1902 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 9 



ination to any great extent, but I asked several farmers who were interested in the Pea Weevil 

 to make an examination. Probably some of you know Mr. Lick of Oshawa, an up-to-date 

 farmer. I asked him what in his opinion was the best time to treat peas and he said that in 

 order to answer this question it is necessary to ascertain at what stage the crop was harvested ; 

 he found that not more than one-half the damage was done until after the crop was harvested, 

 and in many cases not more than a third of the damage was done before the pea reached 

 maturity ; this was true of both the early and late varieties. He found a large percentage of 

 "the early crop was " buggy," and these were his conclusions : " Don't sow ' buggy ' peas without 

 treating the weevil. Harvest the crops as soon as ripe and thresh at once ; for seed peas 

 fumigate at once ; if for feed, grind the peas up and so kill the weevil." 



With regard to the number of weevils that germinate, Dr. Fletcher has given you his 

 results, and you will also find them in his Reports. Mr. Zavitz, of the Ontario Agricultural 

 College, also made experiments some years ago, and found in the case of the large variety of 

 pea such as the Marrowfat, that three-fifths of the peas that had been entered by the weevil did 

 not germinate. In the case'of the small variety of peas such as the Golden Vine, he found 

 only 13 per cent germinated. 



I do not see any other way of treating the Pea Weevil except the method Dr. Fletcher has 

 described ; I should like, however, to suggest another way by which we may reach the people. 

 There is nothing like an object lesson. While we may do our best through the agricultural 

 papers and reports of all kinds experience has shown that a great many people will not act ; 

 they simply say they will not be bothered, and will grow enough peas for themselves, and not 

 ■care whether they sell any or not. These are the kind of people we want to influence, as well 

 as the larger growers. We do not know just exactly how far the Pea Weevil will fly ; I do not 

 •think they will fly much farther than from one farm to another. Mr. Pearce tells me that 

 down in Elgin, in two sections that were separated by a woods, the Pea Weevils were in one 

 section for many years but did not appear in the other section until they got in through the 

 sowing of weevily seed ; I am of the opinion that the chief way in which the insect is dissem 

 inated is by sowing weevily peas. I would suggest that help be obtained from the Govern- 

 ment for a series of experiments. First secure a good man to act as foreman or manager of 

 the whole experiment and let him appoint a corps of assistants. These men he could train 

 himself, and they should be able to fumigate properly, and then I should choose a section of 

 •country of two or three townships, and have these sections scattered in different parts of the 

 Province so as to form as many object lessons as possible, a concession or two concessions 

 might be allotted to each man. Every farmer should be interested in the matter and got to 

 provide a pen, or coal-oil barrel, or box, in which to fumigate, the government might provide 

 "the material. I would have these men go systematically down the concession at harvest time 

 and see that the peas are threshed immediately, and then fumigate them for the farmers. It 

 might probably be necessary to fumigate twice. The men would not need to stay very long in 

 one place. If the farmer had already prepared the pens, he could fumigate in an hour, and 

 then go on to the next farm, and return and ventilate them after forty -eight hours. I think 

 one man could in that way arrange for the fumigation of three or four concessions, and a 

 couple of men could do a township. 



A great many people do not believe in the entire efficiency of this remedy, and if we can 

 fi;et to their farms, and kill all the weevils, we shall soon convince them of its efficiency. This 

 is a simple suggestion and I should like the members to discuss the matter. 



Mr. Fisher : We live in Burlington and we formerly grew peas but of late years we have 

 abandoned them altogether. I have always held that the appearance and the disappearance 

 •of the Pea Weevil coincided with the change of temperature. If we had a very low temperature 

 during the winter the Pea Weevils were destroyed. 



