10 



crease of the acreage from 1886-1890, the weevil increased in numbers 

 and spread rapidly along the Lake Ontario counties to the great pea- 

 growing sections of Prince Edward and Lennox and Addington. 

 During 1892-1893, the weevils were very numerous, but during 1894- 

 1895 there was another decrease in the extent of the injury done 

 From 1896 until the present, the pest has been on the increase and 

 many sections have given up the growing of peas. Durham, Nor- 

 thumberland and Prince Edward, some years ago, grew large quanti- 

 ties of seed for French and American seedsmen ; but the depredations 

 of the weevil became so serious that the growing of peas has, to a 

 large extent, been discontinued in these counties. 



There is a larger section of the Province, however, which is free 

 from the weevil. (See Fig. 4.) A line drawn from Brockville to Midland 

 separates the weevil area from the area which is practically free from 

 the weevil. This more northern area includes such fine farming dis- 

 tricts as the Ottawa Valley, the Temiscaming district, Parry Sound, 

 Southern Algoma, the Manitoulin and St. Joseph Islands, and the Fort 

 William and the E.ainy River districts. This northern area could 

 grow sufiicient peas for home consumption, and for our foreign 

 markets, until the pea weevil is eradicated in southwestern Ontario. 



LOSS TO ONTARIO IN 1902 BY THE PEA WEEVIL. 



It is always a difficult problem to estimate correctly the losses 

 caused by an injurious insect, as several factors of uncertain value 

 must be considered. In the case of the pea weevil, the factors are : 



(i) The Decrease in Acreage. (Fig. 3). This in itself should not 

 be considered a total loss ; for if the land is not sown to peas, it is 

 not lying idle, but is used for the production of some other (often 

 substitute) crop. When we study the statistics of the pea crop of 

 Ontario for the last twenty years (since 1882), we are forced to con- 

 clude that the acreage of peas in 1902 is just about one-half of what 

 it would have been if the weevil had not proved destructive. In 

 1882, the total acreage of peas was 560,770 acres; in 1885, 646,081 

 acres; in 1888, 696,553 acres; in 1891, 752,453 acres ; in 1894, 785,007 

 acres; in 1896, 829,601 acres; m 1897, 896,735 acres ; in 1898, 865,- 

 951 acres ; in 1899, 743,189 acres; in 1900, 661,592 acres; in 1901, 

 602,724 acres ; and in 1902, 532,639 acres. There was, therefore, a 

 gradual increase from 1882 up to 1897, then a gradual decrease from 

 1897 to 1902. That this decrease in acreage was due to the pea 

 weevil there can be but little doubt. If we suppose that the area 

 devoted to the pea crop in 1902 should have been about one million 

 acres, according to the natural rate of increase from 1882 to 1897, 

 then there is a decrease of about 500,000 acres in 1902. The decrease 

 in yield would be about 10,000,000 bushels, worth about $6,000,000. 



