent with. I l.elieve thov h^™ I . ^he inclosed worms are eating eating the skin off and holes into ten" mT T P m '"^''i >V of my Eartletts by o then, attacking his gooseberry and cunnnt l^lsLs T""', ^''"''°' ^- ^•' "O'np'ained plum and ap-'e trees. Sp-yin/withSittt i-n^ffe:^^^^ ^ -J"-« V\. Jrh^"'V' ^''""^ (^riocampa cerasi, Peck F-g. ^) has been the cause of much injury to pear, phun and ch.Try trees. Mr G W Henry, the well known nurseryman, of Hat.ic" ^ {' ;r''''^f=-" Pear and cherry rees suffer' ed badly from slugs last season^ I praye ' with Pans green, which killed the slugsTut also injured many of my young trees 1,;dly water to 1 pound of Paris creen Frni/'""^ ^' "''^ ''* '^^ ""'^ ^^ ^OO gallons of neglecting insects, and ? believe in JnuX^ " T "°T ^^^gnizing the danger of their destruction."' In usi'^'TarisVre n or\Z^'in^^^^^^^^ ^^f"" "'^' ^^ adopted for should always be added, particularly' up'rn^rij;,^,,^"^^ ^"'^"'^^^ «^ ^-«^ ^-^ absence of a few days from the orchard I found tht nZ ! """P^ ^"^'^■'^'^- ^fter an of the row, Clapp's Favourite, Bousso'ck and An ' ,'"''"*/ '"'"^^'^ ^'""^ ^^^i to end being comparatively uninjured. I We 500 dwtrf dI, 'f ''^'''^' ''"'' '"^^^^^ ^^'h them, next in extent to the Bartletts."--W J W Frn^R '' P''"'"'- ^^'''' "^^'^ injured of Pai?s\re;tVitTn;^t;ffrilVXe^ir;^^^^ Spraying with a weak solution ^ta weight of some-dry powder, are always effect. "' '''''' '^'^"'^^ "^'^^ ^^ ti'^es as a troub^eTomr^tach'^rr^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^T^ ,^- been again reported this year rees in the orchard of sLjor R. F. Rotrs a SrXn 'oT"''^.^ ^'^^'"^' "^J"'--^ apple learn that it has given no trouble in that orchard It h,?' ^^'^ ^'^''' ^ "^"^ gl^^ to in the orchard of Mr. C. E Fisher but h.,?" ^'^^^^PP^'^'-ed at QueenstonT Ont record, however, which was brought to my loLeTy S7 '"w ""T'^'- '^^'^« '^^^^'-S serious nature : s i-o my notice by Mr. L. Woolverton, is of a more "Fenwick, Ont April '"5 T ^ 'f <• suggest a remedy for'this beetle, whTcb has nro^vJ^ hope that you may be able to trees^ Last year we tried picking t^e insecr but n'rft w>f' T* r' '' "^^ ^"""8 P^'^^h kil'edmanyofmytree.s,andareWinnrcTfhi<,t "'^^^'^I'^tanding our efforts, they the nursery, so there is dmost notlSftiLt^^ ^'" '''''' ^'^ J"«t from soon as it appears, till they finally kSlthe tre7" Thl '*^^r ^""^ *''" ^^""g b"d as also attack the pear and plum " ^^"^^ '^^"^ *« Prefer the peach but suita;;f:Lt7L7,X"rm^l1heyt^^^^ Tk ^^' '-■ '' '^^ -^ ^^een very are not as troublesome in iny ordmrd tS v^ °",' "^'l' "" ^"''^™ «"""y days. They orchards Last year, they k^ill d r o younrpL'h tr ', 'f "'^"^ to haveVne"^ to other of strawberries extending across a six-acre fie WT. T '''"' ''"^ ^^^ ""^ fo""- '"ows buds and the bark of the young trees when first JtoZ T^ k""''^ ''" ^'^'^ ^^^ ^-^'^^ and cut off near the ground ; \hen by Sn J the bud t'l.T t"? ^ ^^ "^ '''' '' ^^^^^ed of their habits they resemble the potaL beetle LoS.f "^"''^ ^^" ''''■ ^"^ ^^^^ P - '^'-etle, such a. dropping to the ground and I REPORT OF THE EXTOMOLOOIST AXD BOTANIST. m hollowed out ; and were particularly in- tra, in the same way >rospUa, Walker, on S. Freepian, of Free- od worms are eating >f my Eartletts by N. S., complained >s them OS injuring ledy. •impa cerasi, Peek, of much injury to ees. Mr. G. "W. eryman, of Hatzic, ;herry trees suffer- Ba«on ; I sprayed lied the slugs, but oung trees badly, of 300 gallons of ng the danger of 'ill be adopted for tity of fresh lime 'Burlington, Ont. lioh are Bartletts. ate the substance ickly. After an I from end to end nixed with them, lese were injured a weak solution ed with 60 times eported this year ag injured apple f, I am glad to Jueenston, Ont., The following 1, is of a more iny be able to ly young peach a- efforts, they are just from young bud as the peach but not been very r days. They gone to other out four rows veiy first leaf tree is budded fee. In many e ground and lying apparently dead. On warm sunny days they move about and eat, and on cold or wot days, they lie concealed at the root of the tree in the earth." — E. S. A: kins. Tlie.se beetles being wingless, they can only reach the buds of the trees by climbing up the stems ; thoret'oni, any Uicchanical means of preventing this, such as a band of cotton batting, or one of the many kinds of " tree protectors, " placed around the trunks at the time the mature beetles appear in April and May, would bo a sulHcient remedy. TiiK Pear Leap Bmster {I'hytoptus (Typhlodromus) pyri, Sheuten). — This troublesomo pest of the pear is becomng nmch more widespread in Canada. Speci- mens have been sent in from several localities in the east a« well as from British Col- umbia. Mr. L. Woolverton says : — "The Pear leaf Blister mite is gaining ground on the pear trees in this district, and, so far as I know, growers have done nothing to check it. .Some trees have their leaves full of it. " Among several communications from British Columbia, I received one from Mr. T. A. Sharpe, giving an excellent de- scription of the appearance of the injury : " Agassiz, B. C, July 6. — I send pear leaves which appear to be afl'ected with reddish brown spots on under side, but showing very plainly on the surface. Under the microscope, the under side of the leaf is burrowed and raised into hum- mocks with craters or openings on the crest. A small insect, not visible to the naked eye, appears to be more or less plentiful on the leaves. Are these insects the cause or are they a secondary injury coming on after the fungus sets in 1 In any case, what is the remedy 1 " Mr. Sharpe then gives an account of several experiments ho tried with various mixtures to find a remedy. During the season ho has studied this attack with care and has found in the galls another mite ^a Tyroglyphus) which moves much more quickly than the Phytoptns ; but he has not yet been able to detect whether or not it is predaceous on the blister mites. The remedy for this pest which has given the V)ost results, is spraying the trees early in spring with Kerosene emulsion. The Apple Aphis (Aphis mali, Fab., Fig. 9) Attack : Green plant-lice clustered, sometimes in enormous numbers, around the outside and in between the young leaves of the opening buds on apple trees in spring ; also on the young shoots in summer and be- neath the leaves in autumn. The small black shining eggs are laid in autumn on the branches of apple trees, and do not hatch until the following spring. 9. — Aliplo Aphis : winged female. The Apple Aphis or green tly is a common insect wherever the apple is grown, and although frequently very abundant, it is seldom that its injuries to its host are of a .serious nature in this part of Canada, From British Columbia, however, there have been received during the past three or four years many complaints of great losses from this pest, — particularly since the publication of the excellent reports of Mr. J. II, Anderson, the cr.ergetic statis- tician of the Provincial Department of Agriculture, have shown the fruit growers of that province that useful information •>^ Fig. 10. Jointsof antennaof Apple Apliis winged female. can, on application, be obtained as to the best means of fighting their insect foes. From late correspondence with some of the leading fruit growers, it has occurred to me that part of the damage to apple trees complained of under the name of " aphis," " green fly," ifec, may have been due to other insects. That the climate of British Columbia is particularly well suited to the development of many species of plant-lice, however, is undoubtedly the case, as I observed in the summer of 1883 and during the spring of 1885, and it is important that as soon as possible the different species should a» EKPEIil MENTAL FARMS. I of the South I)ak;.to Akf icu tunLl f^ 11 ^^ ''f"'""'' '-••"•••»^«P"»clfnt, P.lf H T Will ""'' 7» A,,pi„ pi,uli„",, 5;toti i",T„fr T '"":; ""'"''»" i- »-i"at. ¥be°oi in my last report, I referred tn iho. **"/. """ount of vigour." Apple .^hi,k„;™^-;f,f„)-f*».-appJ^,„,,fo„P^ la«.T- ^ '''""°' "^y ^hat we have been trou .1« . ™°f '"''" '^ ^° ^'^^ '^e fo Li^,^ rormerlj. In this matter I speak not onlv for m ^^'"^^^ . ^^'^^e not been so plentiful as vince up to the end of 1893." ^ ^°' °^^ ^^'"^ district, but for the who e oro And m another letter Mr TT„tnU^ ^ of the trees being kille. 1^ the^ nni H - "■'^' *° *^^ """^^ subject •-'. Tn , • i, 'ost suitable rome- t the proper time, present herewith i"t8 3, 4, fl, 6 and ■• H. T. Wil lianas, ' of the AphididoB. t-growers in iden- 8 levies toll from •'^•'51), when treat- fact thut several heat. The com- le appearance of r tlii.s .species, in *'" as the Apple 'm plant-louse. " 3es of American rcharda in mid- ious enemies of 0 winter season, 'icat pl.-ints ap- 0 fields and, on Jts, where they ertile soils, this ' the soil is not soon begihs to 'd plants cease idons them in bia that many Elutcherson, of f the injurious 'nt yoii (true As regards the ' you got your m assure you it and Woolly ies and tho.se e, in my own the following A-phis for the arly summer, ) plentiful as e whole pro- In .speaking •uld say that •1 >use, which sgard to the r have some nd that the id to be the ,just as the REl'ORT OF THE fJXTOAfOLOUI.ST AND /lOTAmST. 201 buds are opening. also be sprayed. \phi8 very much re.semble8 superficially tiie Grain Anhis and as b,.fh ...our together on fall wheat, I have askod lU WilL.ns to pr^i'TorTea^izn jible of the ch.ef points by which they may be separated. He has' very kindly sen ne the following, which will answer all purposes • J- 'V »°"'' ""> As many eggs are frequently laid on the trunks, these latter should The Apple Aphis very much re-sembles superficially the Grain Aphis, and. a ir together on tall wheat, I have asked Prof. Williams to prepare for me a " AphU mali. 1. Antcnnoi alinrtfr than body. 2. Autennw on very slight frontal tuborclo*. Head pointed in front. Kyi'8 liliick. I'rotlionix with lateral tubercles. Head and thorax black. Honey tubes not broadened at base. Siphonophora avenai. 