1899] ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 117 



There has this year appeared among us for the first time a tiny grey " plume " moth, 

 whose larva is very destructive to clothes, furs, sacking, etc., and whose presence in this 

 country can only be accounted for by coming with outfits of new settlers, f It will be 

 interesting to see if it reappears next year. The moth is in great abundance, and if its 

 eggs hatch next spring, it will become a troublesome household pest, and we can only 

 hope that a dry year will exterminate it. We know that many insects and the grub3 of 

 others stand extreme degrees of cold. In this North- West they often endure 50 or 60 

 below zero without injury, so that we cannot rely on winter to destroy them. If they 

 reappear, we must be prepared with a remedy. 



I thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen, for having heard me so patiently, and I come 

 now to the suggestions I have to make. The large immigration that is being attracted 

 to this country is in one respect a source of danger, because there is always a liability 

 of any new settler inadvertently introducing a new weed, or a new insect, which may 

 turn out to be a pest. We should therefore be on the watch, and that is one of the 

 reasons why I have invited so many agriculturists to join an entomological society. I 

 wish the heads of all our agricultural societies to become members, so that by personal 

 intercourse, by correspondence and quarterly meetings (which I will try to hold at 

 different points along the line), we can keep in constant touch with each other, and the 

 presence of any troublesome or new insect or weed in any locality can at once be as- 

 certained and kept under control before it becomes aggressive. We have already on our 

 members' roll agriculturists scattered throughout Alberta and Manitoba, and on the roll 

 are the Presidents or Secretaries of our own (Lacombe) Agricultural Society, and of that 

 of Eed Deer, Innisfail, Calgary and Fish Greek, and I hope soon members of other agri- 

 cultural boards will join. 



Many of our leading members wish the Society to issue a small periodical magazine, 

 and it seems to me that we might do so every quarter. This magazine would, with other 

 matters of interest to the farmer, mention new insects or weeds affecting us, and sketch 

 the life history of some insect or animal or trace the progress and effect of some weed, or 

 treat of some other phase of natural history, and be circulated in the country. 



Another suggestion I have to make, which is, that the young folk of this country 

 might be made to take an interest in the flowers and insects they see around. They 

 would soon understand their value as affects agriculture. The young are the coming 

 generation, and what they can learn now about these things will stand them in good 

 stead when they are older. They will soon take a real interest in these things. It will 

 be like a new world to them, a world peopled with hundreds of different forms, and every 

 one of which will have a beauty and interest of its own. The powers of observation of 

 our children would grow, and every spark of knowledge they gain of insects and plants 

 would make them fitter men and women. 



This brings me to the answer of the question with which I introduced this Society ■ 

 The question I asked was : — " What is the use of an Entomological Society 1 " In men" 

 tioning certain insects I have alluded to certain remedies, and, though there are certain 

 standard remedies now very well known, they are the outcome of many trials and experi- 

 ments by people who study these things. In most instances of insect pests their entire 

 life history has to be observed, and the various stages they pass through and their habits 

 carefully investigated. And we must remember that although we ourselves may know 

 how to deal with insects (both foes and friends), there are thousands of immigrants from 

 foreign lands now settling around us who have never heard of any remedies against 

 insects. There are Galicians, Russians, Finlanders, Swedes, and many others. These 

 will have just the same insects to contend with as we have, and it is our privilege — even 

 our duty — to see that they also are made acquainted with our tested remedies, and 

 methods of dealing with them. 



The Society is, however, not confined to the economic side of entomology and bot- 

 any. It has been organized also to collect and investigate insects of various orders. 



fGenus Alucita, Linn. 



