30 THE EEPOET OF THE No. 36 



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M. americana is now ver}- abundant, at least as far west as St. Thomas. It has 

 not yet, however, so far as I couicl see, become numerous in the extreme western 

 counties. Around Guelph there are many &gg masses this year, and, therefore, 

 prospects for a severe infestation next year. M. disstria west of Toronto does not 

 seem to be nearly so abundant as M. americana. 



Fall Canker-worm (AlsopJiila pometaria). Throughout a considerable 

 stretch of territory from Grimsby west, including Hamilton and Dundas, the Fall 

 Canker-worm is very numerous and destructive. It is also very abundant in some 

 forests in Norfolk County where the American elms, basswood, wild cherry, blue 

 beech, birch and oaks were either partly or entirely defoliated. Elms suffered 

 most. Maples were not so severely attacked as the other trees mentioned. Several 

 other kinds of loopers were also prevalent on these trees, but not in nearly so 

 large numbers as the Fall Canker-worm. 



Pear Psylla (Psylla pyricoJa). Early in the season it looked as if pears 

 were going to be much infested by this insect, as adults and eggs were abundant. 

 However, the cold weather of May destrayed all but a very few. By autumn a few 

 orchards were again badly infested. 



Aphids. On apple trees there were many aphids this spring up to a few days 

 before the blossoms were ready to burst. They then almost completely disappeared 

 in all the orchards that I had an opportunity to examine, so that apple trees 

 suffered very little from any of the leaf and fruit infesting aphids. 



The Woolly Aphis {Scliizonewm lanigera) in some districts was abundant, 

 especially on young shoots in late summer and autumn. On cherry trees at Guelph 

 the Black Aphis {Myzus cerasi) was very conspicnous and much more numerous 

 than for many years past. It was also very troublesome in the Niagara district. 



When moderately early peas were just beginning to bloom in Norfolk County 

 hundreds of acres of them grown for the canning factories were threatened with 

 destruction through the abundance of the Pea Aphis {Macrosiphum pisi) on the 

 blossoms and new growth. Fortunately there came several days of very hot 

 weathei with occasional heavy downpours of rain and almost all the aphids dis- 

 appeared. Sufficient damage, however, had been done to lessen the yield con- 

 siderably and in some fields almost to destroy the crop. The Pea Aphis has done 

 more damage the last few years in Ontario than it formerly did. 



Peach Borer {Sanninoidea exitiosa). Many complaints have been coming 

 in of injuries from this borer, particularly from those districts where peaches have 

 only recently been grown to any appreciable extent. I suspected at first that the 

 gum oozing out of the trunks of the trees as the result of winter injury was being 

 mistaken for the work of the borer, but my observations this year in Norfolk 

 County showed that such was not necessarily the case, as nearly every tree in some 

 orchards was attacked by from 1 to 20 or more borers. We have done some pre- 

 liminary work on the control of this pest, and in this connection have also worked 

 out fairly well its life history for this Province. It will be interesting to some to 

 learn that adults appeared in Norfolk County as early as July 15th and continued 

 up into September. One female in Niagara was seen on September 11th. 



LesseIr Peach Borer {Aegeria pictipes). The numerous cankers on peach 

 trees in many orchards in the Niagara district have given ideal conditions for the 

 increase of this insect, so that it is to-day very prevalent in that district. Control 

 measures under the circumstances are not easy. 



EosE Chafer (Macrodactylus subspinosus) . Near Fonthill several vineyards 

 had almost every grape cluster destroyed by this pest. I visited the district as 

 soon as informed of the trouble, but it was then too late to do anything as the 