1. Antenntu as long or longer than body. 2. AntenniB borne on diitinot frontal tuber- cleH, which are approximate at base and of moderate Hi/.e. '- caterpillars still stick on the trees -hurt 1 L T "^ '''*^ «praying. The dead -Si I soot, which ap- 12 mm. ;head, ■1(1 wiii^H above li 11 sli'sfht tuft, aro Htet'l gray fusiform, siight- 1 1) in'iith. The >i(io I if the case . coiKstruots its r, for whom I ho sumo species nt (1891, pages (ipple has been find Grimsby, ntiirio ; and in small numbers H .shown itself lice cited below id Paris green lid instructive twigs. What I have about as you can see on the young ijuring my ap- iced them two id all through, ices ; sulphate r the Codling mall cherries, lese five acres IS. The Rib- I one where I rayed. How would say a sar, 375 bar- i.se-bearer. I d sprayed for rt with Paris half or two- was blowing intended to ;. The dead um the dead I thank you 5 19th April, In previous I REPOliT OF THE EXTOMOLOOIST AXD llOTAXIST. 808 yeiirs I did not sprnv until about the 20th Juno , the insocts were then full grown, and I did not know when I ha»i killu»l thorn, for they still stuck on the trees."— Edwin WORUKN. Fearing that Mr, Worden might have been deceived by the inactivity of the larvn> owing to some of them liaving completed their growth and fastened their casM to the eaves m order to pupate, I wrote to him again, asking him to send me some of the leaves hearing the larvai which wore supposed to bo killed. These specimens ware seni forw ird by Mr. Worden on Jutw. 19th, when he wrote:- " I inclose you the loaves as directed by you. The little post is hard to conriuor. I am spraying again now. If these insects would leave my trees alono, I am satisfi«l T sliouljl have a good crop of apple.s, but they are even eating the little apples now." Upon e-xamining the specimens carefully, it was found that only 17 per cent of the larvuR were dead, which was a disappointment, as it indicated that Paris green as a remedy was only partially successful. Mr. Worden was then leciuested to spray some of his trees with Keroseno emulsion. His answer was as follows :- - "July f).— Inclosed you will find .some leaves sprayed with Kero.snne emulsion uhout ten days ago. It does not seem to do much good, I am about discouraged Those littlr iiusects seem to be getting worse all the time. Will you writ.! and let me know about how long these insects troubled them in Prince EdwanI Island? If they are the Bame you mentioned in your report for 1«91, i notice you say they were on plum and pear trees. Now, I have plum and pear trees side by side with the apple tic s and I never .saw one on a plum or pear leaf. How would vou think it would ar destroyed by the film of coal oil which (loatson the surface T shall be much obliged if you will try this remedy and let me know how it succeeds." Irom the following reply, it will be seen that the use of a light at night to attract the moths was not very successful :— " I tried the torch light on a small scale. I had to cross the road from my house to the orchard, and, strange to say. while on the road the moths would come very thick ; but when I got in the orciiard, I did not catch so many all night by leaving the torch burning, as I did during the few minutes outside. I think I destroyed about half of the case bearers with the treatment last summer. Next year T am going to try the Kerosene emulsion, but would like to spray a little later than the time you suggest so as to catch the bark louse as well."— Edwin Worden. 20i EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. Harold Jol;;trafkiL]7vsu.'^^^^ "? *'" ''''''' ''' ^'''''''^'^' ^nt., by Mr its liie histor;. A^r Jo^e Ll3 uir ""'^' ""^^ ^'^'"'^^^^ ^*^""^^" information on bearer a« having been veTabunchn. in h;, T f^^^"'* '^''^' '^"^ ^P^^^^^ «f ^^e case- in the spring, aLckinrtlTuds and h. s.p. \-^.,''"il ^'"'■- ^f ^''' ^^'^^^^^ ^^ ««rly at once before the HowL opened Direct th«l ^'T'"^ TI '^^^^^^ He .sprayed Bordeaux mixture and Ssthllfi^'Z^TT"^^ He sprayed a third time about three weeks iSer Z ?! *^' /"''"" ^'^'•^ destroyed, as a pigeon's egg. He observed tW ,?!,., fJ.K?" *''f ''PP'^' ^^''^ '^^^"fc ^s large feeding and wtnt to the upper su Se oTthe I "^ 7'''^ '" *^""^' '^' ^^''^ --«d send y?;t;^ ^iin' wgr^^^; t ^:K;:7 "^ t ^^-^^^^^^-^ «^ ^ -^^ ^«<^ ^ that, whereas three weekf al X Vo^c^ . t/'.r '^'■'''' ''"'''^'''^- Y«" ^i^l note leaves, now you will find th^LlusteC tbo"t 7l ^^"'"'''''^ on the underside of the trees with Bordeaux mixture- and' a lorT t .. "^T ''P"'""S. I sprayed my noticed that the half-opened Ws and fl *™«fter. when the blossoms opened. I the cause at tirst, but o'n Stamina o,i ToZ^ZT:!^' f'\ ' '^' "° ^^^ ^' known as the Case-bearer), had punctured thr«/o" ^"/f bers of a strange insect (since working so rapidly that, Aien the blossomsll. 1 f *^'' \"f^'' '^'^^ ^"^^-^^ ^'^d were the trees had very little set fruirieft '""'^ ^ ^"' "^^' *° ^P'"'^-^' ^g'^'"- ^o'^e of prop:S;ro?XSri(J!:.[|:":,;;:;:;^'^ -;f-V"<^ pans greens the to determine, but I noticed that'all f u th" at tack onThi "^ '^1 ^PPlication were ha«l the caterpillars were working on the uude rs de nF .r , p ^T^ ^'"^'' '^""'^ '"^^PP^^ ^nd on both sides. ^ undeiside of the leaf, whereas before they worked "I think J am safe in estimating -20 nr o^; r,^„ i j . with the same mixture and Paris ^Veen added^.bouT tw''"^f- J '^'""^'^ ^S-in the apples were about the size of the top of mv thumb n,- "'it' ^^'r^''''^' ^^en pi.ca ,ons in all. The last application dfd not aff.n H "'^'"■' *^/^ °^^'^^'^S ^^'^^ ^p- they had permanently attach'^dtherelvS.rthfle'f''" P«r<^^eptibly, as at that time , " About the 10th of August I fir t notled r ^" 'T ^^'^ P"P'^> «*^t«- then so s„,all as to be hardly" noticeable and wt^^ T""^ ^"""^^ ^■''^'^•"- ^^^^ -^^« about one-hfth of their numbers in the sprin" Dn M '^"'"^'•°"'''' 'l^^™ being only fed and grew to a length of about ' of an in^K "^' '' ""■"' ""^ ^'^ ^^ days? they week in September, th! weather ^urn'^l q it'oo tdUr Wt h'' ,''^' *^".^' ^^^ «-' >n nng. about the base of the present yelr's Zd growth " '"^ '^"'*'^"^ feedh,g'rarhSlo""S tiri'etr-"'-; ^'^ ^^^d be found either on the leaf the middle of October, they left rheSa^e^and tl7. J"' ^'^' ^^''^ ^'^ ^^'^^ ^^^er parts of the tres, in some cases down on the t^unk ^ nT '?, """^ l"^^^^^ '° '^' ^^^S'^^ branches a. their junction with the t.Tnk oMa t'er h ™°l ^ "'^ '^.""^^'' ''^' ^^ ^^e of them in the shelter formed by a pa "hv helled w ^ l'^''' ^'^^ ^ ''^'"' '^"d clusters ^ "T'is winter during the most s^everj woftht T /^''^^^ f ''"^ '"^« "^^^^ ^'^^^''^d- brushing some of the tre''es in alUhraXherindkr-eK \^'"^ "^ '^^'^ '^'■^^h and .ects fall on the .enow, where I am in i op^^^^^^^^^^^ ^''- ^^"-S *'- i- REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 205 d, Ont., by Mr. > information on oke of the case- noticed it early >s. He .sprayed xyed again with were destroyed. I about as large he larvDB ceased September, Mr. a week ago, I You will note nderside of the he Imrk of the ^ize they were worst affected abit of cluster- tions : — ir correspond- e Cigar-shaped season, hoping of the season sprayed my oms opened, I td no idea of insect (since i^ers and were gain, some of green in the ion were hard ) stopped and they worked srayed again wards when ng three ap- at that time 5tate. ', they were s being only days, they ne, the first nd clustered r on the leaf iold. After ;o the larger side of the ind clusters sen severed. brush and the m- " If my theory, that frost and snow will destroy those insects, prove correct, I can quickly and easily remove one-half to three-fourths of the entire brood now lodged on trees eight or ten years of age, and diminish their numbers on larger trees. " — Harold Jones. " Lakeville, N. S., June 8. — I inclose to you to-day some specimens of insect pests for examination. The insect attacks the young buds and leaves, destroying the foliage as soon as it appears. The Baldwin, Tompkins, Twenty -ounce Pippin, Talmau Sweet^and Rhode Island Greening, were attacked and the young leaves almost entirely destroyed, while the Bishop Pippin (Yellow Belle flower) tree was almost entirely free from the pest. I sprayed before blooming with Paris green 4 ounces, lime 3 lbs., water 45 gallons. I could not see that any insects were killed, being just as numerous after spraying. Any information you can give me about de tioying this insect, will lie thankfully received." " June 20.— I send you specimens of the insects that have bee ii doing very much damage to fruit trees in this locality this spring. They began their work of destruction about 1st May, when a few were seen to crawl from the angles of the small branches and attach themselves to the leaves just beginning to form. They would move along the branches, the head protrurling from the sack or cigar-shaped case. About May 10th I sprayed the trees from which these specimens were taken on June 20th, with Paris green 1 lb., lime 4 lbs., water 160 gallons. At that time only a few were on the foliage. The greater part of the pests were still to be found in the angles of tiie small branches and rough places of the birk. The applicition of this mixture destroyed very few, if any. To-day, June 20th, I notice some time nfter full boom the bloss-'ms withering and dropping from the tre" at the slightest jar from the h:ind, and the foliage of the tree having the appe.-irance of b ing riddlrd with small shot and scorched by heat. On thse trees no fruit is forming although the blossoms looked healthy." — R. A. Beckwith. At the end of the .season, Mr. Beckwith reported as follows: — "I did not spray as you advised. By July 1, nearly, or quite all of the insects h id disappeared, the trees so^m after having a healthy appearance. A few orchards only were damaged by this in.sect in this section of the valley. " (Lakeville is in the Annapolis Valley, so celebrated for its fruit.) " Those orchards in which the case-bearer appeared were badly damaged, the crop a total failure. " "Woodville, I^. S., IMarch 28. — I send you to-dav some find on them small insects which have done a great deal of Please explain their h;ibits and send a remedy. " "April 18. — Thanks for information. 1 am sending you more specimens to-day out of the same orchard, " These insects destroy the buds, as you see by specimens ; destroying the buds in- jures the crop, as new buds have to start. The insects are now commencing to crawl on to the buds, destroying first the buds, then the blossoms, if any are left, and leaves ; so you see something must be done before the trees blossom. They seem to work on some varieties more than on others. The variety sent is Nonpareil. The trees look, at the end of June and in July, when the trees are leafing out and blos3oniing, as if thev had been scorched by fire. " We consider this little caterpillar the worst enemy to our fruit crop. Please advise me what to do, as the remedy must be applied at once." — G. W. F. McLean. Remedks. — As a remedy we at first recommended spraying with Kerosene emul- sion during the winter, to destroy the hibernating larva>, but it appeared to have no effect. Twigs from sprayed trees were sent to me in winter by Dr. Young, which, a fortnight after spraying, still retained strongly the odour of Iverosene (coal oil) ; when revived by the warmth of my office, the larva; crawled about, uninjured, and Dr. Young reported that these trees treated in winter showed no benefit from the spraying. Spraying with Kerosene emulsion and Paris green at the time when the buds are opening, has given the best results, as will be seen from the following letters : — " Adolph'.'