28 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO 



Last spring I went to the proper committee of the Western Fair Board with the 

 request that it offer prizes or diplomas to schools for exhibits of the life history of in- 

 jurious insects. Oar thanks are due to the committee for compliance with the request as 

 it has shown what can be done by a teacher and his pupils in this line , when he seriously 

 •addresses himself to the task. I have the exhibits herefrom school No. 14, N. Dorchester, 

 and Union 5 and 15 London. The teacher in No. 14, Mr. J. W. Atkinson, had no 

 technical knowledge of insects when he set about this work but taking advantage of the 

 presence of the army worm in his section and following a few written suggestions on 

 technique, he caged the larvae, reared the moths, secured the eggs, and captured several 

 beetles which prey upon the larvae. What an object lesson this was to the children 1 

 How much more interesting, useful and exact their knowledge of metamorphosis having 

 thus observed it, than it they had merely read the account of it in a book, even in a pretty 

 picture-book. I think the result of this effort is well worth publishing. To that end I 

 have had this photograph of the exhibit taken. See opposite page 32. It does not and can- 

 not show the written sketch and the specimens of barley, oats, corn and mangolds damaged 

 by the larvae, but it will afford suggestions and stimulation to teachers who may see this 

 report. 



The exhibit of the squash-bug showing this injurious insect in seven stages from egg 

 to adult males and female with a biographical sketch and specimens of its work on the 

 pumpkin was prepared under the guidance of one of our young members, Mr. Robert 

 Elliott of Plover Mills, in Un. 5 and 1 5. (The exhibits, written accounts and mounted 

 specimens of the damaged crops, corn, oats, etc., were passed round.) 



The report of the Council outlines the work of the Society for the year. The general 

 verdict on its persual will be " Well done.". The only opinion meant to be adverse which 

 I have ever yet heard upon the work of this Society is that too much attention has been 

 paid to American insects and that our pages have shown too much intercourse with the 

 entomologists of the United States. Congress gives to every State in the Union 815,000 

 annually to devote to experiment station work. To each of these stations are attached 

 one or more practical entomologists. What a large staff of trained workers this liberal 

 policy must tend to produce. Are we to be blind or indifferent to the wealth of investi- 

 gation and result these men are accomplishing 1 The potato beetle, the horn fly, the 

 army worm, have to be corubatted — in short which of our injurious insects has not to be 

 combatted by the farmers of the northern United States as energetically as by ourselves, 

 indeed it is usually from and through that country they reach us for unfortunately these 

 insects pay no attention to political boundaries nor customs' officers. I believe the 

 Americans as well as the vast majority of our own people realize that entomologically 

 theirs and ours is one country. The Americans have honored two of our members — Dr. 

 Fletcher and Dr. Bethune by electing them in 1889 and 1893 respectively as president 

 of the entomological section of their chief national science association, President Cook at 

 the Indianapolis meeting in 1890, speaking of " our country " said, " by ours I include, of 

 course, our Canadian brothers for we, as scientists know no line of separation." That 

 sentiment is reciprocated here. 



f_~ > American entomologists cordially work with ours for the common good. I remem- 

 ber Prof. Saunders relating that Prof. Lintner, State Entomologist, Albany, N. Y., had 

 enlisted his cooperation to control the gooseberry saw-fly, Nematus ventricosus, by 

 sending him parasitized eggs of that species. This is but an instance that might be 

 multiplied. At a meeting in Brooklyn, N. Y., Mr. L. 0. Howard, Chief Entomologist at 

 Washington, after highly complimenting the Rev, Dr. Bethune as a Canadian entomo- 

 logist testified that — in a large measure due to Dr. Fletcher and to Dr Saunders — econ- 

 omic entomology had been energetically prosecuted in Canada. '• Canada " he says 

 "has the man (Dr. Fletcher) and the knowledge but has been hampered by want of 

 funds. The result is that while she has immediately and intelligently adopted the results 

 of researches made in this country she has not been able to lead us in original investi- 

 gation." 



