83 



crs li;i\"<' l)i'<'ii rciMiiidiMl 1 hat tho exaiiiiii.ii ion ol" llicx- liamls ainl llio 

 (IcsliiK-lioM of tlic contained larva' is of even more iinporlancr liian 

 pull in.ii' tlic hands on t lie t I'oes. Stress was also laid n\n)\\ the fact that 

 more effective work could be done, lookinu- to i'iitur<' exemption, by 

 th()i-<)U,ii:h and careful work in years of small occurrences tlian when 

 the insects were enornu)Usly al)undant. The plum curculio was 

 locally the cause of severe injury in a few localities where sprayinj; 

 had been nejj:lected, but the enormous croj) of [)lums this yeai- in all 

 ])aits of Caiuida rendered the attacks of the plum cuiculio insiirnili- 

 cant, if not an actual benefit. There is oue subject I should like [)ar- 

 ticularly to briiii; befon^ the Association, which is spraying; for the 

 control of the i)lum curculio. In Canada spraying for this insect is a 

 practical paying i-emedy, which T calculate will save o(i per cent of 

 the crop, but I notice that Tnited States writers seldom mention 

 s[)raying, and pin their faitli to the extremel}' expensive, trouble- 

 some, and, with me, comparatively ineffective nusthod of jarring the 

 ti'ces. Last year I corresponded with some of those who I'ecom- 

 nicnded jarring, and was very much surprised to lind how few had 

 tried spraying and comi)ared it as to elhciency and cost with jai'ring. 



The eye-sp(jtted bud-moth was abundant in Nova Scotia and caused 

 some injury to the apple crop. Two insects which are noticeably on 

 the increase in Canada are tlie fall webworm and the wliite-nuirked 

 tussock moth. Fruit growers and municipal bodies liave been 

 reniinded that these well-known insects are easil}' fought if the proper 

 measures are adopted. The birch skeletonizer, Bticculalrix rdndden- 

 .s/sf'lld Cham., appeared again in some numbers in central Ontario, 

 but was not nearly such a pest as it has been for the past two years. 



Among insects which have been the cause of considerable damage 

 during the season of in()3, or have been unusually abundant, mention 

 may be made of the following: 



Plant-lice of all kinds ha\e been xcry picvaleiit. The grain aphis 

 extended from the Northwest Territories to the Atlantic coast, but 

 ccunpanMl with its gi-eat abundance affected very little the (lualily of 

 the crop, 'i'he <'al)bage aphis was a serious enemy of early cabbages 

 in Ibitish Columbia, and of turnips to s»tme extent tiiroughout the 

 Dominion, l)ut was the cause of more considerable loss in I'rince 

 Kdward Island and Xova Scotia. The apple aphis appeareil eai'ly in 

 tin? season in ciionnous numlM-rs in ( )ntari(), (Quebec, and Nova Scotia, 

 but was less abundant than usual in l>ritish Columbia, where, as a 

 rule, it is one of the most destructive enemies of the apph' grower. 

 'IMu' most, important injuries by the apple ai)his in HiO.'l wen* to young 

 trees in nurseries and to the fruit while young and green. In some 

 varieties more than others the fruit was much distorted and disfigured 

 so as to give very much the appearance of apples which had been 

 "stung" by the small i>i-itish Columbian apple fruit-miner (J /•;////•' .s- 

 fhia conJugeUd Z. ). 'i'he black-cherry aphis and the two plum aphides 



