January gth, I gi2?\ PROCEEDINGS. xi 



prepared in 1870, and published by the Provincial Government 

 of Ontario in 1871. It included accounts of the insects 

 affecting apple, grape, and plum, and an edition of three 

 thousand was soon exhausted. In 187 1 the Government of 

 the Province of Ontario passed a statute incorporating the 

 Canadian Entomological Society as the " Entomological Society 

 of Ontario," which was instituted " for the investigation of the 

 character and habits of insects, the improvement of entomo- 

 logical science and more especially its practical bearing on the 

 agricultural and horticultural interests of the province." A grant 

 was made to the Society by the Provincial Government, and the 

 First Annual Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 

 was published. The annual publication of this report, which 

 contains articles chiefly of an economic and practical nature, 

 has been continued, and the Provincial Government at present 

 makes an annual grant of one thousand dollars to the Society. 

 No steps in a similar direction were taken by the Dominion 

 Government until 1884, when an inquiry was held as to the 

 desirability of appointing a Government Entomologist, and 

 the Select Committee recommended that such an oilficer be 

 appointed. Accordingly, in 1885, the Minister of Agriculture 

 appointed a Dominion Entomologist, selecting for the position 

 Mr. James Fletcher, who had been acting in an honorary 

 capacity as Entomologist to the Department of Agriculture since 

 1S84, and had issued his first report on injurious insects. When 

 the Dominion Experimental Farms were established in 1886 

 this officer was attached to that branch of the Department of 

 Agriculture in the joint capacity of Entomologist and Botanist. 

 This position was occupied by Dr. Fletcher until his death in 

 1908. Owing to the increase in entomological work, and the 

 necessity for its further extension, the old Division of Ento- 

 mology and Botany was divided, and separate Divisions of 

 Entomology and Botany were established in 1909. In that 

 year the author was appointed as Dominion Entomologist, and 

 entrusted with the work of organizing the new Division of 

 Entomology. 



