198 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



8-9 EDWARD VII., A. 1909 



the year, and the important fact in its life-history is that every pea containing a 

 weevil, and this is by far the largest proportion of all the insects produced every year, 

 is for a considerable time entirely at the mercy of the farmer or seed merchant, for 

 there is no other known food plant for this insect than the cultivated pea. It is not 

 a native of this country any more than its food plant is, and the i>ea is not one of 

 those ' cultivated crops of which the seeds lie over and produce a volunteer crop the 

 following year. 



Remedies. — (1) Holding over seed. Of many remedies suggested that of easiest 

 application and requiring no expenditure is the holding over of seed. Where only a 

 few seed peas are used it is very easy to store these away until the second year after 

 harvesting. Peas should always be bagged and the sacks tied up tightly at once 

 after threshing. It has been found that the Pea Weevil cannot eat its way through 

 bags even when these are made of paper. Therefore all the weevils which emerge 

 either in autumn or the following summer will die inside the bags, and the seed can 

 be sown the following year without danger. Sound seed will not be injured in tho 

 least by being held over for this time. Seeds which have been injured by the weevils 

 will grow unless the germ has been destroyed, but such seeds produce only weak plants, 

 which unless all conditions are extremely favourable, do not produce nearly as heavy 

 a crop and should not be used for seed unless no others are obtainable. Of 400 seeda 

 picked at random from a sample sent in last winter, all of which had been attacked 

 by the weevil, only 34 grew: 



a. 10 seeds germinated, 3 weak plants, 7 strong. 



&. 9 seeds germinated, 2 weak plants, 7 strong. 



c. 10 seeds germinated, 4 weak plants, 6 strong. 



d. 6 seeds germinated, 3 weak plants, 2 strong. 



This experiment merely confirms previous experiments which have been tried hero 

 on several occasions. 



(2) Pumigation. — The standard remedy upon which chief reliance must be placed 

 to control the Pea Weevil is the fumigation of all seed peas with bisulphide oi 

 carbon. For treating large quantities, specially prepared houses are maintained by 

 the large seed merchants. These ' bvig houses ' are tightly constructed, and are mado 

 to treat from 1,000 to 3,000 bushels at a time. The treatment of smaller quantities, 

 such as are required by farmers, is an easy matter, and an ordinary coal oil barrel Is 

 a convenient receptacle for the seed. A 40-gallon coal oil barrel will hold about five 

 bushels, or 300 pounds of seed, which can be treated with 3 ounces of bisulphide of 

 carbon poured right on to the peas and the barrel quickly closed \ip tightly. The 

 bisulphide of carbon shoiild be of the best quality which v/ill vaporize entirely v/ithout 

 leaving any residue. The time to keep the barrel closed is 48 hours. As stated above, 

 the seed should be fumigated as soon as possible after harvest, but the work may be 

 done at any time when the temperature is above freezing. It is well to mention that 

 bisulphide of carbon is very inflammable; fumigating therefore should be done out of 

 doors in a shed or at a distance from buildings, and no light of any kind must be 

 brought near. 



FKUIT CKOPS. 



The spring of 1907 was cold throughout the Dominion and very dry in th^ 

 eastern provinces. This had a direct effect upon all fruit crops. The remarkable 

 scarcity of insects of all kinds prevented the fertilization of much fruit, except in 

 such orchards as were near to apiaries. The crop in Ontario, Quebec and the Mari- 

 time Provinces was not of very high quality, but good prices were obtained, particu- 

 larly when grown under the best horticultural methods. At the Central Experimental 

 Farm there was a full set of fruit owing to the number of bees which had access to 

 the bloom. Prof. Hutt, of the Ontario Agi'icultural College at Guelph, drew particular 



