INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ONTARIO CROPS IN 1906. 

 By De. James Fletcher, Dominion Entomologist, Ottawa. 



The weather conditions in Ontario during 1906 were very variable. In 

 eastern Ontario the summer was exceptionally dry with two or three periods 

 of excessive heat. The precipitation, however, for the whole province not- 

 withstanding the shortage in the east was slightly above the average, and 

 in western Ontario for the month of October was abnormally large. Crops 

 were on the whole good in nearly all districts, both in quality and quantity. 



Geain Ceops were little injured by insects. Spring wheat was particu- 

 larly free from insect attacks of all kinds and little was heard of rust. Fall 

 wheat was decidedly above the average, and the Hessian Fly seems almost 

 to have disappeared. Not a single report of Joint-worm in Ontario crops 

 was received. Barley was one of the best crops which has been harvested 

 for many years. Oats in tJie western counties were heavy, and there was 

 some difficulty in harvesting, owing to the crop being lodged by rain 

 storms. In the eastern counties, the quality was high for the most part, 

 although a few crops were light for lack of timely rains. Grasshoppers in 

 a few localities reduced the yield by cutting off the grains just before ripen- 

 ing. Peas were a good crop and the Pea Weevil was hardly mentioned. 

 The area being 'sown to this important crop is again gradually increasing. 

 The corn crop throughout the province was exceptionally good, both for the 

 silo and for grain. 



Roots in the western counties were good, but in the east were rather 

 small and dry for lack of fall rains. There was very little injury this year 

 to turnips by the Turnip Aphis, the only reports of serious injury coming 

 from the counties of Victoria, Durham and Northumberland. Potatoes in 

 the east were small but of high quality. There was little complaint of loss 

 from Potato Rot, largely due to the fact that farmers are spraying much 

 more systematically than hitherto to control this destructive disease. The 

 standard remedy,Poisoned Bordeaux mixture, made with six pounds of 

 copper sulphate, four pounds of unslaked lime, and eight ounces of Paris 

 green in 40 gallons of water, has given very satisfactory results wherever 

 tried. The experiments carried on at Ottawa regularly every year by the 

 Horticulturist of the Central Experimental Farm have proved conclusively 

 that three sprayings of the fields, the first one being applied in the middle of 

 July, and the subsequent ones two weeks apart afterwards, give very 

 paying returns. A fourth spraying gives better results, but it seems diffi- 

 cult to get farmers to make this extra application. Cutworms, although 

 little complained of, were abundant and destructive in some places. Where- 

 ever tried, the poisoned bran remedy surprised those who used it with its 

 effectiveness. Even in an exceptional and widespread outbreak in the grain 

 and sugar beet fields of the West, this same remedy proved so remarkably 

 successful, that many letters were written to newspapers and agricultural 

 journals, giving the results of trials by those who had benefited from it. 



FoDDEE Ceops. Clover was attacked to some extent by the Clover-seed 

 Midge, but on the whole, the crop of seed was above the average for quality. 

 In the eastern counties, clover fields were remarkably thinned, owing to the 

 mild winter with little snow, which was very severe on all meadows. The 

 Black Army-worm, Noctiia fennica, and the Clover Cutworm, both levied 

 heavy toll on the very much reduced stand of clover. Rape, which iis now 

 being much more grown than formerly, was severely injured in several 

 places by the caterpillars of the Small White Cabbage Butterfly, whicli 



appeared in vast numbers during the months of September and October. 



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