286 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



A. Zavitz, in Bulletin 126 of the Ontario Agricultural College, 

 the acreage of field peas in Ontario in 1902 was just about half 

 what it would have been if the weevil had not proved so destruc- 

 tive. There was a steady increase in area from 560,770 acres 

 in 1882 to 896,735 acres in 1897, but from this time there has 

 been a gradual decrease to 532,639 acres in 1902. A continua- 

 tion of the increase from 1897 would have resulted in an area of 

 1,000,000 acres devoted to the culture of the field pea in 1902 

 in place of the actual 532,639 acres. This difference is almost 

 entirely due to the attack of the weevil. 



The constant increase in the ravages of the weevil during 

 this period is shown by the percentage of weevil peas in the Early 

 Britain variety grown at the Guelph Experiment Station. These 

 percentages were as follows: 1894, 2 per cent; 1895, 7 per cent; 

 1896, II per cent; 1897, 34 per cent; 1898, 49 per cent; 1900; 

 75 per cent; 1901, 96 per cent. After 1901 there was a decrease 

 in the percentage, probably due to the fact that many of the 

 farmers around Guelph quit growing the field pea. 



The pea weevil is a small grayish or brownish beetle, mark- 

 ed with lighter spots. The insect lays its eggs on the young pod 

 and this egg hatches out and produces a larva which bores 

 through the wall of the pod and enters the young pea, where it 

 feeds on the growing embryo and later pupates. The pupa re- 

 mains in the seed until the next season, usually emerging from 

 the pea the following spring, but the behavior of the weevil is 

 unfortunately not uniform in this respect, many of them coming 

 out sooner, so that the dates of emergence will range from har- 

 vest to planting time the following year. One remedy for the 

 attacks of the weevil is to store the seed intended for planting in 

 tight bags and hold it over for one year, in which case the beetle 

 will emerge from the seed and die before the next planting sea- 

 son arrives. Another method employed by seedsmen is to fumi- 

 gate the seed with carbon bisulphid, which can be obtained at a 

 reasonable cost from any druggist. In applying this remedy the 

 seed must be placed in a tight box or barrel and exposed from 

 30 to 48 hours to the fumes of this liquid. The carbon bisulphid 

 should be exposed in a shallow dish placed on top of the peas, 



