INTRODUCTION. 



BUREAU OF AGRICULTURE AND STATISTICS, 

 Toronto, 7th Sept., 1857. 



ON the 18th August, 1856, there issued from this Depart- 

 ment the following notice: 



BUREAU OF AGRICULTURE AND STATISTICS, 

 Toronto, 15th August, 1856. 



PRIZE ESSAYS 40, 25, AND 15. 



The above premiums will be paid for the three best Essays, respec- 

 tively ,5, : on the " Origin, nature, and habits, and the history of the pro- 

 gress, from time to time, and the cause of the progress, of the weevil, 

 Hessian fly, midge, and such other insects as have made ravages on the 

 wheat crops in Canada; and on such diseases as the wheat crops have 

 been subjected to, and on the best means of evading or guarding against 

 them." 



The essay to be furnished to the Bureau by the 15th day of January 

 next ; and to be designated by a motto, a copy of which shall be also 

 forwarded, in a sealed note, with the name and address of the author. 

 The prizes will be awarded according to the decision of a committee, to 

 be named by the Board of Agriculture for Upper and Lower Canada ; 

 or, in default of any such decision, by the Bureau. The essays selected 

 to become the property of the Bureau. A premium will only be awarded 

 in case an essay of sufficient merit is produced. 



It is feared that the farmer, in his eagerness to produce wheat, is not 

 paying sufficient attention to the danger of over-cropping; and it is 

 hoped that this warning, and the information, and advice which may be 

 obtained through the essays sought for, will aid in arresting the great 

 scourges of the wheat. 



P. M. VANKOUGHNET, 



Minister of Agriculture, &c. 



