REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 201 
SESSIONAL PAPER No. Ba 
known here under the appropriate name of Smother Weed, and the Blue Lettuce (Lactuca 
pulchella, DC.). 
Early on the morning of June 29 I left Moose Jaw with Mr. Blakely, and having 
been joined at Regina by the Hon. Mr. Bulyea, went on to Wapella, where a team was 
in readiness to take us to Fairmede, 18 miles distant, at which place we held the first of 
several successful meetings away from the railway, driving from place to place through 
the country. We were all muck surprised at the fine agricultural hall and buildings at 
Fairmede, but this was soon explained by the prosperity of the farmers in this fertile 
district. We spent the night at the comfortable home of Mr. John Kidd, who moved 
out west from the Ottawa district many years ago. 
The next meeting was at Glen Adelaide, 22 miles distant, and was reached after a 
delightful prairie drive in the afternoon. We spent the night at Cannington Manor, 
and leaving the next morning, were driven by Mr. McDiarmid, M.I..A., through the 
Moose Mountains and White Bear’s Reserve, passing by Heart Hill, one of the highest 
mounds of these hills, to Arcola (16 miles), where we were hospitably entertained by 
Mr. J. L. Thompson. Mr. Thompson’s farm lies at the foot of the Moose Mountains, with 
a magnificent stretch of level and extremely fertile land lying to the south of it. The 
prosperity of this section is clearly shown by the fine houses of the settlers, notwith- 
standing the long distance over which all produce has to be driven to market or to the 
railways. In the afternoon Mr. Thompson drove us 7 miles to the new village of Clare, 
where a meeting was held. A few farms in this district were found to be infested with 
Stink Weed (Thlaspi arvense, L.) and Hare’s-ear Mustard [Conringia orientalis, (L.) 
Andrz. |, which had been accidently introduced a year or two before, but which had been 
recognized and were being attended to. The Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella Bursa-pastoris, 
Meench ) and the Green Tansy Mustard (Sisymbrium incisum, Engelm., var filipes, Gray.) 
were also remarkably abundant in one or two places, and both plants were seen to be 
loaded with seeds. At the meeting stress was laid upon the importance of early 
summer-fallowing and of mowing down all weeds with ripe seeds before the summer- 
fallows are turned down. We afterwards drove back to Arcola with Mr. Thompson and 
remained with him until the morning of Monday, July 3. 
Leaving at 8 o'clock on July 3, we drove 10 miles to Carlyle, where a large meeting 
was held in the afternoon, and subsequently 23 miles further to Alameda, on the 
Souris Branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway, where we were joined by Mr. Trant, 
and a splendid meeting took place in the afternoon, at which a great number of speci- 
mens were brought in by farmers and where there was a most useful discussion. After 
this meeting we walked to Oxbow, the next station along the railway, passing through 
the rich lands lying along the Souris River. As we neared the town of Oxbow, we 
found some crops of wheat in which the Prairie Rocket (Hrysimum asperum, DC.) was 
very abundant, and, being such a conspicuous plant, it had naturally caused consider- 
able anxiety among farmers who had recognized it as a member of the Mustard Family. 
This plant, however, is a biennial which seldom shows itself as abundantly as was the 
case this year, being a native plant which has never proved to be an aggressive crop pest 
and which besides is easily pulled up, the large plants never growing very closely 
together ; it is not likely, therefore, to develop into a bad weed. 
The meeting at Oxbow was equally successful with the preceding one. The next 
morning we drove to Carnduff, where we were joined by Mr. T. N. Willing. The 
farmers here were found to be much interested in the weed question, and the same was 
the case at the meeting held on July 7 at Gainsborough, many pertinent questions being 
asked and much interest being taken in the Hon. Mr. Bulyea’s efforts to assist the 
farmers. From Gainsborough a 25-mile drive brought us to Melita on the evening of 
July 7. Here I finished my work for the North-west Government—three weeks of 
delightful travelling, in which a large tract of country quite new to me was traversed and in 
which I had enjoyed many opportunities of studying the insects and plants of the country 
passed through. I must here express my gratitude to the Hon. Mr. Bulyea for frequent 
modifications in his plans, which I know were made entirely on my account, so that I 
might see as much as possible of this interesting country and have every convenience to 
collect plants and insects, noxious and beneficial. 
