38 PEAS AND PEA CULTURE 



fested seed with carbon bisulphide, put in a tight 

 barrel or bin, and pour on one ounce for every 100 

 pounds. Then close the receptacle tightly and 

 leave for 48 hours. Remains of the pea crop not 

 taken from the field should be raked up and burned. 

 Weevil-infested seed kept for two years in tight 

 bags or boxes will kill the insects. Zavitz 3 reports 

 that Grass peas proved resistant to the weevil in 

 Ontario and gave a yield of 25 bushels grain to the 

 acre and two tons straw. 



Pea Moth (Semasia Nigricana). This insect occa- 

 sionally does considerable damage, although it is 

 not nearly as common as the weevil. The matured 

 moth is small, perhaps less than one-half inch in 

 expanse of wings and has a dull gray color. The 

 moth deposits its eggs on the growing pea pods. 

 Caterpillars soon hatch out and eat their way into 

 the pod, feeding upon the young peas, consuming 

 many of them and filling the space with a mass of 

 excrement. Finally, the worms leave the pods and 

 form small oval cocoons below the surface of the 

 ground. 



The remedy is preventive. Pea vines may be 

 sprayed as soon as blossoms are open with one 

 pound soap and 25 gallons water in which has been 

 dissolved one-fourth pound paris green. The spray- 

 ing should be repeated once or twice at intervals 

 of seven to ten days. The object of spraying is to 

 kill the young caterpillars when they eat their way 

 through the pod. Another precaution is to plow 

 the ground deeply in the fall, so that the cocoons 

 will be buried and thus prevent the moths coming 



8 E. S. R., Vol. 14. 



