62 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



G-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1£07 



all over the world as a carefully edited magazine of accurate information on scientific 

 end economic entomology. Ever since that date it has been issued regularly under 

 the able editorship of the Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, or Dr. William Saunders, now the 

 Director of the Dominion Experimental Farms system. 



The next conspicuous landmark in the progress of applied entomology was in 

 1870 when the Agricultural and Arts Association of Ontario voted a sum of $400 to the 

 Entomological Society of Ontario, which had been founded in 1S62, on the condition 

 that they would ' Publish an annual report and form a cabinet of insects useful or 

 prejudical to agriculture and horticulture, to be placed at the disposal of the Asso- 

 ciation.' The Entomological Society of Ontario accepted the grant and has since 

 that time faitlifvilly carried out the conditions, and has continued the work in a most 

 successful manner in tracing out the life-histories of noxious and beneficial insects 

 and devising and making known practical remedies for the former. It has also pub- 

 lished every year from 1871 an mvaluable report upon occurrences of the injurious 

 insects which were of most importance as affecting the welfare of the province. The 

 first of these reports entitled ' The Eirst Annual Report on the Noxious Insects of the 

 Province of Ontario,' was prepared by Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, Mr. William Saunders, 

 then of London, and Mr. E. Bayiies Reed. All of these investigators have from 

 that time to the present day continued their useful labours on behalf of the society 

 and the country at large. 



In 1883, Dr. William Saunders's useful work on ' Insects Injurious to Fruits ' was 

 published and from that time to the present it has held the first place as a iiseful 

 manual of accurate scientific information and practical advice to all who may require 

 to know about the insects which attack fruits of all kinds. This work is a model of 

 simply expressed facts prepared for the use of those who have no special scientific 

 training. A second edition appeared in 1892. 



Up to 1883, there was no official entomologist connected with the Federal Govern- 

 ment, but in that year, the writer was requested by the Minister of Agriculture, the 

 ITonoi;rable J. IT. Pope, to examine for the department a large collection of seeds and 

 other produce which had been returned from the Philadelphia Exhibition. These were 

 found to be infested by weevils and other insects which it was thought might be intro- 

 duced into the country in that way. In the same year the writer was asked to act as 

 honorary entomologist to the department. In 1884 the title of Dominion Entomologist 

 was conferred on him and a short report was published on the investigations of ravages 

 committed by insects among farm and garden crops and on fruit and forest trees. 

 In 1884 the Dominion Entomologist made, at the instance of the Minister of Agricul- 

 ture, a visit to the ISI'orthwest Territories, to examine into the condition of the crops 

 and to note any injuries by insects. In 1885, the following year, he also went to British 

 Columbia and spent two months on Vancouver Island investigating injurious insects. 



While there he met farmers and fruit growers and addressed them upon the 

 insect enemies of their crops. The work of this season was published as a separate 

 report of 51 pages. This report was drawn tip in much the same form as those which 

 the writer has had the honour of submitting year by year since that time, as Ento- 

 mologist and Botanist to the Dominion Experimental Farms, a position to which he 

 was transferred from the Library of Parliament on July 1, 1887. 



Since the time of that appointment there has been a remarkable advance in flie 

 knowledge, not only of the scientific study of insects, but in its practical application 

 to the requirements of all lines of business ; but most particularly to horticulture, and 

 agriculture, which latter has been styled ' the oldest of the arts and the most recent of 

 the sciences.' At the present day it may be said that any farmer, M'hatever his special 

 line of work may be, who knows nothing of the sciences which deal with insects and 

 plants, is very poorly equipped to make a success of his calling. It is not suggested 

 that it would be well for a farmer or fruitgrower to be a scientific entomologist or 

 botanist unless he had a special bent of mind in that direction; but it is claimed that 

 an accurate knowledge of the nature and habits, including the time of development 



