REPORT OF THE EXTOilOLOGIST AXD BOTAXIST. 201 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



2. Burning Eef use. — Many of the flax seeds of the summer brood are carried with 

 the straw, and at threshing time are dislodged and fall down with the rubbish beneath 

 the machine or are left in the straw. All dust and screenings should, therefore, be 

 ■carefully destroyed, and all straw and small seeds should be either used during the 

 ■winter or burnt before spring. 



3. Treatment of Stubbles.- — Most of the puparia of the summer brood are placed 

 €o low on the stems that they are left in the stubble when the wheat is cut. A large 

 proportion of these give forth their flies in September, but some pass the winter in 

 the stubble. An effective way to destroy these puparia is to plough down the stubbles 

 deeply as soon as possible after the crop is cut, so as to place the insects so deep 

 beneath the earth that the delicate flies, when they emerge, cannot reach the surface. 



4. Trap Crops. — A method of reducing the numbers of the Hessian Fly, which i3 

 little practised, but which is spoken highly of by those who have adopted it, is the 

 sowing of narrow strips of wheat in August, which will attract the females to lay 

 their eggs, and which can afterwards be ploughed down. What is practically the same 

 plan, is to run a harrow over fields as soon as the crop is cut, so as to start the volun- 

 teer crop from grain which has dropped in harvesting and induce a growth of wheat 

 on the field sooner than otherwise would be the case. 



5. Fertilizers. — When it is found that a young crop of fall wheat is only lightly 

 infested, it is sometimes possible to stimulate the growth of the plants in spring by 

 making a light application (so as not to cost too much) of some quick-acting special 

 fertilizer such as nitrate of soda. 



In cases such as we have many of in our fall wheat fields this autumn, where 

 the attack is irregular in its occurrence, it will frequently be rather a difficult problem 

 for a farmer to decide what his wisest com'se is. When, as is generally the case, there 

 are patches in a field which have been destroyed, it is desirable to save such parts of 

 the field as are uninjured. These patches can be sown in spring to some crop which 

 will not require cultivation during growth, e.g., an early ripening barley, which can 

 be cut at the same time as the fall wheat and the whole threshed as mixed feed. If, 

 however, it is necessary to save the wheat separately, peas may be sown on these 

 patches, and either the peas can be cut lifter the wheat, or the grain can be separated 

 after threshing. In cases of bad infestation it would sometimes pay better to use 

 the land at once for some other crop. It wiU, however, be necessary to replough the 

 land deeply so as to bury the flax seeds too deep for the flies to get out, and then lay 

 their eggs for the summer brood on spring wheat or the remnants of the crop of fall 

 wheat. Unfortunately, the usual practice is merely to cultivate deeply, so as to pro- 

 duce a good seed bed. After reploughing, any crop may be sown except spring wheat. 

 Barley and rye are also sometimes liable to attack, consequently other crops are pre- 

 ferable to barley or spring rye, such as oats, peas, corn or roots. There will also some- 

 times be cases when the farmer is uncertain what it is best to do, owing to the 

 occurrence of uninjured patches in an otherwise badly infested field. In these cases, 

 it will be best to wait and see how the wheat will turn out. If at last something else 

 has to be substituted as a crop, probably the best returns will be obtained by sowing 

 early-ripening corn, where a cultivator can be used, or early peas, where the patches 

 are surrounded by wheat. Both of these crops may be sown as late even as the middle 

 of June, and will usually give good results. 



In the summer of 1899, as recorded in my last report, there was a remarkable 

 outbreak of the Hessian Fly in the spring wheat crop throughout Manitoba, amounting 

 to from 5 to 25 per cent of the crop. It is satisfactory to be able to record that there 

 has been no recurrence of this outbreak during the past season. Mr. Hugh McKellar, 

 Chief Clerk of the Department of Agriculture, writes under date December 18 : * I 

 have much pleasure in advising you that this department did not receive any informa- 

 tion this season, of the presence of the Hessian Fly iu any part of the province.' 



