13 



(2) A general lack of attention to the cutting of weeds before they seeded ; 



(3) A system of farming that allowed for no periodical cleaning crop), such as 



corn and roots ; and that permitted meadows to lie undisturbed for 

 many years, so that couch grass and ox-eye daisy were able to flourish 

 without hindrance ; and 



(4) The general abandonment of the sheep industry, so that weeds in pastures 



and waste lands were left undisturbed. 



The solution of the weed problem involves, therefore, some radical changes in 

 general farming as practised over large areas of this Province. In fact, the solution 

 means the adoption of a more up-to-date system of rotation of crops and cultiva- 

 tion of the soil, for by no other means can the weeds be controlled. Many of our 

 best farmers have already seen the remedy and are applying it, biit it is a regrettable 

 fact that a large majority of the farmers have not yet realized the seriousness of 

 the situation, and are going along in the old rut. 



During the past summer I spent three weeks in the Eastern Townships in a 

 study of the Paint Brush or Orange Hawk-weed. I visited the counties of Rich- 

 mond, Sherbrooke, Brome, Missisquoi and Huntingdon, and conferred with many 

 farmers, good and poor alike. I found that the farmers who practised good farming 

 had no fears of the Paint Brush in fields they could cultivate. I found also that 

 where sheep were kept the weed was held in check in pastures and rough lands. 

 Here then was the solution of the Paint Brush problem — good farming and the 

 keeping of sheep. 



REPUBLICATION OF PROVANCHER'S " FLORE DU CANADA " 



There is another matter to which I beg to refer. Many years ago Abbe Pro- 

 vancher published a work entitled '' Flore du Canada," in two volumes, which has 

 been out of print for some years and is now very difficult to procure. No work on 

 systematic botany has taken its place in Quebec, consequently this phase o 

 study of plant life has been to a large extent neglected in the French schools of 

 this Province. I would therefore suggest that this Society request the Government 

 of the Province not only to reprint a revised edition of Provancher's work, but also 

 to publish a school edition of the same. The pubhcation of these two editions 

 would give a stimulus to the study of plants, and indirectly would tend to a better 

 knowledge of weeds on the part of the rising generation. 



PROGRESS IN THE STUDY OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



In my last year's Address to this Society I made a suggestion that a great 

 impetus would be given to the study of the injurious insects of this Province if a 

 carefully prepared set of such forms were placed in each of the normal schools. To 

 do this, however, would require considerable labour in the matter of collection and 



