180 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



3-4 EDWARD VII., A. 1904 



dard remedy for the Hop Aphis in the hop gardens of the south of England. It ia 

 very similar to the one used by Mr. Corby, mentioned above : 



100 gallons of soft water (if the water is hard add soda). 

 4 to 5 lbs. of soft soap. 



G to 8 lbs. of quassia chips, first steeped in cold water and afterwards boiled for 

 one hour before mixing with the main supply of water. 



The value of this wash has been clearly shown in England, where some hop-grow- 

 ers, as is the case with ourselves, do good careful woik and get large and paying crops 

 cf hops of the first quality, while others who do not attend to these important mat- 

 ters get nothing at all or very little. The points most to be borne in mind by hop 

 growers in this conection are, — that early work is less troublesome, less expensive, 

 and pays enormously all trouble taken, therefore constant attention must be given to 

 the yards at the time the insects migrate to them, and lastly, that one application of 

 any remedy is not sufiicient. The washes effective against plant lice, unlike the ar- 

 senical poisons which are placed on foliage and remain active for a long time until 

 eaten by insects, are contact remedies only which, to be of any iise, must actually be 

 thrown on to each individual insect ; moreover, as the plant-lice do not all migrate to 

 the hops at the same time, two or three applications at short intervals may be neces- 

 sary. Throughout the sum^mer the various broods of the hop aphis are wingless, there- 

 fore, if the first broods which appear on the hops are thorouglily dealt with, the yards 

 can be kept clear for the rest of the season. 



ROOTS AND VEOETABLTLS 



Roots crops in all the eastern provinces of the Dominion have suffered from tlie 

 unusual weather which prevailed generally last spring from the lakes to the Atlantic 

 coast. The dry late spring prevented prompt germination of seed when sown early. 

 Mangels were not up to average, from poor germination and the attacks of cutworms, 

 Sugar beets, which are now being grown in mai.y parts of Canada both for sugar and 

 for stock, gave a fair crop. Turnips, where not injured by cutworms and the Turnip 

 Aphis, gave good returns, particularly from late sowings put in after the June rains. 

 Potatoes did not start well, owing to the drought of May and early June, The crop, 

 however, was fairly good in size and quality, where not injured by the ' Potato Rot.' 

 This disease, which can to such a large extent be prevented by spraying with Bor- 

 deaux mixture, as has frequently been pointed out in these reports, was, it is to be 

 regretted, very destructive from the Maritime Provinces to the Prairies. The follow- 

 ing extracts from Mr. B. W. Chipman's Nova Scotia government crop report for 

 Novcm.ber last, arc well worthy of consideration by the thoiisands of farmers and others 

 who grow potatoes either in large or small quantities : — 



' Chester. — The potato crop wili be heavy and of large size, but the rot has be- 

 griui in some places very badly. Early spraying with Bordeaux mixture has proved 

 beyond doubt a preventive for blight rot, and should be thorovighly tested by all potato 

 growers. The trial costs little and the result in this district has proved its value. 

 Spray as soon as the plant is in blossom, and twice at intervals of two weeks later 

 on, if the season is wet.' 



* New Germany. — No potato bugs. Potatoes took blight about September 1, and 

 in some cases 50 per cent are rotten. One man here, and only one, as far as I know, 

 sprayed hijs potatoes, with the result that less than 1 per cent v/ere rotten.' 



The results of demonstration experiments which have been carried on at the Cen- 

 tral Experimental Earm, Ottawa, year after year, for many years, have uniformly 

 shown the enormous benefit of spraying potato vines about August 1, and twice after- 

 wards at intervals of 15 days, with the Bordeaux mixture, which for this purpose con- 



