154 



REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



(JaiMes Fletcher, F.E.S.C, P.L.S.) 



W. Saunders, Esq., 



Director, Dominion Experimental Farms. 



Sir, — I have the honour to hand you herewith a report upon the work carried 

 on in my Department during the past year. It is of course impossible to report in 

 full upon the multiplicity of subjects which are brought officially under my notice 

 during the year. I have ti-eated at some length certain of the more important 

 subjects, so that information as to the nature of the objects discussed, and remedies 

 when known, might be disseminated as widel}'' as possible. 



DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



There has been much con-espondence to attend to as well as field work to 

 prosecute. I have reported fully upon the American Frit ¥\j, which has been a 

 serious pest of wheat, barle}^ and grasses for the last three or four years; the Medi- 

 terranean Flour Moth, a dangerous imported insect; the Pea Weevil, which is begin- 

 ning to increase in numbers ; the Diamond-back Cabbage Moth, and the Cabbage 

 Maggot, dire enemies of that wholesome vegetable ; the Strawberry Weevil, and an 

 injurious caterpillar which periodically strips the oak trees on Vancouver Island of 

 every vestige of foliage. 



DIVISION OF BOTANY. 



The work in this division has consisted chiefly in looking after the experimental 

 grass plots, which are reported on in full herewith, and the arboretum ; in naming 

 botanical specimens and weeds sent in for identification ; and in giving instructions 

 in the use of the various remedies which have lately been used with such good etfect 

 against fungous diseases of plants. I regret that the space at my disposal precludes 

 the possibility of treating of these in this report; but I hope at no very distant date 

 to issue in bulletin form an account of the successful work which has been accom- 

 plished, particularly in the United States, in fighting these troublesome diseases. 



In the meantime, I wish to announce that I shall be glad to send instructions 

 for the treatment of fungous diseases, where remedies ai'e known, to all who may wish 

 for them. 



These studies are very recent, dating only from about 1885. The good work 

 which has been done is due largely to the energy and ability of Mr. B. T. G-alloway, 

 the chief of the Division of Vegetable Pathology at Washington, who, in writing on 

 this subject in the American Garden for October, 1890, says as follows : " Let us 

 now see what have been some of the practical results of this work. In the first place, 

 grape-growers everywhere have been made acquainted with the causes of such 

 diseases as black-rot, downy-mildew and anthracnose. Moreover, it has been proved 

 to their entire satisfaction that these diseases can be prevented by proper treatment. 

 Between two and three thousami grape-growers in all parts of the country used the 

 remedies in 1889, and from estimates based on reports I'cceived from about thii-ty, 

 we know that the actual saving in money to these, above all expenses, wassomoihing 

 ovei- §10,000, Our agents last year, in treating potatoes foi- blight and rot, succeeded 

 in saving 75 pel- cent, of the crop. On this basis, the amount saved to the entire 

 country, if all the infected districts had been treated, would have been something 

 over a million dollars." 



