82 REPORT OF No. 19 



An interesting observation was made on the Experimental Farm, where a 

 field of late turnips was practically cleared of swarms of these caterpillars 

 by the English Sparrow. The observation was made by Mr. B. Nothnagel, 

 who watched them for several days, and by driving the birds away suddenly, 

 induced them to drop their prey so that he might examine it. It is pleasing 

 to have a good word to say for these very troublesome and destructive birds. 



Vegetables. Carrots in gardens were attacked in a few places in the 

 Ottawa district by the Carrot Maggot, or Carrot Rust Fly. This injury was 

 not widespread nor quite so severe as in 1905. The remedies which gave 

 the best results, were spraying the rows of plants immediately after they 

 were thinned out, with a carbolic acid and soap wash, or with kerosene emul- 

 sion. Dusting the plants with hellebore was also apparently effective, but 

 even in untreated beds, the insect disappeared about the beginning of July, 

 and late sown carrots were entirely free of attack. The Onion and Cab- 

 bage maggots were conspicuously less destructive in many parts of the prov- 

 ince than has been the case for some years This report, however, was not 

 applicable in all parts, as was evidenced by the large numbers of enquiries 

 for a practical remedy. Such, however, it must still be acknowledged has 

 not so far been discovered. Good results on small areas were secured by 

 dusting the plants from the beginning of the season once a week with a 

 light dressing of powdered white hellebore, either pure or mixed with three 

 times its weight of land plaster. A remedy which has often been recom- 

 mended in newspapers is to brush away the soil from the bulbs as soon as 

 these begin to form. In experimenting with this remedy, it was found 

 rather difficult to apply in certain soils, but on the whole gave good results, 

 particularly where the treatment was supplemented by dusting with the 

 hellebore powder. 



The Asparagus Beetle was a rather serious pest to the growers of this 

 highly esteemed vegetable, and extended its eastern range in the province 

 considerably during the past season. It was a troublesome pest as far east as 

 Toronto, and specimens of the larvae were found by the writer during Sep- 

 tember on a small bed of asparagus on the Experimental Farm at Ottawa. 

 The mature beetles were reared later, and the species proved to be Crioceris 

 asparagi. The remedies which have given the best results are dusting the 

 plants when the larvae occur, with a mixture of freshly slaked lime and Paris 

 green. This is more effective if it can be done when there is dew on the 

 plants, or when they are wet either from rain or after being sprayed. Both 

 the beetles and the larvae may be beaten from the plants into nets or into 

 open pans containing water with a little coal oil on the top. Poultry of all 

 kinds when available are useful in eating the beetles when they first appear 

 in spring. 



Potatoes in gardens were seriously attacked and very much reduced in 

 yield by the Potato Leaf Aphis, Nectarophora solanifolii, Ashm. This 

 was in the east of the province, and the injury was much aggravated by the 

 exceptional drought. The Colorado Potato Beetle was noticeably less in- 

 jurious than usual in the early part of the season, but it made up for any 

 early absence by the excessive abundance in autiimn. 



Fe-TJIt Crops. The apple crop of the province for 1906 may be de- 

 scribed as rather short in quantity, but of excellent quality in the eastern 

 counties. In western Ontario, the ravages of the Codling Moth were severe, 

 and throughout the province more injury was done by the Plum Curculio 

 to apples than in any previous year of which we have statistics. This, to 

 some measure, may have been due to the poor plum crop, which was a char- 

 xcter of the season, and which is accounted for in various ways by differ- 