.Htown, Ont., .Tune ifi, — On th(> large l^hx^k r-.l Duch'-=- apple trees, where we sprayed in 1891 and 1892, where the said worms were so numerous, there is only an odd worm to be seen. But in other parts of the orchard, where they had scarcely iipple limbs. You will damige in this county. 206 EXPEHIMENTAL FARMS. '^'^''^'^'''■^•^ulS^^^^ *™ -i.h Paris ,„,„, as effective as one would wish. '"°'''^^'^« i^^^ess, the .spraying was not complete, nor effect' 'St';;^e'rI':sL"c:rd";rel?i;f;ierT^ '^'^ ^"•'l"''^^^ ^ *'^« -"t-- J^^d no very eflectual. It more completely e'St^" ^'"•^"^ *° "-? -bout, was Pans green. Still the Paris green did we n ?1 f t I Case-bearers than did the with both the same day. We snrav d Z ? ^^ ""^'^ °^ ^^''^^ ^^^ We sprayed year again, but this yet thLtrn^'wi^ «--' -' 'his U Young. •' maeea in that part of the orchard." Dr. most^prf«U^„::.h rlearrd'™',™'"-, ',",*=/?' "■" "■« -'-P"'- ^r the Plied a. a ,.„, »•». ^ e'^r^irira^sr^sj^j I'iVT:-™'"'^'"" ^ "o- THE SAN JOSE SCALE. . (-^mdiotus perniciosus, Comstock.) turis^^r s:;^t;^:r^:-:^rsif z'^'T"^-^^^ ^y *^« horticm- occasions it has been reported to .ne as occu rin" in R.V 1 P i^'l''" ?" ^"° °'' ^^^'^e the impression that the insect referred to w ^th^ ?. f p^'T,^'^ ' '^"^ ^ ''^^ '^^ first A«*s,F,tch, or something else Dmi^l the ntt « ^'^"•- ^ ^ark-louse {Chionaspis fur- of ^..i«if/zo^,*.^;er«i<,.io.«, on apple hav?i',f '"Tf ' ^'°'^*^^'^''' "^^^^ubted speciinens been identified by Mr. L. O Howa d C '''''f ^™°^ ^"'^•'^'' Columbia and have bable that, at an J rate, some of ^stious hwTo ^ "T"'""^' ' ^^'^^^ '' - p" which has been reported as due to tlfe Apple S is „ "^^'f ''"'' H ^'''^^' -^'""bia scale insects. The fact that one is a ntaat lou£ wiH T.^^^ f "'"^ '^^ ^'"« ''^'^'l "tber tion at all stages after hatching, and tt ota s 7 ^^r'*?^"^ "^»-°*^ ^^ l^^O'""- lno^•e for only two or three days, does not Seot ft "''"'*'• ^'""^ ^'""^ ^^e power to there is even yet a most deplora le igno'L; td ndifFr^^""'"" ' ?'"' ""fo'-t^nately, the worst insect enemies of the farn.er and fr ft „, ? ^S'^ f '° ^^'^^ ""'ght names of even to the right natural order itJ?! t^int-grower. So that the referrin- a pest " weevils," " ,^.ubs " If" worms » iSLacc!;?? ''f'"'- '^^" ^'^^ '■"'^' " ^ugs,'' " fife?' quite difrerent insects. ^llon\yli:'l^:\:^r^^^^^^^^^ instances, specimens have to be written for but ,nt '' ""^ ^'T' ^'^'''^"«'^' ^^ "^^"ly take to doctor their crops themselves the w' T ^''^''^ '^'^^'"^ cultivators under their p-eat disappointuLt at obSit ^obLlS possible, specimens should be sent with letters ottl.r"''" ^" "^' '""'^'^ ""^''^''^^ Ca J^r^^e5rt^^^i:;t,r^U^ ^.^^^^- on .. part of as the San Jose Scale, as soon as it waVknown for 'n^T'f '''"'' "" P«™i--i«"« - foe in Canada, I prepared {or The FarmerTldvocl "f f '' f '■"\T"'^™""^ '""^ «^'^"'--d circulation and for the Annual Report o/ I 1 1^?' •'"/' "'•' ^'"'"'^^ ^'^^ '^ ^^'^e article giving the life history and the vLlt. t "'^f f ^"^ocuHy of Ontario, an against this^pest. These were draw fo ^t "r 'f "^ m'*^" ^""'1'^ "'«'''*^ ^^^-^iv^ waged by the United States Division of EtoZk,r .,'"/''" T"''^^ "^ ^^e warfare .e„Arr.r;S^traiS:Tafra„TS^^^^^^^^^^ " ^*-' '^« P"'>- -- . . This insect has had attention drawn to it of 1 ,tf ^ . injurious numbers in the Eastern States duriiAhl «V^ ' unexpected appearance in of Entomology at Washington, undei the dSion of ^ n''/' ".'' ^^"^ ^^'« ^^^'^^^-^ Mr. L O. Howard, has, during the past summer ad„. ^^^ Entomologist, reTort /\h''' ''"T "^ "■^^"" '*^ hope thari^l %St. ^tie f ''^""r^ "T"^^' ^« •eported, the insect has either been eradicated or brought t^S.-t^tr^l' " ^'"^ ^""^ REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 207 th Paris green, t complete, nor winter, had no )ve about, was than did the We sprayed reen, and this rchard." — Dr. •pillars for the Paris green, )ntrolling the 3 emulsion ap- the horticul- two or three I had at first 'ionaspis fur- ed specimens >ia and have eve it is pro- ish Oolumbia lis and otlier s of locomo- he power to ifortunately, lit names of •ring a pest igs," "flies," 3 caused by e> in many ators under- "f course, to i, whenever 'he part of icious a foe id occurred has a wide 'nta7-io, an it efFecti'.'e he warfare y supplied )ur figures jper treat- !a ranee in Division amojogist, asures to has been Up to 1892. the San Jos^ Scale was thought to be confined in North America to the Pacific States, where it has shown itself to be a most destructive ( my of the fruit grower. It was probably first brought to California on fruit trees imported from Chili about 1870, and the name, San Jose Scale, was given to it by fruit shippers in 1873, from the name of the place in California where it was first noticed. It spread rapidly for seven years without any particular attention being paid ti> it. In 1880, however, Prof. Comstock poinleii out the great loss which it was causing, and gave it tlie specific name porniciosus, for the reason that he considered it to be the most pernicious scale insect known in the country. It not only swarmed in countless numbers on fruit trees in cer- tain orchards, but infested nearly all kinds of deciduous fruit trees grown in California. In a special circular which Mr. Howard issued last year, when the insect appeared in the States of Virginia and Mai yland, he says as follows : " In the course of twelve years, the insect spread through all the fruit-growing regions of California, through Oregon and into the State of Washington." It is known as the worst insect pest of deciduous fruit trees on the Pacific coast, and has caused greit pecuniary loss. Many crops of fruit have been ruined, and thou- sands of tre s have been ki led. (L. 0. Howard, Circular No. 8.) In 1892 the insect was found in New Mexico on apple, pear, plum, pea-h, quince and rose. It had be^-n brought into New Mexico upon yoing trees rom California. Nearly all the other instances of infestation east of the Rocky Mountains can bo traced to two nurseries in New Jersey, where the pest had been in' rodu^'ed in 1886 or 1887 on trees of the Japanese plum " Kelsey, " which had been procured from the San Jos^ district in California. Idaho pear trees had also been frequently imported from Cali- fornia, which were most probably infested. In 1891 and 1892 s' veral blocks of young apple trees were badly infested. It is on pear trees chi"fly that this pernicious scale has been distributed through tl;e State of New Jersey. Prof. J. B, Snnth says (Insect Life, VII., p. 166^ : — "The Idaho pear hiis been the most dangTous because it came infested whenever imported direct, and after it, came in close Older, iSIadame von Sie- bold, Garbei', Lawson, Seckel, Lawrencj and Bartlett. Other varieties are also in- fested, but less frecjuently, and the scales do not do so well. KiefFers alone are absolute- ly exempt, and closely following comes the Leconte, which is rarely infested in the nursery, and never in the orchard, in my experience. One tree grafted with Lawson and Kieifer had the Lawson branch and fruit covered with scales, while the Kiefier branch was entirely free. Currants, black and red, became rapidly infested and the scales were certainly cUstributed on these plants. " Mr. Howard says that \As insect spreads rapidly for a scale insect, and is the most dangemus scale known. It is, too, incons- picuous and would be overlooked by many. Sp(>cimens of apple boughs received from Bri- tish Columbia were entirely incrusted with the scales, so as to give them the appearance of r\ having been dusted with ashes. Mr. Howard ^ gives the following description of the scale in his circular above referred to ; "The San Jos^ Scale belongs to the same group of scale in- sects, the DiaspiniB or armoured scales, to which the Oyster-shell Bark-louse of the Apple belongs. It differs from this species, and in fact from all other eastern species found on deciduous fruit tnes, in that the scale is per- fectly round, or, at most, vt^rv slightly elon- gated or irregular. (Fig. 11). It is flat, pressed close tothebark, resembles the bark of the twigs in colour, and wiien fully grown is between -^ an I |- of an inch in diameter. At or near the ij,,- 11 Q„„ T a 1 - ^uf 1 L- i"iddle of each scale is a small, round, slightly Dig. 11.— .S^n Jose Sealo : c, adult female contain- , j. j ui i • i. \ ■ '. e J ing young, greatly enlarged ; d, anal fringe of elongated black pomt ; or this point may same, still moro enlarged. sometimes ; ppear yellowish. When occur- I 5- II liXPERIMEyTAL FARMS. appearance of be^n' .^„. ^-7 ^'^"^ then every When the scaLar/cruSbrf ''"^ °'- "^^^' ish oily liquid will anl .. ^^.^'''^P'^S. « yellow- ing of the^oft yelK i^'r h"^ 'T^ .'•" ^'•"■^^>- and to crawl from nd' It T^'f ^"''' *" ^•'^*^^ f-fterthe trees W of I ) . '"''^ '"^'^'^^ shortly the summer there is f;."' ^''"" ''"'^ ^""« through -tions. T,e insect T'. "* '^^'''^^^^i-'^ of goner- twigs and limbs and w^h' °"* °"^'^ ^^^« >oung '^^^.l^, "^^ discoloration around the edge of each scale ^'^' "^-^ . "^t^ 4 «''o^« a pear attacked by the scale and a separate scale much enlarfred. The male IS an active minute insect (Fig. 13). '"secc. The above description and figures will enable fruit-grow- ers to recognize this enemy should they be unfortunate tTf^A ^- f ' ^^""'^ "'--shards nfestedwithifc. With regard to remedies, we have the ad- Jitage of all the experience ot Oahfornian experimenter.s, the careful work of the Divis- ion of Entomology at Wash- mgton,andofProf.J.B.Smith, in fiJ^t^tr ST;r r^"''' — -'-- s ?^- -'Sis cut down the infir.