38 THE REPORT OF THE No. 36 



Manitoulin is unfortunate in having a great deal of very shallow soil, in 

 many fields the rock being only from two to five inches below the surface. As 

 such fields are not cultivated they afforded ideal breeding places for the grass- 

 hoppers. 



Meetings were held in the worst infested areas, at which the situation was 

 discussed and control measures outlined. These were followed by field demon- 

 strations on the making and applying of the poison bait. The work was then 

 left in charge of local committees and of the agricultural representative. 



The formula for the bait recommended was: — 



Bran 12 lbs. 



Sawdust an equal quantity to 12 lbs. bran. 



White Arsenic 1 lb. 



Salt 1 to \V 2 lbs. 



Water about 2^ gals. 



The total amount of arsenic purchased was 29,218 lbs., which gives some 

 idea of the extent or severity of the outbreak. 



The result of treatment was that in spite of some of the arsenic being de- 

 layed in shipment, a fairly good crop was harvested, and the farmers, from being 

 sceptical of the possibility of combating the grasshoppers, became convinced of 

 the efficiency of the bait and to quote the words of R. E. Cumming, the 

 agricultural representative, "Are all ready to use poison at the first sign of a 

 grasshopper outbreak." 



Cicada (Okanagana canadensis; det. by Wm. T. Davis). While driving 

 through the woods in Manitoulin Island on June 16th, in connection with the 

 grasshopper outbreak, a loud hissing noise was heard. On investigation this was 

 found to come from numerous Cicadas of the above species. Many of these 

 were on low bushes; others were higher up in the branches of trees, still others 

 were on the trunks, some of them just emerging from their nymphal skins, while 

 others had not yet begun to emerge. The cast skins were much in evidence, 

 some of them six feet or more up on the trunk, but most right at the crown, a 

 few being on the ground a foot or more away from the trunk. Seventy-five of 

 these skins were counted on or close to a single poplar tree, {Populus tremuloides) . 

 The singing was heard from various woods that day from 11.00 a.m. to 4.30 

 p.m., though it may have begun earlier and lasted later. In each case the 

 greatest volume of sound appeared to come from the part of the woods where 

 poplars were most abundant. This may be of interest to entomologists, because 

 the species is supposed to have a strong preference for pitch pine. 



I regret that I had only one comparatively small cyanide bottle with me, 

 into which I could crowd only a dozen specimens. Had I time and anything 

 to put the Cicadas in, I think it would not have required long to capture one 

 hundred or more; for while many were very shy others could be captured with 

 fair ease by placing the hand quickly over them where they sat. 



Chinch Bug (BUssus leucopterus) . In the third week in July the corn 

 growers in Essex county became alarmed by the migration of what proved to 

 be the Chinch Bug from wheat to corn. On July 21st all stages, or almost all 

 stages, of the insect could be seen on the corn, though the third and fourth instars 

 seemed the most common. Later the infestation became more general, and 

 farmers said there were millions of the bugs to be seen in a single field. That 

 the outbreak was fairly serious there is no doubt, for Mr. Justus Miller in his 

 final report to the writer estimated that the total injury would be about 10 per 

 cent of the corn crop of the county. 



This is apparently much the worst outbreak of Chinch Bug in Ontario on 



