REPORT OF TEE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST 165 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



not as a rule make a very heavy growth the first season, and therefore it would not 

 crowd out the somewhat delicate alfalfa seedlings, nor deprive them of too much soil 

 moisture. The alfalfa, being a very deep-rooted plant, would he well suited for cul- 

 tivation with either of these grasses, the root systems of which are much nearer the 

 surface. I am glad to learn that the Korth-west government has secured from the 

 Russian government a quantity of seed of the Turkestan variety of alfaKa, which will 

 probably be distributed for testing in various localities next spring. This variety is 

 merely a form of the common alfalfa which has been grown in Western Asia for a long 

 time and has thus become accustomed to more severe conditions. I was fortunate 

 enough to secure from the United States Bureau of Plant Industry some seed of the 

 original distribution which was brought to America, and have a vigorous plot now 

 growing from that seed. The two plants are almost indistinguishable, although the 

 Turkestan variety is rather morevigorous in growth ; but the leaves and flowers of both 

 forms are similar. 



Collections. — The collections of insects and plants in the Division have been very 

 much augmented during the past year, many interesting additions having been made 

 from material collected in the field, as well as through the kindness of correspondents 

 who have sent in collections to be named by the officers of tlie Division. The success 

 of the recent Nature Study movement in education has had a marked effect in in- 

 creasing the interest in the subjects dealt with in the Division of Entomology and 

 Botany, as has been evidenced by the large number of natural history objects which 

 have been sent in with inquiries for information concerning them. These were for the 

 most part insects and plants and came from teachers, students and farm children 

 living in every province of tlie Dominion. I was much pleased to have the opportunity 

 of distributing useful knowledge concerning these important subjects in this direct way 

 to those for whom it was of so much practical value; and, moreover, from, this source 

 many valuable additions have been made to all of our collections. For several years 

 material of all kinds has been accumulating from my own collections in the West, from 

 the extensive breeding investigations into the life-histories of insects which have been 

 carried on here, and from specimens sent in by correspondents for examination. Dur- 

 ing the past season many insects have been mounted and arranged in the cases, as well 

 as plants in the herbarium, so that we have in the Division fairly good working col- 

 lections which are now available for reference when required. 



Insects. — The chief effort has been made to study and represent in the cabinets 

 the various stages of those species which are injurious to crops, and those which are 

 known to be beneficial. Much has also been done to build up the general scientific 

 collections of the different natural orders of insects. 



Plants. — Large additions have been made to the collection of native wild plants, 

 and some hundreds of sheets have been mounted and arranged in the herbarium. These 

 consisted chiefly of plants of various orders from the North-west Territories, from 

 the Rocky Mountains, and from British Columbia. A good representation has also 

 been secured of fodder plants, particularly of grasses. Agricultural weeds and poison- 

 ous plants, which are a subject of burning interest in the wheat lands of the West, and 

 on the stock ranges, are well represented in our collections, and a recent improvement 

 has been made by arranging the collection of seeds of weeds and other plants; this 

 collection now contains seeds of about 450 species and includes nearly all of the weeds 

 of importance in different parts of the Dominion. These samples have been of much 

 service in identifying seeds found among seed grain and clover and grass seeds, sent in 

 by farmers and seed merchants for examination as to purity and for testing as to 

 vitality. 



Insects of the year. — I am pleased to report that there have been no serious out- 

 breaks of injurious insects during the season of 1903, nor have any new pests of im- 

 portance made their appearance. One species of interest, but of no great economic im- 