^ . '^ ^'^'''- ^" ^'^^es of severe an 1 •f''-*' P'*"^^^ ^^'^''tivo volume ox water, instead of nine times 7h^,.M " '™' ^'^"ted ne cimea, the usual strength advised ales lie close to Jistinguiah with- it is of a gray. ■ Apple branch i above at left. f each scale, pear attacked fl a separate ed. The male mute insect, cription and e fruit-grow- th is enemy unfortunate eir orchards With regard ave tlie ad- ' experience 3orimenter.s, f the Divis- 7 at Wa.sh- J. B.Smith, ing the past :'ee methods d effective mended to ng with in- ida] washes re in leaf, will do no n, and yet e ordinary s., caustic re recoiii- On peach as diluted h advised REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOUlST AND liOTAXIST. 209 for most other plants. It was found advisa- ble to repeat- the sprayings at iiiterxals of about a wiek. The young scale insects were noticed on .May 19th at Riverside, Ind., and the females, viviparous in habit, gave birth to you >ig for a full month. This was upon peach trees, and it was found that the Resin wasli killed the scales more (piickly than the very much dihited Kerosene emulsion. As Mr. Howard points out, this ra|.i(lity of the work is im])(jrtant, since where a full grown female is sprayed with Kerosene emulsion, she may live for three or four days, during which tinu'she brings forth young ; whereas if sprayed with Resin wash, fewer younw scales are produced. The resin wash, how- ever, is readily carried off by the rains, while the Kerosene emulsion is more resistiint. In Prof. J. 13. Smith's iavcsti-atidus in Peimsylviinia, it is reior been applied three times to most of the trees at intervals of ten days, up to the first wctk in June. The treatment has been absolutely success- ful.' Yor winter washes, t!ie Kerosene emulsion and Resin washes may lie made stronger. The stock Kerosene emulsion has been used diluted with ..nly 4i parts of water, and'^for the Resin wash the same ingredients were used in the following'proportions : Resin, ,"50 lbs., caustic soda, 9 lbs., iish oil, 4h pints, water, 1,00 gallons. ' '■ The most favoured winter remedy in California, however, is (lie lime, salt, and sulphur mixture. This consists of unslaked lime 10 lbs., sulphur b ll,s., stock salt 5 lbs., water to make I') gallons. This wash will do great dainnge to the trees if applied duriiig the growiiii; season, antl shoul'l he used only in whiter. All the suliihurand half the lime are placed in a kettle, and 8i gallons of water added ; after which, the contents of the kettle are boiled briskly for about an iiour. The solution, which at first is yellow from the sulphur, will turn very dark brown, assuming more or less of a reddish tint, and will tin:dly change from a thick batt'i' to a thoroughly li(|uiil condition, the product being ordinary sulphide of lime. All the salt is added to the remaining ,j pounds of linu\ and the latter slaked : after which, the slaked lime and salt are added to the sul- phide of lime already obtained, the whole being then diluted with water to nudce 1,^ gallons. This should be strained before ajiplication, as it does not form a perfect iiipud solution, on account of the considerable quantity of undissolved lim(>, whicli will soon siidv to the bottom, uidess the solutionis constantly stirred while beini; sprayed " (L O liQ^^■■M•(\, Circular No. S.) o i .r v • • The thiid n'.ethod of fighting scale insects is known as the Gas Treatment. This has been e.Ktensively used in California, but is an expensive operation, and the materials necessary are very poisonous and danuerous to lia\e about a house. It consists, brit^ly, of covering the tree to be treated with aiiair tight tent, and tlien filling the tent with the poisonous fumes of hydrocyanic acid ga-^, whicji is generated by placing 1 oz. of cyanide of potassium, 1 fluid ounc» of sulphuric acid and a lluid ounces of water in an earthen- ware ves,sel beneath the tent. The gas is \ery liuht ami ri^es to the toj) of the tent, and if this be k<'pt on the tree for halt an hour, every scale will ()e destroyed. 'I he quantities of ingredients given above are sufiicient for a tent inclosing laO cubic feet. 8c— U ° Fig. 14.— Sail Jdse Sciilc ; a, \u-m- ituidcratoly in fe.sU'd ; b, fpinale scale e iiliiigiil. 820 tXl'ERIMENTA L FA HMS. of oitherof the tln-eo wi t w X w i' ^^'"'« ''"""^ ^ho winter a single application Kerosene enmls on nt t to the J '. [""rf "'"''■' ".' '"^ f '•'^ ''"^ preferen ., to .strong sulphur nuxture " ' ' ''" '^ "'^"' ^*"^'" ^^^^ ' ^"'' «»'-^l'y. ^o th,. lin,e, salt, and itn.:;^u^x:;ii;n;n;iT;ct='L;:.'"-^ '--''- '-^^—^ ^^ above wS; or ';?'pt;:s;vSerT""''.":f'''''''/'\-^ ^^'^'-^ "^ ^'- «*-^»-'« - of hot water to one ^ the e u Sn .n.;"*! ^'^^-^^'-'^f-'- --'v, take first 3 parts rostofthewatertonakethrior 5 i,l f f " "!'"-""^''ly nnxed, add the or i) parts of water. ^ "'' '"'1"""'^ ' *'^'" '-^ ^^ '"^«'- ^^■^*. '"ix with 4i THE PEAR-TREE FLEA-LOUSE. {I'lfylla pyricola, Forster, Fig. 15.) Attack. — Small dear-winLced insects wed"e abdon.en. These insects at the hghtest disturbance, leap from the foliage of infested pea ti'-e and l.y tor a short distance. Occurring with these, will b . foun on he oaves the curious flattened oval iarva^ (ti- IG) which u.?f! -tc.h.d, are ^ery small, one-eightieth of a!! inc f n ^ h : ' \ lllf ti^anslucent yellow colour, will, red eyes. These gr..^ ' , | ^ 1 I about a month j.ass through li^•e nymj,h .stages, duri ' wlic the body retains its flattened form and becon.es much .larfer u U n the full grown nymph, the large wing-pads an.l the g^ ! ."/^ upon trees is .J;':^:^^ 7!^:::^^ :z:z ''-■ "™- ^^ *'- ^-- of honey dew with which the leaves, Ibnbs and trunks of the trees soon become eovere.l and upon which a dirtv- looking black fungu.s, /'««myo m/iriua, develops. After a time, the leaves and young fruit fall, (he trees assume an unhea thy appearance, and in the ca.se of .severe attack the tree dies. Another enemy of fruit trees which has this year appeared for the first thne in Canada, is the Pear-tree bv A '" ""[ ^.'";\'""-^^- '^l"'-:""-'« of which w,.re sent to me b> M J. S. 1-reeman, of Freeman. Ont„ who writes:— ' 1 reemaii, Halton Co., Ont., June 7.— I have a block of three hundred Dwarf Duche.ss ,,ear trees mixed wit.h apple trees, whicli .u'e so badly inleste.l with the ,n- ., ■ . . stcts which I am sending you, that, from the appearance ^^'- 1«-Nyin|.l. of IVar- feu Flea- ' ' ijQuse fiilargfd. Fiff. 15. Tin- I'l.ar- tree Flua-loii.so, en- larged. REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 211 atisfactory to find ilsion, is tho best, iws ; — " Remedial t three Hprayings , will practically sidei'abiy diluted iingle application I's of the insect, feicii.'o to strong; lie lime, salt, and lit growers j but dd it boiling hot :i' oi' force jiump. face of g (ss and if slon in a ' stock made as ■ake first 3 pai'ta mixed, add the 5h, mix with 4i )ed like niinia- lie body pointed e found on the liich, when first ii.i^tli, of a .semi- >w lapidly, and during which ih darker until, greater part of OS the body 1)0- of til is insect t 1 'ear- tree Flea- larged. of the tree."* at present, the whole crop, some of the worst specimens of which I am sending you, will be dest royed. 1 do not think tlie pear trees were troubled before this season. Would you kindly tell me what the insects are and give a remedy? Would it be too late to apply a remedy this season ] Please reply. Reply. — "June 8. Your letter of 7th inst , with insects inc osed, is just to hand and is of great interest. I wish you had written a little sooner ii. the season. The in- sects sent are the Pear-tree Psylla (Psi/'/a pyricoln), a pest which has done great injury in the States of New Jersey and New York. This is the first record of its apj)earance in Canada. It is a serious pest, and must be fought vigorously at once. The remedy is Coal-oil emulsion. (See jiage 12 of bulletin 11 sent herewith). Instead, however, of mixing the stock emulsion with nine times its quantity of water, I would suggest your using II' times the quantity of water first, and see how that works. I shall be obliged if you will write me at once and let me know how long it is since you first noticed tills pest, and if it is very jirevalent in your district ( " The presence of this insect is always indicated by a sticky exudation noticeable on the twigs, called honey dew. Upon this, later in the season, a black fungous mould grows which gives the tree a very dirty and unsightly appeal ance. I cannot impress ujion you too strongly the importance of treating this pest at once, and if possible checking its spread. Please let me know if you or any of ycjur neighbours have recently im- ported trees from the Stales of New Jersey or New York. 1 shall be glad to give you any further informatinn in my power." — J. F. " Freeman, June 13. — 1 am much obliged for the information your letter brought me on the 11th inst. I have applied the coal oil emulsion as you recommended on my Duchess Dwarf trciS, which are 12 years old, in 12 times and not 9 of water as in fornuda ; but besides being on these, I find the insects are more or less over my other pear trees of 9 acres of dill'erent varieties. I knew from thc^ appearance of my trees that something unusual was attacking them ; but T did nut make a close examination of them until two days before I wrote you. This must be the first season this pest has been bothei'some, or I sliould have noticed the fungous growth last season if it had been there as this. From incjuiry of fruit-gi'owers in this section, I think it is likely that this p(>st may be found in other orchards. The original trees in my orchaixl came some 15 yeais ago from Lockport, N.Y., and I have, with many of iny neighl'ours, planted more or less pear trees every spring since, all the trees coming from the same place, liuckport. Any more information as to destroying this pest, will be gladly received." — J. S. FUEKMAN. Sevei'al articles have lately appeared upon the Pear-tree Flea-louse. By far the most complete study of the subject has been made by Mv. .Mark V. Slingerlaud, of Cornell University, and the results of ins labours have been published as BuUetin JtJf. of the Cornell University Agricultural Station. In this a full history is given of the develojiiuent and habits of the insect, illustrated by excellent figures, of which Nos. 15 and 16 have been kindly lent for this article. Winter is passed in the perfect state, the males and females hiding in crevices and beneath flakes of bark on the peai-trees. In the first warm days of spring, the date varying with the season, they emerge from their winter quarters, and after mating, " tho egns are laid in the creases of the bark or in old leaf scar.s, about the bases of the terminal buds of the preceding year's growth ; some were steii about the side buds near the terminal ones. ;»;(:*;«* The eggs are scarcely visible to tl.e unaided eye. It would take eighty placed end to end to measure an inch. They are elongate, j)yrif(irm in shape, smooth and shiny, of a light orange yellow colour when first laid, becoming darkei- before hatching. A short stalk to the large end attaches the egg to the b irk, and a k)ng thread-like process projects from the smaller end. The tem])erature conditions in the spring influence not oidy the time of oviposition of this winter brood, but also tho du- ration of the egg stage. The weather remaining cool, eggs upon the trees under natu- ral conditions, did not hatch until May 10, or more thaii a month aft(!r oviposition began." The young nymphs innnediately on hatching, suck the sap. Mr. Slingerlaud found that a few nymphs emerged in spring before the lea\es had expanded ; these crawled into the buds out of sight. The favourite feedint; places of the nymphs to 8c— 14i 212 ^A' PEIUMENTA L FA RMS. which their flat bodies adapt them, are in the axils of tlie leaf petioles and of the stems ..f thetorm-n- fruit. After the fifth moult, the adult insects appear; they are quit,- diflcront in liuhits from the nymphs, l)einj? extremely active and flyinj< away at the sh-htest disturbance. The winter f.