16 THE REPORT OF THE No. 1» 



The opinion seems to prevail that in continually moving about the country in my official 

 capacity I enjoy exceptional opportunities for observation and should know a great deal. While 

 it may not seem altogether unfair to expect considerable of me in this way, the particular work 

 in which I am engaged has so continually demanded my full time that the opportunity for 

 thorough and careful investigation outside of matters pertaining to the San Jose scale is not 

 nearly so satisfactory as when at home I went leisurely about my own orchards and, with 

 necessary appliances always at hand, worked out such questions. 



My practice has been not to accept any statement I could not verify in the field and in ii'y 

 judgment he who demonstrates beyond question one subject in a whole season has accom- 

 plished much more than another who has given but superficial attention to a greater number. 



Notwithstanding the almost entire absence of such weather as makes ideal conditions for 

 insects, in many instances they were present in usual (juantity. The cabbage worm, striped 

 cucumber beetle and squash bug, asparagus and potato beetles are spoken of by gardeners as- 

 having been troublesome. The potato beetle made a record, for when the vines succumbed to 

 blight, in their efforts for self preservation the beetles attacked almost everything else, tomatoes 

 and particularly egg plants were procectea with the greatest difficulty. There were instance* 

 of tomato plants being eaten off in large quantity, by potato bugs which attacked them below 

 the surface of the ground, before the potatoes were up in the spring. The asparagus beetle is. 

 spread over the whole of the Niagara District, and where left to itself seriously injures the 

 crop. There are several methods of controlling it, and those which are perhaps the most 

 successful and most generally adopted are very simple. The insect prefers the more spindling^ 

 shoots which are allowed to stand and are destroyed as soon as they become considerably 

 infested. Little chicks catch and eat the beetles, and if moved about in portable coops a single 

 brood will protect an area of quite large extent, when cutting is discontinued the plantations 

 are sprayed with paris green or arsenic. A gentleman at Queenston suggests a solution of 

 saltpetre, one pound in ten gallons of water, for the suppression of cucumberand squash beetles. 

 Others are using whale oil soap one pound in four gallons and find that it is safe for very tender 

 plants and besides relieving the vines of insect pests so invigorates their growth that its use is ■ 

 economical for this purpose alone. 



Canker- Worm. 



Canker-worm (Fig. 2) was not so generally plentiful this season as last, l)ut was still 

 numerous in certain sections, where orchards were stripped as usual. Little rain fell during the 

 • larval period, which afforded a much better opportunity for 



spraying this year than last, when the almost continuous 

 rain washed off the poison as fast as it was put on. In 1901,. 

 so unsatisfactory were the results from trying to kill Canker- 

 worm by spraying, that in the fall a few growers resorted to 

 the sticky bandage process. Even with the weather condi- 

 tions favorable, spraying a large number of trees is a heavy 

 undertaking, but those of 1901 showed that Canker-worm 

 cannot always be controlled by spraying, though the pumps . 

 ^''■^sI:^£^y:^)ror:^e\ be kept going and the best of material used. In my own 

 ;^ij^'^';^ss"f eS";Tc^Unia" orchards, we had not been successful in the spring, and in. 



the' fall made an experiment of sufficient extent to fully test 

 this method. Beginning Nov. 1st, 2,000 apple and 6,000 plum and cherry, all bearing andi 

 mostly full-grown trees, were treated. Pear and peach were not attacked, though a few years- 

 ago a neighbor had serious trouble from Canker-worm in his pear orchard. At the above date, 

 the weather being rather cold, pure castor oil and a good quality of resin were used in the pro- 



