1903 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 15 



Mr. Lick thinks a great deal of coal-oil as a treatment. He uses about one gallon 

 -to 10 or 15 bushels of peas. The oil is applied in such a way that the peas are thoroughly 

 covered. 



In 1897, Prof. Zavitz, of the Experimental Department of the Ontario Agricultural Col- 

 lege, made some interesting experiments to find the value of peas for seed which had been in- 

 jured by the weevil. He found that in the case of a large variety of pea, like the Marrowfat, 

 about three-fifths of the peas which had been injured by the weevil did not germinate. In the 

 case of a small variety of pea, such as the Golden Vine, he found that only thirteen per cent of 

 "the peas which contained the weevil grew. Thus he says, — " If a person were sowing weevilly 

 seed of the golden vine variety, it would be necessary to sow 15 acres of peas in order to get 

 as many plants as would be produced from sowing 2 acres of sound seed." 



There is one interesting fact which I observed while in St. Joseph Island, which was 

 that, although weevilly peas are sown, the weevils never make their appearance on the new 

 crop. Whether this peculiarity will hold out many years, it is impossible to say, but such is 

 the case at present. 



The life-history of the pea-weevil is as follows : The weevils deposit their eggs singly on 

 the outside of the newly formed pods, and when the peas are in blossom. The grub, as soon 

 as it is hatched, bores through the wall of the pod and enters the pea. Within it, it eats and 

 ^rows. When full grown, it is about one-fourth of an inch long, and about one-eighth of an 

 ^nch in thickness. It has three pairs of minute legs, but otherwise it is decidedly maggot-like. 

 Its body is wrinkled, and is beset with a few long hairs. In its pupal state, it rests for a few 

 weeks in a round burrow, which is closed externally by the unbroken membrane of the pea. 

 The winter is passed in the adult state, either within or without the pea, but usually within. 



I venture to outline a plan of an experimental campaign against the weevil, and I would 

 ilike the members present to discuss it as to its feasibility and probable value. The plan i 

 based on the idea that if the entire pea-crop of a section is threshed and treated with carbon 

 bisulphide immediately after it is harvested, the weevils in that section will be practically ex 

 terminated. I suggest, therefore, that a corps of men be appointed to treat the peas that are 

 :|frown on every farm in a group of two or three townships. The pea-growers should be asked 

 to assist in the work by providing the necessary barrels or tight bins for proper fumigation. 

 To each member of the corps, there could be allotted all the farms on one or two concessions. 

 Bvery farm would then be visited, and the peas fumigated properly. It might be necessary in 

 ■some instances to fumigate the peas twice if there was any doubt as to the thoroughness of the 

 first trestment. ^ 



The same plan could be followed out the second season. If the weevils are still abundant 

 "the third season, the treatment would be considered a failure, providing no weevilly peas had 

 been introduced during the period of experimentation. 



REPORT ON INJURIOUS INSECTS IN 1902. 



Division No. 4. — Niagara District. — By Geo. E. Fisher. 



Not being schooled in the science of entomology you will readily understand th'at I 

 naturally shrink fi'om accepting office in this society and reporting from the standpoint of an 

 entomologist. My indebtedness to entomologists for assistance in prosecuting the San Jose 

 ♦scale investigation, a desire to reciprocate, and being assured by Prof. Webster and particularly 

 by Dr. Fletcher that they themselves are only students and that I am abundantly qualified to act 

 in this capacity, are my apology for attempting to do so. 