-rm which lays the ,. summer \nood» are not laid "on the twigs, l)ut on the under sides of the tenderest leaves, am..ng the hairs near the mid rib, or on the petiole near the leaf Sometimes the female very adroitly places an egg or two in each notch of the toothed edge of the leaf." Tlie .summer eggs hatch in eight or ten d lays. Rciimllex.—AH stated above, the Pear-tree Flea-louse hibernates in the perfect state on the trunks of the trees and begins to move about and mate early in the, sprint At this time, the insects are not very active, and when it is known rly that trees are in- fested, many can be desti(,yed with small expense of labour and material by simryinir the trees with Kero.sene emulsion. J ^ J b This will be similar instrument, r you nore efl'ective if the rough bark IS first removed with a hoe or some le early The treatment which is most highly recommended is to spray after most of tl ng nymphs have hatched. Uv. tejlingerland says : "The best time to .spray is early in the spring, jusc after the leaves have e.xpHiided. In 181)2, about May the 15th, was ti.e best time ; then the tirst brood of nymphs had all emerged and were expo.sed in the a.xiis. It was the hist brood which did the most haiin in 1801. Fruit "rowers should examine their orchards when the leaves are expanding, and, if the nymi.hs are numer- ous, the trees should bo sptayed at once. A second and even a third sprayin^ may be necessary. Ihe destruction of the nymphs is practicable during a perio yinj< away at thu it liiDoil, is larger or tlireer tlio uiidor sides petiole near tlie ich notch of the i. a in the perfect I'ly in the spring, hat trees are in- erial by spraying ,h a hoe or some Fter most of tlie to spray is early ay the 15th, was •e exposed in the : growers should iiijilis are numer- praying may be id of two weeks, the pest will bo tioii during the Aphids or plant- n as Dimera, or antonnte longer all of the same -1 on leaves, and ve long slender .te, and the eyes ce, although sel- ' in miniature, erior one's cjuite 3 power of leap- of a brownish ch trees, and, if esonco of these Mirings east out g, liy enormous HM hieing their da, is a serious aived myself no it is referred to lingwood, Ont. With a view of bringing out further information as to the prevalence of this pest, and also to put on record what has be.'n done towards finding a remedy and com- pleting its life history, I submit herewith the following correspondence :— " (.Juoenston, Ont., March 22, 1893.— That small beetle borer which I gave you at t\w. St. David's meeting has been seriously aflecting my peach trees. I .send you a few more. Will you please tell me about its habits and how to combat it 1 I wisli to b.' w<\l\\<- as to the non injury of the peach tree before using any wash. Some of iny neighbours claim that they' have nearly destroyed some of their peach trees by applying an alkali wash. "— C. E. FisilEU. '• gu(!onston, May 22, 1S'J3.— I send you a piece of bark of a peach tree from my orchanC which is full of tlie little black beetles that we looked for last winter. The bark of 'this tree is all like the piece I send, and around the c(.llar of the tree there is not le,s than a gallon of gum that has run out from the wounds made by this borer. YouiH' tre 8 do not seem to be attacked as much as older ones. "— CaJ'T. Jamics Siiep- A remarkable feature of the attacks of this minute b 'otle upon the poach trees, is the large ipiantity of gum which ooz(h from the infested trees and falls to the ground. I'pon wet days this swells up and lies in masses of jelly around the foot (.f the tree. I saw in s(!veral instances two or three quarts given off by a single tree. This must be a .'ivat injury to the trees and accounts for the short time in which healthy, vigonais trees are killed. The statement that only unhealthy trees are attacked is undoubtedly wrong. Mr. Eisher and 1 noticed in his orchard healthy young two, three and four- year old trees which the beetles had just begun to attack. "(^ueenston, Maivh 2.— With this I send bo.K containing bark from peiieh tree which /had treated with strong lime :uid Kerosene eiindsion wash twice during last season at intervids of about four weeks, for the Peach Hark-borer. I also .send you in the bo.\ a small j.aekage of bark from a large English cherry tiee about seven iiu;hes \n diameter, whieli stands several hundreds of yards from my peach orchard find (luite isolated from anv elm or peach trees. The peach bark beetles have been at work in this tree, although they are not nearly so mniieivais as in the large peach trees. My reason f(jr thinking that the lime ami emulsion wash was not very successful was from the fact- that, after it had been washt^d off" by the weather, I saw fresh evidences of the V)oreis' woi'k in these trees, the fine chewed or ground bark standing out around the small holes made by the insects. T shall, however, be better al)le to judge this season as I have five or six trees specially selected to work with. I notice that the oldest trees are the ones selected by the borer, as I find occasiontdly an old tree in the orchai'd quite full of the little pest, though, where the insect fir.st started his depredations, small trees only about 2^ or 3 inches in diameter and about four years old, have them in ; but thev do not .-eem to be nearly so numerous as in the old trees which have rough sur- faces and cracks, where I suppose the insect can more easily secure a lodgement. I aiM.lied the wash first, I think, in June ami then again in July, on a few others about the tirst week in August. The bark you have, is from a tree which had the two wa.shes first menlioned. From examinations I have made, I am led I, believe the borer does not burrow into the solid wood. To prove this I will saw off a section of a tree and mail it to you t.vmorrow, so you can jii-ove positively whether or not it does. 1 sliiiU try your advised experiment-the Kero ene emulsion put on with a scrubbing brush— thoiigh I have heard you could not injure a peach tiee with scalding hot water. " I shall try, as you suggest, pure kerosene on one tree. I might try the hot water on another and your emulsion on the balance of them. I believe this borer is getting more numelous,^lnd T hope you will be id)le to find a sure preventive remedy. — C. E. Fisnr.u. •VU the specimens of bark sent contained living beetles, and those in the cherry bark were the true Peach Bark-borer, Careful examination of the sections of wood sent by Mr Fisher, as well as by Capt. Sheppard, some of which have; been kept m closed jars in rav olttee fnr nearly a'vear and in which there are still living beetles, and also field observations at Queenston, show that this beetle works entirely in the bark, where all iU HXnillMtXTAL FARMS. „^ "f?."® ^-t'^'''" Pfli'-l'-lmrk berf!e8 I luivo boon docturini: with lin.,.,vl nil t trees get along, an..„« over the bark and sinking would certainly look IT he e were Zon^^ °"°. ^'""t' '" *''^ ^''''^ ''"^' ''^'^'^^^^^^ pairing, and I inia^ine e.'s will beTauJ nT 1 ' '^ T^" , ^ ""*^'^''' ''^'^*' ^^'« ''^-'etles are autumt and pass .lirw^fer n t Jf L"" whelf then ll'"'"" '"" -V"" ^^"^ ^■- Please give n.e your opinion on this."-^J.F. '^ '"" '•«'"^'" ""til next spring. worse wl,itowa,l, with Pari. ,",;™ ivej b„ wt ?' , 'T ,"','""' "'"' "'lii'""'"!. ".I look » u;i t„,. i\,:;:'rLsi !^i*;,;:::;,r;; :'i r,',j rr:t;f; ■■■ 'r\"r largo number of trees with the boilo,! i;,wm>^ ;i ' , tiunka. I treated a the. of others only in ^ia^t wh:!:i' lll^tS^ ^ 'IT":? ^th^^ml^r^t?; S' ^"T "^ were treated, .ou reniond)cr, after the season was nm e a J '^e h i ^^'i ° ':•''" one was treated. Those that were health v .li,] not .1 f "^''"".' I' an when the hrst passed through the season as wel tlu\ wi^ ^ They sick, succun^bed quite early in t L sot., t'i l 7 "f"'''"^"?' ^"'"^ ^hat were You Will gather Ln th.lhat ./ co^lusL^lS^l^'b- TlSl?^- tSd S HEPOJiT OF THE USTOMOLOOIST ASJ> UOTAMST. 215 3 wood has bpjn ^es, as yoii gug. KS s(!t for flyiii^r, tlioso I HIUV lliul first wet day wo iovo that, unless hlesoine and the , will destroy the 1 linseed oil. I plicil it, seems as 'lied the coal oil ; your vur;t,,.stion, 'tion, I su|)po.se. The linseed oil iv later how the il lOth last, just id crawling over ■'ere found then. ly in June, from f July and into that there is a id hibernates as from November il and through w York State, July, adults in written to Mr. 'pared (o-day in >w luat'ircdand your ti oes and rk and sinking , but the above the beetles are those eggs this il next spring. been working ure coal oil ; I otluT followed d also, l)ut not -■liitewash and if,'uin after the ; in fact, they I. I treated a ely of some of Vll these trees k'hen the first the oil. They )me that were Y at the start, e would stand the linseed oil all right, put on li^'htly, not thoroughly saturated, after the trees "xre t in ful 1. vf but not befonv Tbr linseed od will kill the beetlrs, but after a tune th ;i U ti;:bl!;^rLe -U i* -me are left anywhere. I noticH-d this w ucl. y^^ ,„ay probably know, that old trees, say nine or ten years planted. '"•« "'-^'^ ^^^ X ^"'^ t uubled with the beetles; still, wluMi numerous, as you ^aw they attack M'ung t ees. T le I it.wu h was nut etVective. I was .hinUing, wou .1 it do to add to the w to^ wa^h. l.olica,.i.lsullicienttomake a strong o.lourf Some bugs are sensitive about .dm 'is. Would this injure the tree? And would it kill the bugs do vou think "In reply to yours of July -JT.!., [ examined my t.ves and tound early in August thebe. iVs unnin.' ov-r she bark and sinking fresh burrows. About the middle of a1 st^th^^^^^ -'-1' - "-^ "» '^ .small tree only two inches .n li m er Uu led .51 beetles in ab-ut If) or 2.) minutes, about sun-down. Ibny n.us 1 y have been a fresh brood, so numerous were they. I believe wUh j.