130 



Hudson (H. F.). Notes on the Relation of Insect Control to Cultural 

 Practices in Western Ontario. —Agric. Gaz. Canada, Ottaiva, v, no. 

 12, December 1918, pp. 1136-1138. 



It is pointed out that with greater crop production and an acute 

 shortage of agricultural labour it is likely that plants will be seriously 

 damaged by insect pests and fungus diseases, and that careful watch 

 should be maintained for these and every effort be made to check their 

 increase. Great importance is attached to methods of farm rotation ;: 

 several farms under observation have shown little or no sign of insect 

 depredations, while others in close proximity have been distinctly 

 injured, A system that has been followed with excellent results is 

 to plant red clover for hay, to plough this in autumn and plant with 

 wheat. In the spring of the second year clover is again sown on the 

 wheat field and in the following spring the wheat stubble and clover 

 are ploughed under and a good top dressing of barnyard manure 

 given and the ground planted with maize and potatoes. The 

 cultivation through the summer cleans the ground, which in the following 

 spring is planted with oats and then re-sown with clover. Thus 

 two clover crops are turned imder in four years. Crops so grown 

 are reported to be always good and free from insect pests and this is 

 attributed chiefly to short rotations of hay crop and the elimination 

 of timothy grass, which has apparently become a very popular crop 

 although it has decided disadvantages. 



Entomological Laboratory for Saskatchewan. — Agric. Gaz. Canada, 

 Ottawa, v., no. 12, December 1918, p. 1139. 



The Entomological Branch of the Canadian Department of 

 Agriculture has established a laboratory and office at the University 

 of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, which Avill serve as a headquarters for 

 the work carried on in that Province. Studies on the blood-sucking 

 and other insects affecting live stock will be continued and the 

 laboratory will also serve as a local bureau of information on insect 

 pests affecting crops in the Province, while immediate assistance will 

 be given in the case of sudden outbreaks of insect attack. 



Sasscer (E. R.) & DiETZ (H. F.). Fumigation of Cattleya Orchids 

 with Hydrocyanic- Acid Gas. — Jl. Agric. Research, Washington, D.C., 

 XV, no. 5, 4th November 1918, pp. 263-268, 2 plates. 



During the inspection of orchids prior to the adoption of fumigation 

 with hydrocyanic-acid gas as a requirement for entry, a total of 

 137 species of insects was collected, principally on species of Cattleya, 

 or in cases containing them, during the period from August 1912 

 to December 1917. These included 41 species of Coccids and a 

 number of recently introduced ants, which are now firmly established 

 and responsible for much injury in greenhouses as far west as Indiana. 

 Examination of three cases of Colombian orchids revealed the presence 

 of 17 species of insects of many orders. A shipment of 47 cases of 

 Cattleya from Colombia in 1917 was found to be infested with larvae 

 of an unknown Pyralid moth not known to occur in the United States. 

 Experiments were conducted to determine the possibility of killing 

 these larvae and other insects by the vacuum process without removing 



