THE REPORT OF THE 



No. 19 



cause nothing quite takos the place of peas as feed for pigs. This has a direct bearing, not onljr- 

 upon the pork and bacon trade of the country both for home use and export, but also upon the^T 

 closely associated industry of dairying. Moreover, it seems to me that the problem now before 

 the country is an exceptionally simple one, and Prof. Lochhead and I have been considering, 

 what can be done to change the existing state of affairs. Naturally, in such an important matter- 

 we have the keenest sympathy of both the Honourable Sydney Fisher and the Honourable- 

 John Dryden, who are most anxious to find out what can be done to protect this important, 

 crop. It is for this reason that the Council of the Entomological Society of Ontario have- 

 thought it wise to arrange for to-day's conference, so that some steps may be at once taken to-- 

 arouse interest and also that more energetic measures may be adopted than have been in the- 

 past. 



The greatest enemy of the pea crop is the Pea Weevil, Brnclms pisonim, (Fig. 1), more- 

 generally known in trade as the Pea Bug. This insect has been established in Canada as » 

 pest of the pea for a great many years but during the last ten years it has become such a serious.-. 



enemy that in many of our Ontario districts, 

 where peas could be grown some years ago 

 of the very highest quality — of such a high 

 quality indeed that Canadian peas were con- 

 sidei'ed the best that could be produced irt 

 all the markets of the world, — farmers have 

 now given up the cultivation of peas alto- 

 gether, and in many other districts they are 

 now talking of doing the same. Personally,. 

 The Pea Weevil. I do not believe that it is necessary to give 



up the cultivation of peas nor that it would be a wise thing to do so. The crop as I have 

 stated above is one of exceptional value, and I cannot see how this step would be of very much 

 benefit in controlling the insect. It has been suggested — and I may mention that this seems 

 to be the favourite remedy proposed by most people who have written to me, — to stop growing 

 peas for one or two years, and to pass some law by which everyone is prevented from sowing. 

 I do not believe that, if any such legislation were passed, it could possibly be enforced ; for, to 

 be efi"ective, the cultivation of peas would have to be stopped absolutely in every pea field and 

 private garden, both in Canada and the United States. I am quite certain that many would 

 not regard this law and would insist on growing a few green peas for table use, and althaugh 

 every wise gardener who knows how to make the best use of his ground pulls up his vines as 

 soon as his crop of green peas is picked and uses his land for something else, the people who 

 would sow peas in opposition to the law, belong to the class of gardeners who leave their pea 

 vines standing in the garden all through the summer, and upon these a suflicient number of 

 small pods containing weevils would be left to ripen, to destroy the effects of the whole experi- 

 ment. Many people would openly defy this law and claim that it was absurd, nor would this 

 be much to be wondered at when we see how little informed most of the dealers and pea. 

 growers are with regard to the Pea Weevil and the extremely simple means by which this pest 

 can be reduced. Although it is true that many of the large seed merchants have fumigating^ 

 houses for the treatment of infested peas, many of them, I know as an actual fact,do not use thenv 

 regulai'ly and one of our large Canadian seed houses even wrote to me that as long as every- 

 body was not forced to fumigate their peas they did not intend to do so, that it was an extra 

 expense and caused trouble with tae insurance companies. I believe that instead of legislation 

 the proper course to adopt at the present time, is to provide accurate information with regai-d 

 to the life history of the insect, the best remedies and the best way to apply them ; then, to 

 distribute this so freely all over the country that everyone interested may at any rate be : 