-uUiat beetles will mature from the eggs laid this autumn and pass the winte in the b. L " I),.rember;Sl.-VVe f.mnd the beetle active during nnid weather in I'ebiuary Inat iiml in this December thev w -rked nearly the whole month. , , . , "^'' "^ow. m opinion is. that it is dangerous t., use c.d oil. or '--•" j "-;-;- peach trees befi.re they have the rough furrowed bark. I have several olbc, fe^h now rhicl. I observed this' morning, to which linseed oil was applu d lively ; one f no^ic d :; about dead, a seven year old smooth bark ; several others a ,..ir ""^" • - ^^ ^ ,l,,ad all sm..o1,bbu,k, others oMer. mugh bark, apparently all nght. 1 ^^l^''^^'^^ wi t.sta ulin.. what you have liear.l concernb.g appli-ttion of coal od tor ban Jose Scale that it will have to\,e used with great caution.^ I ivg-c't it very much, too, it is so easily ai.plied and so ellectually disposes ot them. — O. L. I'lsiu-K. The following lett.r refers to the same .subject :— ^ ,, "Queenston, December 20.-1 n reply to y..«.. of ^'^ V"' I w'r'^niTm re'j; that the Peach I'.ark-borer can injure seriously, and d not '"^'''•*''7\ ''' ; ,' ;^' .V,,; : trees about the third or fourth year after the attack begins. 1 ^^''^ ce^sfu I f , r 1,.,,.,. I >•;..,! Ir.ve had s, whitewash and Par s green See of thickness. All the applic >tions seem to clu.k the wnrk ot the l,..,vr Fho K^.^ 1 and whitewash, spra^e.l with force, and the thick ^^-^1^^"'^^;;'^^:' Ze the best results. T ap,.!ied the whitewash nnd Paris green twic.^ the ^^'f ''^^'\^l' 'XJ; I have be M? ol.l that't'his borer is known as the I.'.lm-tn.e Bark-borer, and I "ofco t.lmt they '-en. to a- tack peach trees standing near forest trees, more trequently. -C..PT. The Pea^'h P.ark-borer, and the Elm Barkd.orer (//2//.^s•u', L<-e.), altlioug^i •vtone n.e u.u.dit to be i lentical, are entirely distinct, as can be seen at once by ...xam^ atone timt, in u ^ , , ,, ^^^ ^he antenna- is composed of Ei; «rai.J;iSutr;n.f«.-.i. «>-'-''■"■" "'■:'''t/u'l''Ki;fivS t .\l,c,-l,,hi,»lk.i;iIv.u„,Jr.™«l,ring.',l,p"l»»cenlan,lovalp;..,u.«l. 11"»" •»1'» evami.ied the stu-eimens upon which Dr. Harris based his statements. 'ri e a lov eUtracts show that a certain amount of success has attended all of these exner .. and, ahlwuigh some important facts h.ve been found out wi h regard to thri histo V f this ^^^^^^ S: etle:;:' active and the com (!;iratively long ^^^^ ^'^^^^^ ^^ ^%Z^^n\ h^ snrin" yet further investigations are necessary to discover the best treatment ami the r^Luhlble remedy. Arrangements have ^een made forfurtbtr ejq.runenU r^^ season l^'rom the work of Mr. C. L. Marlatt, in lighting the han Jose Scale, as ciaailed r > t life Vir na-e 1 Itl it would appear that coal oil emulsion of a much greater ^r^:::^^ ^^'waitV^i-^M;. Fisher's cl.ihard. may be applied with safety to peach treesrand it is just possible that the death of Mr. Fishers trees may luue been due to I 216 K\i'i:i!iMi:\ i\r r.iitMs. 8omf> t)tlit'r cimsn tliivn tlio iipplipiitionH iiiiuli- In iIcnIio)' (lir Imh-cix Hi- Ihw kindly con- NcnUvl Ui tdkc ii|>tli(' invest iiiiitinii iiuain ni'Xt .spring. Tlioi'c is no (luiil)t tliiit. tliis JH a h ot' lad attack, to cut down tlin tii-eH und burn tlioni. It Kfc H to mo, howiH'cr, that less licroic moasircs will Ixi found to nicot tlio cas- ; for,, altlioii;;li this pest is very dcstiticlivt- in ocrliiin pai'ts of tlio ofcliai'infns-* ton district, a yrcat many of llio liccs arc only slii,'iiliy attacked ,iiid the wliolc;alo dostruct ion of them would entdi much unnecessary loss. I helievo that freipient ap- plications of weak in.scclicidal or preventive washe-, porsoveriiiKly nmdo at regular intervals from th(f heginninn of March to the end of May, and aj,'ain whon tho beetles appear in .July and August, would prove ellective. The greatest success nuiy b(^ exfiected from ordinary Ki'rosene emulsion (liilcv- Ilubliaiil formula), reduced with I'l p.iits of water, linseed oil, widlewash aiul Pans green, enough of the latter to give the wash a green tinge; whitewash and carbolic acid, one ounce to a pailfid of wash ; and j)articidarly the ordinary " .Saunders Wash, " which consistHof soft soap nMlucod to the consistence of thick |)Utit by the addition of a satu- rati'd .solution (>f washingsuda in water, if a|)plicd during the morning of a warm (la\,(liis will dry in a few liours, and foi-m a tenacious coating not easily dissolved by rain. Asa pr.'vciitive wash, this has been found excellent upon young apple trees, and should be aj)plied to all fruit trees as a regular iiorticultural niethod every year. It could not injure even young peach trees. 1 b 'lieve that a satisfactory remedy "for the Peach iSark- borcr will depend largely (.n beginning opeiations early' enough' in the spring. Our present knowhulgc of thesuliject would imiiciite the 1st of Manl'i to be about the proper date. Since the above was written, the following important connnuidcation from (1. C. Snow, Now York, to the American At/rirn/lurisl has appeared in their issue of January 6, 18U5 : — ' " Exppvience rvifh tho Shot-hole I'mch liorer. " Two years ago 1 had .scvend peach tree.s infested with the Shot-hole borer of the peach, strong, well loaded early Crawfords. LJiuler difections giv<-ii by ])r. Lintner I applied koro.sene with an atomi/.or twice thoroughlv, the object being to get the kero- M-n(> in the holes ,is far as possible. The ai-plication v. . , from the gmuiuUp to and as tar on the large branches as tin* b:-etl(.s were at work. Tiie trunk was saturated. The kero.sene, apf.areiitly, did not kill the beetles or injure the trees. There were five in- fested. However, one tree ripened its fruit prematurelv. i.re.seniing all the characte- riHtics of thoyeUows, except habit of growth. That tree'di.Ml in the fall, 1 believe from th.. .lamage by the b(H'tles, the .)th(M- trees ripened their fiuit at the proper time but it was ot no llavouror value, though fairly good in appearance. These trees came out as ^y^'U as ever th.' next .spring and an' in line health yet. Some other trees were sli-htly afTected at that tune. Since then I have had n.. trouble from the at tacks of the be etle.s I w-ash all trees thoroughly in the spring with the usual material, with the addition of carbolic acid. Fig. 17-Tl.n SiKittcd I'liriii lift.' siz(^ and eiilargeil. The at strawbcriy bursting of THE SPOTTED PA PT A. (/'aria sex-notuta, Say, Fig. 17). _ yi./a«'A-.— Small, shining brown IxMstles, shaped as in the figure — + of an inch in length ; varying much in colour and inarking.s, but in the commonest form having honey-yellow wing-,.ases, each bearing two large black blotches; thorax red.iish brown; eyes black; legs yellow. In many .specimens the markings cover the greater ,,art of the wing-cases ; and in some, not only the wing-ca,ses, but the thorax as well, is entirely black. All of these varieties occur togt^ther on the same plant tacks reported this year have been only on raspberries, but occa.sionally the alM. s injured. The dama-re ,.s done ea, !y in tho .eanon at the time of the tlie buds ot tho raspbei'ry, and is frequently serious. Ri:roiiT ot Tiih: r.xToMoi.onisr asd hotaxist. 217 Dem ropoiti-d to mo mimy tiin«N durini,' llie pivHt (lirni- or four yt-iiiN ;"liiil I invvt! Ii.'id tlin nmttrr Ixick, h-^piiiu' to Im iihlf to work out the lito history. So fur, iiowt-vt-r, \ huvc litrn uiial>l.' to olit.iiri .•j,'ksu.- any d.'linito ii.forina- lioniii Ciiniulivi'xeepL witii ro^^unl to its injuries. An iiit.T'.stiri^'a.'.oiiiit ■- ,j>m»,<)liv.,wliirliswinH to 1m' cxtroniuly Himilar if not idcniical witli tliis Hjn'cics, occurs in I'lof. ForlM-s'M Jiism-fH (\t}WtiHe.l heelles'/ My raspherry oaces are li' ^r.uiy infested ,vith them and I think I am not overstating when 1 say th half of the, huds have hern eaten and nca, Is all the vounj' leaves iiunclureil. , , ■ i < .i , v .i„. •'ThT.ir very ohiectionahle metbrl of work .seems .somowhat snnilar to thai ot the Crape vine Fle.a heetle, hut this, ,tpparently ih Potlea as far as jumping goes ; tor, when deeced he iii.mediat;.lv turns ov'r on his back and rolls onto the ground cureulo fash on I spraye.l my i.alch yesleidav morning at the r.ateof 2 ounces o Pari.s green to 40 " lions ot^s^,^^^^^^^^ but the ll-etles ai^ still in great force ; though possibly 24 hours ,s not^hln.' enough foi- the poison to take ellect. Some blackberry canes adjonimg the ••'^^''';'^U •!? mi^In;';;;;^ £':;:;• Imd le.ter of the lOth mst., identifying theParia be..tlefor'me. fhov are most troublesome, and were apparently .i.m.e as d eer lly Sive after two spravings with Paris green as before. 1 have given them a t Cd uing-4 ounces to 40-gall.ms-and even this did not completely rout them, t- a' i.d rain 24 hours after spraying may have prevente.l the poison donig its tl.o .1 s 1 lit 1 in 1 ,,,,,,,i„,,a now, however, that I tancy the WUel c!i; d.'llu;::il;l;.n:'nnlcss in the way of providing another crop of the pests tor ^'^^^-Dec 30 IS'Jl.-T found i hat /',„■/« *v',r-m)<,T^«, which you kindly iden.ilied for ,.,V ;,i, , ,,,,,v • tin- little villains very seriously injured my raspberry crop to all'ect them." ■ ti ii ■ "Feb 17 1892— With reg.ud to your iiupi: y as to my .spraying tor the 1 ana- beetle ^^VS:i\^:'l^:S.^^f:^ beetle with 2 ounces of Paris green to 40 " Ma? u'-^^eu!^«tUl thick : only found two dead. Sprayed again 3 o. to 40 "allons, comparatively inefleetive. ,, • , > " May 20 -Sprav'ed ag.ain 4 to 40, as the beetles were still very thick. 