184 ; EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 
2-3 EDWARD VII., A. 1993 
much later than that date. Experiment has shown that the weevil at all stages may 
be killed inside the peas by fumigating the seed with bisulphide of carbon, consequently, 
if growers will harvest and thresh earlier than usual for a few years and either themselves 
treat their seed immediately or sell to the grain buyers, who for their own sakes will do so, 
much good must surely result. When for any reason peas cannot be treated at once or 
disposed of, they should be bagged up and the sacks tied immediately so as to prevent 
the escape of any weevils which might emerge in the autumn. When the grain is 
required for feeding the peas should be ground as soon as they are dry enough, and to 
prevent the meal from becoming musty the new peas should be mixed with some old 
peas when grinding. 
Difficulties to be met.—Sometimes peas ripen so unevenly that by reaping early it is 
feared that the sample will be very uneven when threshed ; but, should this be the case, 
it simply means that these small and shrivelled peas are blown out of the seed peas when 
they are cleaned and are not lost but can be used for feed. The greatest difficulty of all 
is with regard to the peas which are shelled out in the field at the time of harvesting. 
This however, will be to a large measure obviated by reaping early, as the seed will not 
shell out nearly so much as when left till the regular time. The cleaning up of pea 
fields moreover by turning in hogs is a generally recognized practice, and the work is 
done very thoroughly. Where hogs are not available, poultry will do the same work, 
and, where neither of these can be used, the land should be ploughed so deeply that the 
weevils cannot work their way out when they leave the peas. I am aware that it is 
not the custom to plough up pea fields for fall wheat , but simply to cultivate or disc 
them, because the land is left in such excellent condition ; but it must be remembered 
that the loss from the Pea Weevil is now excessive, and, if this small change in method 
can be shown to be of great advantage, it surely is worth a trial. 
Another difficulty suggested is that it would be hard to get all peas threshed before 
the autumn emerging weevils escaped, on account of the small number of threshing 
machines which would be available. In reply to this, experience has shown that demand 
will always produce supply; and I feel sure that the implement makers will not lose 
such an opportunity of pushing their business. The much higher price obtainable for 
the early threshed peas, to say nothing of the enormous value of future crops due to 
controlling the weevil, will very soon repay to the farmer the initial expense. Where, 
however, there is no possibility of getting a threshing machine, I would draw the atten- 
tion of growers to the old-fashioned method of treading out the peas with horses. That 
this is advantageous is indicated by the fact that some of the seed merchants pay a 
higher price for peas threshed with horses. 
Mr. W. P. Niles, of Wellington, to whom I am particularly indebted for much 
useful information connected with this matter, writes me particularly with regard to 
one subject which is much discussed by the Pea Trade, viz., ‘oily peas.’ Mr. Niles 
writes: ‘My sample No. 4 contains what we designate as “oily” or “glassy peas.” 
Every one, you will notice, has had a weevil in it, and not one of these peas will germinate. 
Some seedsmen say this is caused by the heat of the sun in dry weather. killing the 
weevil while in the embryo state, thereby making the pea oily. I contend that this is 
not the case, being perfectly satisfied that it is done by threshing with an ordinary 
threshing machine. At that time the weevils are not fully developed and are simply 
a small ball of fatty matter. The sudden shock in going through the cylinder of the 
machine kills or bursts this embryo weevil and the fat or oil is absorbed by the pea 
at once. In order to fully satisfy myself on this point, I have frequently had farmers 
thresh a part of their peas, the same variety on the same day, with a threshing machine, 
and a part with horses on the barn floor, and I have invariably found that the machine 
threshed peas would have a large percentage of oily peas, while the horse threshed 
ones would not haveany. I have tried this repeatedly for the past three years, and have 
always got the same results.’ ” 
With regard to the above, I may say that some seed merchants do not agree with 
this theory ; but I received from Mr. Niles a large number of oily peas. These I soak- 
ed for two or three days and opened them carefully, when I found that the weevils were 
incl 
