10 THE REPORT OF THE No. 19 



Di". Fletcher : What is your idea about the Grass Pea taking the place of the peas 1 



Mr. Fisher : We grow the Gi-ass Pea somewhat extensively. It is not infested withr 

 the bug, and we can grow it without the weevil ; I do not know any reason why it should not 

 be grown. I would very much rather have the ordinary pea because the Grass Pea is a very 

 difficult thing to cut. The vine is hard and wiry and dulls the tools that you use in cutting 

 it, veiy quickly. 



Dr. Fletcher : How does it ripen ? 



Mr. Fisher : I do not think there is very much trouble about their ripening. We sow 

 them about the time we sow the other peas. My experience in growing peas has been that 

 the early-sown peas are altogether the best. I sowed a large field once in a snow storm and 

 had a very superior crop. What is your opinion as to a cold winter killing the Pea Weevil ? 



Dr. Fletcher : It is supposed that it does to a large extent affect them and that is the 

 reason that the area of destruction has been so limited in Canada. I do not think it will kill' 

 them sufficiently to consider it a remedy. 



Prof. LocHHEAD : I tried an experiment some years ago. I exposed some of the weevily 

 peas to a temperature of 20 below zero, and in every case the weevil was killed. 



Dr. Fletcher : It was not so with us, at 15 degrees below zero we exposed them in a 

 glass bottle, and thought they were all dead, but in half an hour afterwards they became- 

 lively again. 



Mr. Fisher : At what time do they mature ? 



Dr. Fletcher : If the peas are left in the field too long, there are enough shelled out to 

 carry the weevil over. The weevil matures about the middle of August. Peas fumigated 

 by Mr. Niles of Wellington on the 5th of August had the weevil about half grown. In very 

 early seasons the Pea Weevil has been found during the first half of August. That is a veiy 

 rare thing. On the 5th of August this year the weevil was only half grown ; on the 15th of 

 August it was more than half grown, and by the end of August the weevil was in a perfect 

 state. Peas left in the field are certaintly a great source of danger ; they should receive 

 special attention either by feeding them off or ploughing them down deeply. 



Dr. Fyles : Do you suppose that the weevil leaves the pea on approach of winter ? 



Dr. Fletcher : They may do so. A considerable number of them leave the peas in the 

 autumn, and they hibernate around the barn or in the rubbish heaps, and a great many of 

 them are killed during the winter. 



Mr. Fisher : It is the practice of some fruit growers to work their orchards up to the 

 middle of July, and then sow peas, and they usually get a crop. Where I live the peas will 

 ripen if sown in the middle of July ; the peas will also gather nitrogen and increase the 

 fertility of the soil to a considerable extent. We also keep hogs there and if we turn a. 

 hundred hogs on twenty acres of peas in the middle of July, we find that the hogs do very 

 well in cleaning up the pea crop and the apples that fall. They serve the double purpose of 

 freeing the orchard from pests that infest the fruit, and of making pork. 



Dr. Fletcher : That is an excellent practice. There is no doubt that these peas would 

 be practically free from weevil attack when sown so late, but the crop would be reduced by 

 mildew. I should like to ask Mr. Pearce if it is not a general practice here to sow as early as^ 

 possible ; because if sown late they will be affected with mildew. 



Mr. Pearce : Yes, that is the experience with farmers in this section ; late sown peas are 

 subject to mildew, but they are freer from the weevil. A good many of the farmers here sow 

 them on the 24th of May, but the earlier they are sown the better, — the better the sample you. 

 get, and the better the yield. 



Prof. Jahes, being asked to say a few word.? on the subject, said : I certainly cannot add 

 anything to what Prof. Lochhead and Dr. Fletcher have told us as to the nature of the trouble. 



