1915 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 75 



upper and lower ones of a .yellowish colour, more or less flushed with red. There 

 are two annual broods in Canada, the moths appearing in June and again in 

 August and September. Those which emerge in late summer lay eggs which 

 liatch in about ten to twelve days. The young caterpillars winter in a partially 

 grown condition beneath tufts of grass and other 'low herbage, and in the spring 

 complete their growth feeding chiefly on grasses. In June moths from these 

 caterpillars appear and lay eggs, producing another brood of caterpillars, and 

 this brood, which is present in July and early August, is the one which in almost 

 every instance has« injured crops in Canada. 



The chief method of fighting Army-worms is to plough furrows as deeply 

 as possible, or dig trenches in advance of the caterpillars' line of march. These 

 trenches should he at least ten inches deep, and along in them post holes at 

 least one foot deep — two feet are better — should be dug every fifteen feet. The 

 side of the trench nearest the crop to be protected should be straight, trimmed, 

 if necessary, with a spade. In this j^ear's outbreak, in clay land, it was found 

 advisable, before the soil became dry, to rake lightly with a garden rake the 

 vertical side. The soil as it dried became crumbly and fell off with the Army- 

 worms which attempted to climb up. Such raking is important, otherwise the 

 soil becomes baked like cement and the worms will crawl up it easily. When 

 the Army-worms reach the furrow or trench they are blocked by the straight side 

 and at once change their course, wandering along in the trench until they reach 

 a post hole into which they fall. Wlien thus trapped they are easily destroyed 

 by pouring coal oil into the hole, or by crushing them by means of the blunt 

 end of a post. Other methods of control will be given in our Departmental 

 publication. 



The President: Mr. Baker is to give us an account of the outbreak of the 

 Army-worm in Ontario, and for that reason I am going to defer the discussion 

 on both these papers until after Mr. Baker's paper. Mr. Gibson pointed out, and 

 I should like to point out also, that so far as our work in Ontario was concerned), 

 it was largely of a co-operative nature with the Provincial Department of Agri- 

 culture, and Mr. Baker was responsible for as muc'li of the work that Mr. Gibson 

 has described in his paper as our officer, Mr. Hudson at the Laboratory at 

 Strathroy, Ont. The work was carried on in the entirely co-operative manner in 

 which we wish to have all such work carried on. 



THE AEMY WORM IN ONTAEIO IN 1914. 



By a. W. Baker, O.A.C, Guelph. 



On Tuesday, July 1-lth, word was received from the Provincial Deputy 

 Minister of Agriculture that an outbreak of Army Worms was taking place in 

 Burford Township of Brant County. On Jwhf 15th, Army Worms were found 

 in numbers at Guelph and reports of occurrences then came in rapidly from 

 various parts of the Province. The writer left for Burford Village immediately 

 on the arrival of the report from that district, and found the infestation very 

 heavy. A visit, in company with Mr. J. E. Brethour, ■who rendered much assis-^ 

 tance during the outbreak in Brant County, was at once made to Mr. W. H. 

 Milmine, Eeeve of Burford Township and Warden ,of Brant County. A meeting 

 of the township council was called for Wednesday afternoon. This meeting was 



