170 EXPERIMENTAL FARMa 



3-4 EDWARD VII., A. 1904 



DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



CEREALS. 



Weather conditions during 1003 in all parts of the Dominion have been somewhat 

 ■unusual, and crops of all kinds, particularly cereals, have suffered somewhat from this 

 cause. Crop reports from the eastern provinces record a prolonged spring drought with 

 frosts in some places, which in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia somewhat 

 thinned fruit crops and retarded growth of hay and pastures. A noticeable absence of 

 injurious insects, with the one exception of cutworms, is mentioned by numerous cor- 

 respondents in the maritime provinces. In Manitoba, conditions at sowing time were 

 exceptionally favourable anS. all crops were got in and started well. The weather up to 

 the middle of May was somewhat cool, and there was not much growth of grass and no 

 trees were in leaf. After that time copious rains fell, which germinated all seed and 

 gave promise of an enormous crop. The dry June which followed, with only light 

 showers in July, checked the growth somewhat and, in districts where there was too 

 little rain, grain was prematurely ripened. The result was that crops were rather 

 lighter than usual, and in some districts both in Manitoba and the North-west Ter- 

 ritories, where rain fell late in the season, crops did not ripen early enough to escape 

 injury. The handsome gross yield, however, of fifty-seven million bushels of v/heat, 

 with an average of over 18 bushels to the acre, in conjunction with the higher price of 

 wheat, gave the farmers of Manitoba and the North-west good returns for their work. 

 In British Columbia Mr. J. R. Anderson reports that all grain crops were good and 

 free of injury by insects. In Ontario the growing of wheat has decreased consider- 

 ably during the last two or three years. This is doubtless due to losses from the 

 Hessian Fly. In 1900, 1,OG8,000 acres were put in to fall wheat and 377,000 to spring 

 wheat, while in 1903 only 665,000 acres of fall wheat were sown, with 248,500 of spring 

 wheat. Prof. James, in his November crop report, for Ontario, says: 'The yield of 

 fall wheat per acre is large and the quality of the grain is, as a rule, first class. Taking 

 both yield and quality into consideration, the crop of 1903 may be considered as one of 

 the best in the history of the province. There has been a greatly increased area of 

 wheat sown this fall, more particularly in the Lake Erie district and other localities 

 where the Hessian Ely did so much injury during the previous three or four years. 

 The crop of spring wheat may be counted as above the average, although not so good 

 relatively as fall wheat.' Oats, in all parts of the Dominion, were a heavy crop, but 

 in some places were late in maturing and rather light in weight. No injury by insects, 

 either to this cereal or to barley, was mentioned, and only very few references were 

 made to rust, notwithstanding the heavy rains in some districts. The season of 1903 

 was -not very favourable for corn. Seed planted early did best; that which was put in 

 at the ordinary time, gei-minated very poorly from lack of rain and was consequently 

 late. The long open autumn, before severe frost came, gave an opportunity for the 

 crop to mature well, and most of it was saved in good condition, both for the bin 

 and the silo. 



Pease, which for several years have suffered so severely from the Pea Weevil, were 

 grov/n to a much smaller extent in Ontario than for many years. In 1903 there were 125,- 

 500 acres less land sown to this crop in Ontario than in 1902 ; but the crop reaped was 1,- 

 259,971 bushels above that of 1902, with an average of 22 bushels per acre, against 14^ the 

 previous year. This improvement, it must be acknowledged, ia to some extent due to 

 the campaign against the Pea Weevil, organized by the ofiicials of the Ontario Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and tliis Division. Many farmers and others who grew pease, 

 demanded from their seedsmen seed pease which had been treated to destroy any 



