REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 191 



some of the pieces of straw, a little over an inch in length, there may be found from five 

 to ten insects. A bushel of such straw lying loose about a barn would give enough 

 insects to destroy many fields before the grain ripened. I think you will agree with me 

 that every farmer should see that the cleanings from the fanning mill are either fed or 

 burned to destroy the insect." 



Remedies. — As stated by Mr. Welsh, the broken hardened pieces of straw noticed 

 when threshing and cleaning grain should be collected and burned. The grain should 

 also be examined for these pieces which should be picked out by hand. 



Most of the galls or hardened sections of stem in which the insect passes the 

 winter are low down near the root. The burning of stubbles and deep ploughing are 

 therefore useful in destroying large numbers of the pupae. The term " joint-worm " 

 probably covers more than one species of minute hymenoptera which attack the stems 

 of wheat and barley ; but, fortunately, the attack is of rare occurrence in Canada, and 

 there have been few opportunities of examining the mature insects. 



Young plants of fall wheat sent by Mr. Welsh from Verdun in November were 

 found to be attacked by both Hessian Fly and the Wheat-stem Maggot. These two 

 pests were also somewhat abundant in Prince Edward Island. Mr. Edward Wyatt, 

 writing from Pleasant Grove, P.E.L, September 18, says: — "The Feit Fly for many 

 years now has been doing considerable harm to our wheat and hay crops. The Hessian 

 Fly I have no doubt is the principal aggressor, but the Frit Fly and Wheat-stem Maggot 

 have been associated with it. Some of the maggots which infest the straw are of a 

 yellowish colour, others are green. These pests have been on the island continuously for 

 the last 17 years. The damage was slight until the last three or four jears. Many who 

 sow early have poor crops and with no knowledge of the cause. We all sow now from 

 May 20 to 24, thus escaping the first attack which, if bad, ruins the crop. We have 

 never grown better wheat crops than in the past two years — that is, generally ; fully 

 one-third of my wheat this year fell down two weeks before it was ripe, still the crop 

 was a fairly good one ; but should the season prove favourable to these pests, the damage 

 might be serious." 



The Grain Plant-louse (Siphonophora avence, Fab.) — Specimens of wheat and 

 oats attacked by the Grain Plant-louse have been sent in from several localities. The 

 worst attacks were reported by Mr. John Tolmie, of Cloverdale, Victoria, B.C., on oats 

 and by Mr. Lewis Rogers, of Cooksville, Peel Co., Ont., on fall wheat, where much dam- 

 age was done to the young plants in October and early in November. In a case of this 

 kind, if the vigorous wheat plants which have passed the winter are found to be too few 

 in spring for a paying crop, clover may be broadcasted over the land before rolling, or 

 the crop may be helped with a top dressing of some special fertilizer. 



Grasshoppers. — A noticeable feature of the correspondence of the division during 



the past season, as compared with last year, was the 

 almost total absence of complaints of injury to farm crops 

 by grasshoppers. This state of affairs was anticipated on 

 ^account of the abundance of parasites of several kinds 

 noticed last year and mentioned in my report for 1896. 

 Fig. 1. The Red-legged Locust. Hair-worms (Gordius) have been sent in from Ontario 

 and Quebec more frequently than any other parasites. The account of the strange life- 

 history as far as known, never fails to excite the interest of inquirers. The only 

 localities from which grasshoppers have been mentioned as injurious are : Sable Island, 

 N.S., where they destroyed Brome grass which was being experimented with as a sand 

 binder ; Manitoulin Island, Ont., where they did much harm to turnips ; and parts of 

 Peterborough County, Ont., where hay and oats suffered to a limited extent from their 

 ravages. 



