1899] ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 119 



beautiful, and then to study and experiment upon the beat means of getting rid of the 

 enemy and encouraging the friend. It will help on the cause very greatly if every far- 

 mer will take note of the insects affecting his crops and give all the information he can 

 to the Society ; and also send specimens of both the creature and its work. 



The entomologist does not pretend to a universal knowledge of insects, but he can 

 usually tell at a glance whether a specimen belongs to a good or evil tribe, and if it 

 should be new to him he can always apply to his correspondents in other parts of the 

 continent for the information that they have been able to acquire. Science knows no 

 political or geographical boundaries, and help may be sought and will be promptly and 

 cheerfully given whether the application is made to the entomologist in charge at Ottawa 

 or Washington. In your case you have the satisfaction of knowing that this department 

 at Ottawa is in the hands of Dr. James Fletcher, who has often visited the North-West 

 Territories and made himself familiar with the most important of your insect enemies. 

 Should the local members be puzzled over some new importation or immigrant they may 

 feel sure that any assistance they require can be obtained from Dr. Fletcher. Bat they 

 do not by any means intend to be dependent upon one who is many hundreds of miles 

 distant ; they mean to be up and doing for themselves and to spare no pains till they get 

 toknow as much as they possibly can about the insects that infest the country round 

 them. 



The ordinary entomologist is often looked upon by his acquaintances as a somewhat 

 silly person who devotes much of his time to chasing butterflies and searching for bugs 

 and beetles, but this is work that has to be done. We must collect the insects in our 

 neighborhood and study them before any progress can be made — we must find out their 

 names and the families to which they belong before we can make use of the records and 

 observations of others ; we must rear them through all their stages and watch their 

 habits before we can be sure what remedies will be available against them. It is a vast, 

 and endless work, one that may well engage a multitude of enthusiastic students and which 

 should enlist the co-operation of every farmer and gardener in the land. Every one may 

 help by keeping his eyes open and making known his observations to the members of the 

 Society. Any unusual visitation of insects, whether as regards numbers or effects, should 

 be at once reported, and the results of any experiments placed on record. Insects should 

 by no means be ruthlessly destroyed unless in the form of caterpillars, grubs or plant; 

 lice, they are found in the act of devastation. There are many kinds that are really the 

 farmer's best friends, and it would be a sad mistake to slay the benefactor with the 

 wicked. This shows the necessity of a little knowledge of the subject ; every one, for 

 instance, ought surely to know that a lady-bird is a most useful destroyer of plant-lice, 

 and so, also, is a Syrphus and a lace-winged fly, and yet how few there are who would 

 recognize the two latter if they saw them. A beginning ought to be made with the 

 children. They take an instinctive delight, as a rule, in living creatures and are charmed 

 to learn something about them. An hour a week at school devoted to the elements of 

 entomology and botany in a practical form would be of untold benefit in the course of 

 subsequent years. 



I have only attempted in this paper to give a brief outline, in general terms, of some 

 of the benefits to be derived from the study of entomology ; those who are on the spot can 

 enter into details and discuss the special insects that are present causes of anxiety. I 

 would only say further that entomology means money — means dollars and cents lost or 

 saved to the farmer, fruitgrower and gardener. It' the Hessian-fly has this year, as 

 is reported, destroyed in some cases 25 per cent., and on the whole from 5 to 10 per cent, of 

 the vast wheat crops of Manitoba, just think of the millions of dollars that that means ! 

 What more useful work, then, can be undertaken than the effort to save at least a portion 

 of this immense sum ? Entomology can do it, if the farmers will only believe it, and 

 adopt the measures that its experience in other regions has proved to be effective. The 

 expenditure on the part of the government of each Province or Territory of a few thou- 

 sand dollars a year in securing the services of a trained entomologist and in disseminating 

 broadcast the requisite information would enable the whole of the farming community to 

 unite in an intelligent plan of campaign against the common foe and clear their fields of 