218 EXl'ERIMEXTA L FA RMS. " I find thcat rain fell 24 hours after the last spraying and I presume partially de- stroyed its efficacy. I cannot find that I sprayed again, but uiy impression is that even this dose did not completely fix things; but by this time 1 think the leaves had pnHJied 0.1 so far that the beetles could not do much damage. As to the effect on my crop, I am perfectly safe in saying that at least one-third of the crop was destroyed, in many cases every bud on the cane being eaten out. I found that the beetles were generally very shy and wai'y, on being approached, running to the edge of the leaf ind rolling off, or elde turning over on their backs and simulating death." " May 20, 1892. — My old enemy, I'aria sex-notata, has revisited me this s]>ring in greater numbers than ever. I sprayed with Paris green 4 ounces to 40 gallons, but^tha foe still bobbed up serenely. To give you some idea of the damage it has done me this year, I may state that out of a quarter of an acre of raspbenies not a score of canes have leafed out. I am not the only victim this year, as several of my neighbours have been seriously injured by tlie beetles ; I strongly suspect that their canes were more or less injured last year, but they do not seem to have been aware of the existence of the beetle, and some even this year failed to attribute the damage to the I'ight cause. Where the patches are badly aflected, I have advised taking out root a::d branch and burning, and presume this to be the best course. Do vou know how many eg"s the beetle lays? Or have you in any way traced out its life history? "^^ " I might mention that [ found one specimen eating a grape vine bud Is this new to you ?' Mr. John Craig, the Horticulturist of the Central Experimental Farm, found this insect early in May last iiijuriou-ly abundant in raspbei'ry plantations on the road between Hamilton and (Jrimshy. Mr. Adolphus Pettit, of Grimsby, stated that it wr.s in great mimbers on a neiP« by insects during 18'J4, he says :— The Spotted Paria was very troubL'some ab.mt Grimsby this spring, eating out the budr of the raspberry, and thus materially rclunng the cop. I have^made jVubl c the remet w is made to carry them out, they would bo easily seen. Both swarms took kindly to their new cjueens, and 27 days afterwards young Italian workers were noticed. September 24th : the hives were all weighed and several were found to be short of srt)res to cui'ry them through the winter. All hives that did not weigh ."lO pounds were fed, Si'ptember 27th, with a syrup, two parts of sugar and one of watei', ted moderately warm, in ilie evening, in a Miller feeder ; G swarms before being fed weighed 214| lbs., and were given 110 lbs. of syrup. In 18 days afterwards they were weighed again and weighed 297 lbs., making 33J pound'^ less weight than was fed. On No\ember 9tli the hi\es were all weight.'d again, immediately before being put into the cellar. These same six swarms weighed 28fi pounds, being 1 1 pounds less tlian on October 12th. This experi- ment indicates that a person feeding should allow about one third more syrup than the weight required to make up each hive to 50 pounds. The temperature of the cellar, November 3-30, 1894, varied from 40° to 44''F. report upon an '^ foundation; EXPERIMENT WITH SOME BRANDS BY FRANK T. SIIUTT, M.A., F.IC, F.C.S. OF Wax, like honey, is a true secretion and not a material gathered by the bees, special cells or glands having for their function its production. It diUers from honey, how- ever, in its formation in certain particulais. Honey would appear to be the result of the action of a diastase or ferment, pi-oduced by certain cells in the bee, upon the cane sugar contained in the nectar gathered from flowers. Wax is manufactured, so to s]ii'ak, in the bee, and is the result of the physiological function of certain glands, as already stated. Wax, therefore, is produccil at the expense of the honey or sugar (as the case may be) consumed by the bee. Thus Dumas and Milne-Edwaids found that bees fed with 500 grammes of sugar produced 30 grammes of wax, the same weight of honej" only yielding 20 gr.ammes. It would also appear that although pollen is not absolutely necessary to the production of wax, its consumption by the bees gi'eatly le- duces the amount of honey or sugar otherwise required (Berlepsch). From this it is evident that wax is secreted, primaril}' at the expense of the tissue and, secomlarily, of tlie food consumed. REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AXD BOTANIST. In supplying "foundation" to the bees, the object is to save much of this expendi- ture, and thus allow the bees more tinse and energy for the production of honey. The primaiy object of the pre.siMit series of exptMimeiits, as suggested by Mr. Hol- termann, was to ascertain the relative ease with which the various foun.lations tested were drawn out and used by the b.-cs ; it, naturally, being hold that ihose would be the most profitable which were utiliz.Mj in this way to the greatest extent by the bee.«, or, in other words, those to which the least wax was added by the bees in building the comb. It will be seen that other and pi-rhaps more important results have been inci- dentally obtained. The experiments were conducted as follows : — The frames were iillod with the various foundations under test, and the exact weight of two iuchcs square, noted. At the close of the season a similar area of two inches s.iua.e was cut out of the centre of the full comb, the caps ot the cells carefully removed and the honey, was extracted with the extractor and tiiially ny succe.ssive exhaustions with cold water. The empty honey-comb was finally allowed to dry in the air and was weighed. The following tables give in consecutive form the data obtained and the averages therefrom. ExPEUiMENTS with Various Brands of "Foundation," 1894. c A. B. C. D. E. G. H. I. .J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Xiuue of Wax ami .Mil C 3 ■^l I'jn V. V-'O I". Chuice \va.\, Km.i uiill, tniter section. 8!) K. 11 •• " ..1 81) F. <■ " " ..1 12(1 F. " " iiiniT section.: 120 F. Fuundatiou in general u.se, outerj suction. ■ Fonii'latiiin in general uso, outer section •.■ • • Heavy sheet, Root mill, iter section. I I'-IO !■ .. " " ..! 811 F " " inner section.] 89 F Choice wax, Civ '11 I'less, inner see-| tion 1 UU 1< Patent process, 12 sq. ti'et, iimer: section ; Patent pi-ocess, \C> sq. feet, innel' section ■ ■ ■ ! Inferior wax, (!iven press, ituier section I ■ • • ' > S d -B 1-4010 1-4010 1-2010 1-2010 1-4115 1-4145 1-S1.57 l-Ml,-i7 i-ic.,-0 1- 1(170 1-2240 1-2210 1-8010 10010 1-0030 1-.5S20 »-t 53 "* •" it .,. i _= S 2 c g a 2-8,335 3-0804 2-0025 2-8035 2 50.50 2- 1805 2-Sli;5 2 (1750 2-5340 2-50.50 2-5410 2 8000 3 -0505 2-7005 2 0115 3 0000 ^ _ - u fc. -- . " Sill — o b^ 1-4325 l-os;io r3',KS5 l-05il5 11505 1 00(10 1-. 5(108 1 3.503 1.3070 1-33S() 1-3170 1-.5820 •~ t». i> a 03 u 'A Ji - - 2 lii (:!,\ }>V0Bq.ft. •10-5 " 110-1 137 -8 81-3 75-3 114 0 i I n.(; 103 3 11 8-5 2 1)115 3ooyo ,i^ iS> l-W,^ ,*4 1-5577 1- 521)0 1 10.S2 1 4300 1'3525 1' 441)5 1-2555 1-7025 1-8185 1-4270 111 1 120-9 78-3 108-0 1100 118-4 09 1 175-5 100-4 90 0 Particulars respecting the colour and appeariincc of the foundations and their resulting honey-coiub are contained in tiie subjoined uif luoranda : A. k B. — Foundation, neai'ly white, clear and bright ; in the honey-comb it was only a shade darker than the cells. C. k D. — Foundation a shade darker than A, but almost white. Honey-comb very .similar to A. E. ckF.— Foundation a bright yellow, clear ; in comb, several shades darker than cells, colour gradually diminishing from foundation plate to top of cells. G. k H.— Foundation very pale yellow ; in comb it is slightly more yellow in inner section than in outer ; somewhat darker than wax of cells. I. & J. — Founilation brownish -yellow, not so light as E. Tn comb it is consider- ably darker than cells, colour shading oil' from centre. K. & L. — Foundation almost identical in colour with that of preceding; in comb, yellowish brown and considerai)ly darker than the cells, colour shading oH' as in I. & J. On the whole, very similar in aj)pearance to the i)reoeding. M.— Foundation a very pale yellow, in colour this comes between E. and A. ; in in comb almost white, scai'cely any ditieronce in colour to be distinguished between it and the cells. N.— Foundation a bright yellow, a little lighter in colour than E. : incomh, colour almost gone and in this parti.'ular scarcely di.-,tinguishable fnmi cells. O. — Foundation bright yellow, a shade darker than N., jirobably owing to gr^-ater thickness; in comb, pale yellow and in this respect dilloring from K, does not show the same slia ling oft' from centre as noticed in some of the heavier foundations. P.— Foundation, deep yellowish brown, the darkest in the series, appears to be more elastic than M., which is of about the same weight and from the same mill ; foundation in comb, brownish yellow, colour extending about one half the depth of the cells. Deductions from the above Data. 1. — That a certain minimun weight of wax is ai)pare!itly required for the con- struction and strength of the cell-, although not neavssaiily the same weight is required in every case. 2. -Tliat when a light (in weight) foundation is supijlied, the bees make up the deficiency; in other words, the weight of wax produced by the bees is inversely pro- portional to the amount of wax supplied as foundation. This is well illustrated by M. and 0, and is borne out to a greater or le.sser extent (with one or two exceptions) by the other members of the series. It pjints emphati- REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTAXIST. 228 cally to the economy of supplying the bees with a foundation of not more than seven and a half feet to eight feet to the pound. 3.— That a dark or deeply coloured foundation gives a dark and unsightly " fish- bone" in the resulting comb, mitorially aflfecting its palatability and injuring the sale. 4- — That in addition to what has already been said, there appears to be some support to the theory that certain waxes are more easily worked and drawn out by the bees than others. The I'esults obtained in the experiments with the " foundations in general use" and the "inferior waxes " from the Root mill, would, apparently, lend weight to this view. The facts at our command do not at present allow of any general conclusion being arrived at on this point. Tlieio can be nu doubt, however, that this factor can- not, in view of the data here given, be of equal importance with that of the weight of wax supplied to the bees in the foundation. 