24 



S C 1 E N T 1 !•■ I( A (J IJ I G U L T U K E 



.Jaiiuarv. 1921. 



out the province. Altogether Mr. Griddle travelled over 

 4.000 miles by motor. 



During' the lieijrht of the infestation, ivom 12 to 14 

 tons of poisoned bait were mixed at some of these 

 mixing: stations. On one occasion at Deloraine as 

 much as 18 tons were mixed and those in charge of 

 this .station worked day and night. As a result of the 

 close co-operation between federal and provincial offi- 

 cials excellent results attended the campaign of 1920. 

 The provincial officials have been able to secure de- 

 finite information as to the actual value of this cam- 

 paign and their figures show that the enormous amount 

 of $17,000,000 was actually saved by the farmers in 

 adopting federal and provincial recommendations. 



As an instance of the value of poisoned bait, Mr. 

 Gibson mentioned that on one occasion 440 dead locusts 

 were found to a square foot. This indicates that the 

 insects were present in the district to the extent of 

 19,166,400 to the acre. The Manitoba Government 

 supplied the bait to the farmers free of charge and the 

 cost to the Province in this respect was $155,000, 



The speaker emphasized the importance of the dis- 

 covery made by the officers of the Entomological 

 Branch, namely the value of sawdust as a carrier for 

 the poison and also of salt as an attractant to the 

 grasshopper. As a result of these discoveries many 

 thousands of dollars have been saved to the province 

 in 1920. 



The organization in Saskatchewan was of a some- 

 what different nature and was more of a semi-military 

 character. The provincial officers worked in close co- 

 operation with the municipalities. In general the prov- 

 incial officers directed the campaign and the muni- 

 cipal officials actually carried out the instructions. It 

 is interesting to note that the following ingredients 

 were purchased by the province of Saskatchewan at a 

 cost of over $300,000—2,720 tons of bran, 225 tons of 

 sawdust, 12,636 gallons of niolasse.s, 2,805 cases of 

 lemons, 166 tons of white arsenic, and 34 tons of Paris 

 Green. As a result of the work in Saskatchewan the 

 ])rovincial officials have estimated that n,o less than 

 1,400,000 acres of crop have been actually saved by 

 the applications of poisoned bait. In the whole of this 

 work the value of white arsenic was amply demon- 

 strated. This insecticide certainly reduced the cost of 

 the applications. 



In Alberta, Mr. Strickland of the Entomological 

 Branch devoted much time to visiting fanners, ad- 

 dressing meetings, etc. The provincial government 

 undertook to distribute the ingredients for the poison- 

 ed bait at cost to such organizations which could 

 handle the same in bulk. Messrs. B. Lawton and P. 

 Tompkins, provincial officials, assisted Mr. Strickland 

 in his work. 



Mr. Gibson also outlined briefly some work which 

 the federal department had conducted in Saskatche- 

 wan in connection with testing out new remedies for 

 grasshoppers, which consisted chiefly of the applica- 

 tion of dusts to infested areas, the spraying of contact 

 insecticides, the application of poisoned gases and the 

 testing of new poisoned baits. These experiments were 

 under the immediate direction of Mr. A. Kelsall of the 

 Entomological Branch. Speaking particularly of Mr. 

 Kelsall 's work with poison gases reference was made 

 to experiments conducted with chlorine gas, which 

 certainl.v indicated that the insects could be destroyed 

 by such a method, but on the whole this was too 

 expensive for practical use. 



With reference to a cinitiiiuation of the grasshopper 



outbreak in the Prairie Provinces, Mr. Gibson men- 

 tioned that officers of the Entomological Branch had 

 investigated many areas in the three Prairie Prov- 

 inces and there was indeed evidence that large num- 

 bers of eggs had been laid b.v grasshoppers during the 

 months of August and September. In one place he 

 stated that as many as 3,000 eggs had been found to 

 a square foot. 



Reference was made also to the recent International 

 Conference held at Winnipeg which was called pur- 

 posel.v to discuss the grasshopper situation. One re- 

 sult of this conference was the appointment of a spe- 

 cial committee who will meet and correspond before 

 the spring of 1921, so that definite cooperative plans 

 will be decided upon and the same means of control 

 recommended. This committee consists of Mr. Nor- 

 man Griddle, Chairman, Mr. M. P. Tullis, Represent- 

 ative for Saskatchewan, Mr. A. V. Mitchener, Represent- 

 ative for Manitoba and I\Ir. S. Lockwood, Represent- 

 ative for North Dakota. 



WORK OF THE DOMINION CEREAL DIVISION. 



At the meeting of the Ottawa branch of the C. S. T. 

 A. on the evening of December lltli. Dr. C. E. Saun- 

 ders, Dominion Cerealist, gave an address in which he 

 reviewed the work of the Cereal Division from the in- 

 ception of the Experimental Farm system to the present 

 time. He pointed out that the objects of the division 

 are twofold, namely, first, to stud.v from the point of 

 view of pure science such problems as arise in reference 

 to the breeding of cereals and the storage and utiliza- 

 tion of cereal products, and second, to carry on re- 

 searches in applied science to ascertain what are the 

 best varieties and t.vpes of cereals for all parts of Can- 

 ada, and to produce by cross-breeding and selection 

 new and special sorts whenever the best varieties now 

 in e.\istence are unsatisfactory'. 



Among the problems of a purely scientific nature 

 which have been studied, there ma.v be mentioned (1) 

 The occurrence of natural crosses in wheat; (2) The 

 inheritance of awns in wheat, and of hoods in barley; 

 (3) The inheritance of baking strength in wheat. 



Some of the most important practical residts include 

 (1) The ])ropagation of the best, old, standard sorts 

 in ])ure condition, and suppl.ving the seed to farmers; 

 ( 2 1 The importation of new varieties from abroad ; (3) 

 The ])roduction of new sorts by cross-breeding and 

 selection; (4) Studies of the effects of storage, damp- 

 ness, artificial bleaching, etc., of wheat and flour. 



Some of the most important new varieties thus far 

 introduced were mentioned. These include Huron 

 wheat, Arthur and Mackay peas which were originated 

 by the late Dr. William Saunders, Marquis and Earl.v 

 Red Fife wheats and Longstem flax, originated by the 

 present Dominion Cerealist by selection, and Prelude 

 and Ruby wheats, and Liberty (Hulless) oats, origin- 

 ated by the .Same person li.v cross-breeding followed by 

 selection. 



The present condition of the Cereal Division was 

 touched upon, and some of the problems of the im- 

 mediate future were referred to. The fact was em- 

 phasized that the Cereal Division would be capable of 

 going ahead very much more rapidl.v, and accomplish- 

 ing a great deal more for the country if it were ade- 

 (piately supported by the Government. Among the 

 most |ii(iniising new ex])erinients now being undertaken 

 ineiitioii was nuulc of the projiagating and testing of 

 iiliont thirty new cross-bretl varieties of flax for fibre 

 purposes. 



