73 



any contained weevils are really dead. It must be remembered that 

 of weevnl-injured seed only about one-quarter will germinate and pro- 

 duce plants; consequently much more seed must be sown. 



To secure a supply of seed peas free from weevil injur}' it will be 

 necessary for growers to handle their crop somewhat ditl'erently from 

 what has been the usual practice. This injury is now of an excep- 

 tional nature; therefore exceptional measures must be taken to avoid 

 loss. 



2. Pea growers should harvest their peas sooner than is usually 

 done — as much on the green side as is safe — thresh them as soon as 

 dry enough, and fumigate them at once or sell to grain buyers, who 

 for their own interest will do so. This treatment has many advan- 

 tages. Not onl}- is one of the ver}' greatest difficulties in providing a 

 practical remedy — the shelling out of peas in the field — in a large mea- 

 sure avoided by harvesting earlier, but the straw is of a very much 

 higher quality for feed and the seed is heavier and better for every pur- 

 pose — for export, for feed, and also for seed, because it is of a higher 

 germinating power. In addition to this, the weevil at that time is much 

 less advanced in growth, and consequently has destroyed a nmch smaller 

 proportion of the bulk of the seed. The average date for pea har- 

 vesting is between July 20 and August 20. I have no record of the 

 pea weevil becoming mature and leaving the seed before August 15, 

 and it is usually later than this. Experiment has shown that the 

 weevils at all stages may l)e killed inside the peas by fumigating them 

 with bisulphid of carbon as soon as they are hard enough to handle. 

 When peas are required for feeding the}' should be ground as soon 

 as dry enough, and to prevent the meal from becoming musty some 

 old dry peas should be mixed with the new ones. The greatest diffi- 

 culty of all is with regard to the peas which shell out in the field at 

 the time of harvesting. This, however, will be to a large measure 

 obviated by reaping early, when the seed will not shell out so much 

 as Avhen left till the regular time. The cleaning up of pea fields by 

 turning in hogs is a generally recognized practice, and the work is 

 done very thoroughly by these animals. Where hogs are not avail- 

 able poultry will do the same work, and where neither of these can 

 V)e used the land should be plowed so deeply that the weevils can not 

 work their way out when they leave the peas. 



In the discussion of this paper Mr. Felt remarked that the question 

 was a very interesting one, and speaking as one of the Northern 

 entomologists he desired to assure Mr. Fletcher of his cooperation as 

 far as possible. He did not consider that the pea weevil was as impor- 

 tant in New York State as it was farther north. He had looked over 

 the office records extending back as far as eighteen years and noted 

 only two complaints regarding this species. It was his belief that 

 New York parties bought their seed from more northern growers. 



