12 



IS frequently to be seen about the first of July. From these maggots there comes a 

 second brood of the flies in August which deposit their eggs on grasses and on any 

 volunteer wheat that there may be, and finally a third brood is matured in September in 

 time to attack the fall wheat before the cold weather sets in. The remedies which Mr. 

 Fletcher proposes (Bulletin No. 11) are "(1) late sowing of winter wheat ; (2) harrowing 

 of stubble soon after the crop is carried, so as to start the volunteer crop quickly, this 

 latter to be plowed in early in September ; (3) the application of a special fertilizer as 

 a top dressing when winter wheat is known to be aflected, this will help the injured 

 plants to overcome the injury." 



The last insect attack to which I desire to draw your attention is, perhaps, the most 

 formidable of all. I refer to the recent occurrence of the " Horn-fly " {Hce.matohia serraia, 

 Kob.) in various parts of this Province. At the beginning of August it Avas first reported 

 to Mr. Fletcher as attacking cattle at Oshawa, and soon after its appearance was 

 announced at Toronto and London ; during the last few days I have been informed of 

 its presence at Bowman ville, Port Hope, Kingston, Ottawa and at Boucherville near 

 Montreal. It has, no doubt, come to us from the neighbouring States where it has pre- 

 vailed for some time. The insect is of European origin and has evidently been brought 

 into the United States with imported cattle. It was first observed in New Jersey in 

 1887, and has now spread over the Atlantic States to Florida, as far west as Indiana and 

 northwaid to Canada. The adult is a small gray fly, closely resembling the common 

 house-fly in appearance, but a little smaller. It derives its name of Horn-fly from its 

 singular habit of clustering, when at rest, upon the base of the horns of cows ; it is by 

 no means confined to this situation, however, but swarms ui)on the back between the 

 head and foreshoulders, and on any parts which cannot be reached by the tongue or tail 

 of the animal. When feeding it ranges over the back, flanks and legs. The injury done 

 by this fly is by biting with its mouth-organs the skin of the animal, and sucking its 

 blood ; as it occurs in great swarms, it seriously irritates the cattle and causes them, by 

 loss of blood, to fall off in condition and diminish the yield of milk. The eggs are laid 

 on the fresh droppings of the cattle and the insect passes its maggot stage in these ; it 

 subsequently goes down to the earth to form its pupa from A.hich the winged fly in due 

 time emerges. Dr. Faley and his assistants at Washington have carefully studied the 

 life history of the insect, and state that " from ten to seventeen days, say two weeks, is 

 about the average time from the laying of the egg to the appearance of the flies, and with 

 four active breeding months, from May 15th to September 15th, there will be eight 

 generations." We cannot then wonder at the sudden and enormous multiplication of the 

 insect. The remedies that have been found most eifective are the smearing of the horns 

 and all the aflected parts of the animal with any greasy sub.stance to which a little carbolic 

 acid has been added for the sake of its healing effect ; train oil has been found especially 

 useful as it keeps the flies away for five or six days after an application ; common axle- 

 grease and tallow have also be^n employed with good eflect. In order to destroy the 

 broods of the insect, the best))lan is to throw a spadeful of lime over the fresh droppings, 

 or if the weather is dry and sunny, to rake the fresh cowdung over the surface of the 

 ground so that it may at once dry up and prevent the maggots from maturing ; boys 

 could easily perform this work, as there is always some place in the pasture field where 

 the cattle gather during the heat of the day and where the dung can therefore be dealt 

 with without much tiouble. These methods should be especially employed in the early 

 part of the year, wherever the in&ect is noticed, in order to prevent, or at any rate reduce, 

 the subsequent bioods. 



Before leaving the su\)ject of practical entomology I may allude for a moment to the 

 splendid work that is being done all over North America by the Division of Entomology 

 at Washington and the otlicial entomologists at the various State experimental stations. 

 The publication of Insect Life and the many bulletins that are issued both by the Federal 

 and the State oflicials contain a vast fund of most useful and valuable information, the 

 vi su ts of careful experiments in the field and the laboratory, and painstaking and 

 conscientious studies of the life histories of insects. Similar good work is also being 

 accomplished in this country by Mr. James Fletcher, the Dominion Entomologist at the 