5- — Tiiat the present experiments give no definite results that would enable us to draw conclusions as to the relative merits, as regards working by the bees, of wax mil- led at high and low temperatures. It miglit be urged from what has already been said, that it would be economical to supply all tho wax necssary for the ci instruction of the comb. There are, however, no facts to support this extreme view. The piuduction of the wax by the bees is a normal function, and its entire cessation might jwssibly affect the honey yield or lead to a disarrangement of the general health of tiit; bees. There is probably a limit in the amount of wax that can be advantageously furiiishtd as foundation, a limit to be ascer- tained by future experiments. SOME SPECIAT.1.Y NOXIOUS ^VKEDS. Of the many weeds which have b 'en sent in for identification or in(}uired about dur ing the past year, there are a few which require more than a ])assing notice just now. Great attention has been given to this most important subject by the superintendents of all of our branch farms. Mr. S. A. Bedford, of Brandon, has forwarJed for identifi- cation many specimens from farmers in his district, and has done good work in speaking at meetings on the practical treatment of these agricultural pests. Mr. Bedford lias be- sides prepared for exhibition to farmers, .specimens of the, more injui'ious weeds. Mr. Angus Mackay, of Indian Head, has done excellent work in the same line, and has col- lected for the North-west Assembly specimens of Tumble 3Iustard, French Weed and others, for exhibition purpo.ses. Mr. 'J'liomas Sharpe, of Agassiz, states that there is a good deal of interest shown Ijy farmers in British Columbia alxmt noxious weeds. He thinks that many of tiiese plants are being introduced in packages of trees, .stock cai's, etc., and has aske(l that a collection of mounted weeils might be sup])lied him for exhibition, as many of the farmers do not know the appearance of .some of the worst weeds until these get to be a serious pest, and eradicating them is a costly undertaking. Col. W. Blair writes in a similar strain from Nova Scotia, and among other things reports that the Corn 8|)urry (Sjienjula arveusis, h), lately recommended by some as a fodder jilant, is one of the very worst weeds in his province. I would draw particular attention to the following imported weeds which call for special efibrts. 224 EX rElilMES TA L FA ILMS. The Russian Thistle or Hvissian Tunihli^ vmvd (Salsola Kafifli.iXiii: Tra- gus, DC, Fig. 19) referred to in my last report, was detected in July last in ^Janituba. Immediately on receipt of specimens, I prepared for distribution to the farmers of Manitoba and the North-west Torritoi'ies a short inilletin (ExpiM'iiiiental Faiiii Notes, No. 4) giv- ing an illustratetl description and con- cise history of the weed, and sug- gestions as to the best steps to be taken to prevent its spread. At tlio saiMc rime, the Manitoba Gdvernnient adopted \ igorous measures to tight this terrible pest of the Dakotas and some of the other North-western United States. The farmers of the west, and in fact of the wliole Dominion, seem to be thorouglily aroused and to re- cognize the tianger of neglecting this enemy. This is evidenced by the very large nunibei' of letters of iiujuiry and specimens sent in to see if they were the Russian thistle. These specimens were for the most part the true Tumble- weed of the west, Amarnntns albits, L. from Manitoba, the North-west and British Columbia, and Sonchns arven- sis, L., from Ontario and Quebec. Although I have made inquiries from correspondents in Manitoba dur- ing the last two years as to whether they had observed any plants of the Russian Thistle, I could not leain of its occurrence in Canatla until July last. However, Mr. James Dale, of Grund, ]Man., sent me in the begin- ning of 8epteml)er, old stems of the previous year. I was under the im- picssion that this was the first record of the occurrence of the pest in Canada, but I find, from an extended report by Mr. A. K. Leith, the Insjector of Noxious Weeds, of the ^Manitoba Deparlment of AgricultDre and Immigration, an advance copy of which has bi en kindly ])laced in my hands thmugh the courtesy of the Hon. Thomas (J reen way, Minister of the Department, ti.at the Russian Thistle was tirst noticed five years ago on a farm occupied by one Peter Rhimer ; but it was not till three years ago that it spread far over the district. Under instructions from the Hon. Thomas Greenway, Mr. Leith has n)ade a very thorough search through those districts of .Manitoba, wliei- it was thought that the weed was likely to occur, and has explained to the settlers the danger of neglecting this enemy. He has a'so, by order of the Pro- vincial Government, taken such steps as were possible to bring about its extermination. The weed was found in surprising quantities in some localities, as around Morden, where "it was so thick and dense that the crop was entirely choked out. On a piece of land of about five iicres, a farmer, Abram Wiebe, cut with a mower and raked up over 90 cocks as large as good sized hay cocks which after drying out, he burnt. " Mr. Leith went thiough the Mennonito reserve and found the pest all through the country in a greater or less degree. The way it was scattered seemed to indicate more that it had Fig. 10. -The Kussian Tliistlr plant. a branch of a mature UEl'OliT OF THE EXTOMOLOalST AND IJOTANIST. 225 been spread in seed grain than by its natural manner of rolling. Very little indication of it was found on the natural prairie, except wliere there was loose earth around gopher holes. The Mennonitos all know the plant, but, as a rule, are indilTerent whether it is on tlu^r land or not, although a few seemed anxious to secure its extermination. Tlie farmers of Manitoba are to be congratulated on the vigorous manner in which the endeavours to exterminate this weed have been prosecuted by the Provincial Department of Agriculture. In addition to the many localities where the Russian Thistle was found on the Mennonite reserve, small patches mto also discovered at Carman, Souris, Wawa- nesa, Belmont and Baldur, all of which were carefully destroyed by order of the dcpart- nienU Although I do not think it at all likely that the Russian Thistle will become a dangerous weed in Ontario, where it has little chance of "tumbling," it may be well to state that vigorous s{)ecimens have been foutul along the Grand Trunk Railway, south of Lake St. Clair by Mr. J. Dearness, of London ; at Toronto Junction, in the Canadian Pacific Railway yards, by Miss Zelma Bogart; and at Smith's Falls on the same rail- way, by Prof. John Macoun. The Russian Tumble-weed or Thistle will be easily re- cognized from the hiiures of a mature branch, an immature b ancli and seed shown herewith (Fig. 20). The jjlant most fi'e(iucuLly mistaken for it is the true tumble-weed, .hnrtra/f^iw dibits ; but the two can be at once distinguished b}- the fact that, when the plants are immature, the leaves of the true tumble kvei'd are expanded into a blade half an inch across, wliile those of the Russian Thistle are thread-like and fleshy. When ripe, the seeds of the former are lens-shaped, black and liighly polished, not more than j'- of an inch in diameter, while those of the latter are, shaped as in the figure, c all gra\' and nearly \ of an inch in their greatest length. Some other western weeds have attracted attention by their aggressiveness during the past season. Mr. A. Mac- kay writes from Indian Head : — " T can safely say thao one iialf of this farm was literally covered with plants of the I »■ * - u\ TuMiiMC MusTAiU), ^'t.v(/»(/r/'i('w; .lindpixtnun, Crantz, blown in i '^ ?'^ from adjacent farms on November 14, last. By good luck, the Wv-^lP^^ greater part of this was fallowed last sunnner, and I hope ^**'^ not many plants will ap|>ear next yeai'in the crop. In 1893 there was not a j)lant in this wiiole lot. Tiiis year when we plouglu'd the lield for the first tiuie, it was a mass of ''tist;;;/h;"rK!n.;^l-ver, and the plants were so thick that every foot was iiiK iKniofl, iiiitunil size and a covered with the weed. The tree plots, garden plots and single sii'ilculai'Kfd. all places of that nature were filled up, and continued so till the frost came. Of course, we ploughed, hoed, scutfled, as each new crop came up, and kept theui from going to seed. lUit with fresh importations from the same quarter this fall, I have no doubt there will be plenty again n(>xt year. All our crops had more or less plants in them. We pulled them whenever it was practicable ; but some places were so bad that we did not touch them until the grain was rijie. The plant is easily killed by fallowing the land, but it is spreading fast in the direction of the pre- vailing winds. Our council has power to cause the destruction of this weed, and likely will take steps the coming year to do so. If something is not done soon, this whole country will be overrun. Russian Thistle has not made its appearance here yet, and I hope it will not ; but, as a weed, it is not any worse than our own tumble weed. " There is an/siinum orientale is not on the farm, but is found five miles from here, and has caused consider- able loss to the farmer on whose place it has obtained a foothold. I think it is only 8c— 15 « ^^t*ff ->'> AnnmitiK ijrizeu l!l,S A ninuptcriix li)7 povictaria Iil7 Aphis mali ID!) Apiary, the 'Jlil A))|ilc aphis lilll Arlioretuiii XKi Arniy-WDi'iii 1!(2 AKpidiohin pcriiicioims 2(M! 15(^atiiit< net 21S Hlij,'lit nil oats and Ijai'li'y \m> IJotaiiic K'lrdfii ih3 Caciicia rosaceana y,)~ Cumcliiui sittirii 22() Cankur-wdi'iiiM li(7 Oiir/xicapKit puiiumclki ii)5 Cci'calN, insect ontMnics of ],st) Cigar casc-licarcr of tliif applo 201 Codling moth 11)5 Culcophora Flclckcrdla 201 Conotravhdus tietmphar hk; Corn spnrry 223 Correal Hmdcncii 1^3 Donations ruccivod 1,^-, Elaliridiv jj<^ Erioi'iunpa ecrnai . , ]j)n Eri/siiiiiiin iirientalc 22:") Falno flax 22() Fixter, John, report by 21!) " Foundation,'' cxpcrinicnts with hrandu of. . 221 Frit-Hy, American ],s(j Fruit crop, report on ]i)4 Fruits, insect enemies of pi4 Grain aphis j^i; GrapholUa pisarui i ss (!rassliop|)ers ji^- tirey peach weevil lo.s " IJare's ear nuistard i2(p I'AdK Hessian fly j^,; Jf//laiiii,iin iiiiiichIhk 2ir> Kerosene enndsion -jlo Lesser migratory Ineus*, 1x7 Letters, appreciativo \j^^^ Lcucuiiiit unipuneta \i\2 Meetings attended 1S4 Miltnophis (iltdiiis \iq Nixlia luiiiifii/iilii 22(1 Olilitpie Landed leafrolii'r 11(7 J'driit mx-Hotata 21(> I'ea moth jx" '''■'irslug ijiK I'ear-leaf blister idk I'ear-tree Healouso , 2I0 I'i'rennial sowthistle 22(1 l'hl Spir(/dld (irrensis 033 Spotted I'aria 21(1 'rund)le mustard 22(> 'r\uulile weed, true 225 Wheat midget 180 Wire-worms i^j Weeds, some s|)eeially nci.vious 223 Xu/ebDrus (linpiir joy