874 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



VIII.— MISCELLANEOUS. 



5 GEORGE v.. A. 1915 



COLLECTIOXS. 



The collection of insects which now constitutes the National Collection has- 

 increased materially during the past year owing to the increase in the staff of the 

 Division, and the greater opportunities which are now afforded to secure insects of 

 all orders by the presence of field officers in the various provinces. Mr. Germain 

 Beaulieu has worked most zealously in dealing with new material and in arranging 

 the collections generally, excellent progress having been made in the arrangement 

 of the Coleoptera. We have continued to name collections of insects for individuals 

 and teaching institutions. 



In the determination of new material we iiave again enjoyed the assistance of 

 Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the United States Bureau ©f Entomology, and his scien- 

 tific assistants in the Bureau and in the National Museum at Washington, for which 

 assistance we are most grateful, and we would also express our gratitude and indebt- 

 edness to other specialists who have assisted us during the year. 



An exhibition of injurious and useful insects was made at the Central Canada 

 Exhibition held at Ottawa in September last. 



Protection of Buios. 



As the protection of insectivorous birds has a very direct bearing on the natural 

 control of insect pests, and as such birds are both thoughtlessly and wantonly destroyed 

 in Canada, thereby reducing the numbers of our allies in the control of insect pests,, 

 every effort is being made to impress upon farmers, teachers, and others, the import- 

 ance of protecting our native birds. A proposal which I made to the Ottawa Field 

 Naturalists' Club for the institution of a practical example of bird protection in 

 Ottawa has been adopted and will be put into effect during the coming spring. The 

 Ottawa Improvement Commission have agreed to constitute Rocklifie Park a bird' 

 sanctuary and to mate and distribute 250 nesting boxes of the Berlepsch pattern in 

 the park. On our part, you have kindly agreed to have IGO Berlepsch nesting boxes 

 distributed on the grounds and in the Botanical Gardens of the Central Experimental 

 Farm. We hope that this will prove a valuable example of the methods to be taken 

 to attract birds to the farm. 



Correspondence. 



The growth of the work has naturally res\dted in an increase in the correspond- 

 ence. The number of letters received from April 1, 1913. to March 31, 1914, was 

 6,384, and the number of letters_sent out during the same period was 7,814, compared 

 with 5,105 letters received and G,938 letters sent out during the previous fiscal year. 



Travelling. 



The direction and supervision of the work has necessitated, as usual, visits to the 

 different provinces during the year. All the fumigation stations have been visited. 

 In June and July a visit was made to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Massachu- 

 .setts. The Fiftieth Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of Ontario was held 

 at Guelph, Ont., in August, and was attended by all the members of the scientific staff 

 who were able to be present. On September 8. I left Ottawa to visit the field labora- 

 tories in Ontario and Western Canada. In British Columbia I also visited a number 

 of the Indian reserves in order to inspect the progress of our work in the orchards of 

 the Indians which is being carried on by Mr. Tom Wilson. I left Victoria, B.C., on 

 October 11 for the United States; the Oregon Agricultural College, Corvallis, Ore. 

 was visited on the way to California, where I wished to examine their quarantine 



Ottawa. 



