MANITOBA.

ANNUAL MEETING

The Forty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Society was held at Ottawa on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 19th and 20th, 1912.

DR. E. M. WALKER, President of the Society, occupied the chair during the day meetings, which were held in the Lecture Room of the Carnegie Library, and at the Evening Session in the Assembly Hall of the Normal School, the meeting was presided over by the Hon. Martin Burrell, Minister of Agriculture.

Among those present were: Rev. T. W. Fyles, Ottawa; Mr. W. H. Harrington, Ottawa: Mr. H. H. Lyman, Montreal: Mr. J. D. Evans, Trenton: Dr. C. G. Hewitt, Ottawa; Mr. Arthur Gibson, Ottawa; Prof. L. Caesar, Guelph; Mr. J. M. Swaine, Ottawa; Mr. A. G. Turney, Fredericton, N.B.; Mr. A. W. Baker, Guelph; Mr. A. F. Winn, Montreal: Mr. F. W. L. Sladen, Ottawa; Prof. J. E. Howitt, Guelph; Mr. J. A. Guignard, Ottawa; Dr. R. Matheson, Truro, N.S.; Prof. W. Lochhead, Macdonald College, Que.; Rev. Bro. Germain, Ottawa; Rev. J. B. Mignault, St. Therese, Que.; Mr. J. I. Beaulne, Ottawa: Rev. Father Marcotte, Sherbrooke, Que., and Messrs. J. D. Tothill, G. Beaulieu, G. E. Sanders, H. F Hudson, C. E. Petch, field officers of the Division of Entomology.

In addition to the above, many members of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club attended the various sessions, particularly the evening meeting. Letters expressing regret at their inability to attend were received from: Rev. Prof. Bethune, Guelph; Dr. Wm. Saunders, London; Dr. E. P. Felt, Albany, N.Y.; Prof. C. C. James, Toronto; Rev. J. A. Jean, Montreal: Mr. H. G. Payne, Granville Ferry, N.S., and Mr. G. Chagnon, Montreal.

On Tuesday morning the members met at the Experimental Farm, where a pleasant hour was spent in looking over the specimens exhibited by those present and in examining the fine collections belonging to the Division. At eleven o'clock a meeting of the Council took place, at which the report of the proceedings of the society during the past year was drawn up and various questions of interest to its members were discussed. In view of the fact that next year will mark the event of the society's fiftieth annual meeting, it was decided that a jubilee meeting be held in honour of the occasion, to which delegates from other societies be invited, and that this meeting be held at Guelph about the beginning of September, the exact date to be decided upon later.

The afternoon meeting was held in the Carnegie Library, the proceedings commencing at 2 o'clock with the reading of the reports of the directors on the insects of the year in their respective districts.

REPORTS ON INSECTS FOR THE YEAR.

DIVISION NO. 1, OTTAWA DISTRICT-ARTHUR GIBSON, CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM, OTTAWA.

With

The season of 1912 in the Ottawa District was a most remarkable one. the exception of the first half of the month of July, the weather was exceptionally cool with continual falls of rain. The following notes on the prevalence of injurious insects in the district are presented:

INSECTS ATTACKING FIELD CROPS.

CUTWORMS. In light soils cutworms were fairly abundant, and in the earlier part of the season did considerable damage in some fields. Young turnips, beets, radishes and newly set-out cabbages and cauliflowers were attacked by the Redbacked Cutworm (Euroa ochrogaster) and the Dark-sided Cutworm (Euroa messoria), the two common cutworms of the district.

ROOT MAGGOTS. These insects were not so abundant in 1912 as they were the year previous. They were, however, present in sufficient numbers to destroy many radishes, cabbages, cauliflowers, and, in some field's onions. In one of our fields of turnips on the Farm, 16 per cent. of the plants were attacked by the Radish Maggot. The most interesting outbreak of root maggots was that of the Corn-seed Maggot, which did conspicuous injury to seed corn, not only in the Ottawa district, but also at several points in eastern Ontario. The season was especially

Fig. 2. The Seed-corn Maggot: a, b, flies; d, maggot; h, puparium; all very much enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agriculture.)

favourable for this insect, and many farmers thought that the cold, backward spring was responsible for the seed failing to germinate. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the life-history and habits of this insect is by no means complete, and until we have further information it will be difficult to find successful control measures. The remedy which we have suggested in the past is to sow seed corn in good season in well prepared soil and not deeper than one or two inches.

WHITE GRUBS (Lachnosterna). Strawberries, potatoes and corn were the crops chiefly damaged by White Grubs during the past season. In some fields of corn, near Ottawa, these grubs were remarkably abundant.