THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Jaxu.vey 30, 1904. 



INSECT NOTES. 



The Botanic Stations at Dominica and St. Lucia. 



Mr. H. A. Ballon, B.Sc the Entomologist on the 

 staff" of the Imperial Depirtment of Agricnltnre, 

 recently spent a short time in Dominica and St. Lncia 

 while en mote for and returning fron\ Montserrat, 

 and has presented to the Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agricnltnre a report on his visit to the Botanic Stations 

 in those islands, of which the following is a brief 

 summary : — 



DOMIMCA. 



The plants at the Botanic Station were found to be in 

 good condition as far as insect pests were concerned. 

 Overgrown and useless nursery stock was torn out and 

 burned, and the remaining nursery stock was quite free 

 from scale insects : while in the Gardens and plots only 

 a few common .scales were seen and these were not doing 

 appreciable damage. 



Limes in the island have greatly imi>rovcd during the 

 wet .season, tlie purple scale {.Vi/ti/aspis citricoht) liavi))g 

 almost entirely disapjieared from some estates. 



The Bath estate in its jiresent condition shows what 

 may be done by persistent si)raying. Kerosene emulsion as 

 a spray has been largely replaced by rosin wash (see Pami>hlet 

 No. 5, p. 12). The rosin wash lias been found nuich 

 cheaper, quite as elticient and much less likely to injure 

 the leaves. Kerosene emulsion is frequently improperly 

 prepared and in consequence .sometimes liunLS the foliage and 

 j-oung twigs. This does not luqipen with the rosin mi.Ytures. 



Lefroy's mixture (crude Barbados oil and whale oil soaji) 

 is being tried on a small scale, and if it seems to give good 

 results, will be tried on a larger scale in comparisou with 

 the rosin wash. This is very cheap when made in large 

 quantities, and so far as trieil has given good results. An 

 account of this insecticide, with directions for mixing, is 

 given in the West Iiifliaii Bulletin (Vol. Ill, p. 319). 



A fumigating chamber is being built at the Station, and 

 very soon Dominica will be in a position to fumigate all 

 imported plants and cuttings and thus do much to prevent 

 the introduction of new pests. 



ST. LLCI.\. 



This report mentions that no new insect pests were 

 noticed and very little damage was being done bj' the well- 

 known forms, though a few of them were found in small 

 numbers. 



The Station has a good equiinnent of spraying apparatus 

 and insecticides, and con.siderable attention is paid to 

 spraying, with very good results. 



Mention is also made of the occurrence of the mite of 

 the cotton, Erlophyeg (l'hytoi>tus) fiosxi/pii, on a few cotton 

 plants growing in the Gardens. Mr. George S. Hud.son, the 

 Agricultural Instructor at St. Lucia, remembers seeing this 

 disease of cotton for many years and believes it to lie 

 generally distributed over the island, but states that hitherto 

 it has done but little daniase. 



Insect Pests of Rubber Trees. 



Writing in the AgriculfurdI Ihdirtin of the Straits 

 Settlements for t)ctober last, Mr. H. N". Ridley', M.A., F.L.S., 

 Director of the Botanic Gardens at Singapore, describes 

 a longicorn beetle which has been observed attacking 

 a young Cnstillnii tree in that colony. Mr. Ridley mentions 

 that this beetle apjiears to be Ejiepseotes lusciis, of wide 

 distribution in the Eastern Archipelago. The perfect insect 

 is descrilied as being ^ inch in length and | inch across 

 the back. The elytra (or wing covers) are brown, mottled 

 with yellow, with a round, black, velvety spot on each 

 .shoulder. 



At Anandale otate, Grenada, West Indies, a longicorn 

 beetle has also been noticed by the Hon. W. H. Laseelles to 

 attack young Castilloa trees. A female specimen of the 

 Grenada insect was forwarded to the Heail t)tti(e at Barbados 

 for examination and was recognized bj- Mr. Maxwell-Lefroy, 

 then Entomologist of the Department, as Taeniotcs snilnris, 

 a s[>ecies which is known to attack breadfruit and wild 

 rubber (Ficiis sp.) trees in the.se islands. The West Indian 

 beetle is about the same size as its Eastern relative, but 

 differs from it in ai)pearance, being on the upi)er side of 

 a dark-brown or almost black colour. The elytra are 

 marked, throughout the entire length of their inner margins, 

 with a narrow, yellow stripe and have also on each wing 

 cover two or three small scattered spots of the same colour. 

 Both species tunnel through the bark and have been found 

 in the central pith of the tree. 



In the treatment of E/iepseotes liisciis, Mr. Ridley 

 recommends passing a wire down the hole made by the beetle 

 grub and applying .Jeye"s tluid. Mr. Maxwell-Lefroy also 

 recommends probing the holes with a hooked wire and suggests 

 the api>lication of a nuxture of carbolic acid and soap. He 

 also advises setting trap logs of wild rubber {J'ieiis sp.) 

 among the Castilloa trees and hand-catching the beetles 

 in the early morning. 



The above is interesting as illustrative of the similarity 

 of the attacks made by insects of this family on C'lftillnn 

 rubber trees in both Eastern and Western (|Uarters of 

 the itlobe. 



Cotton Leaf-Blister Mite. 



Mr. A. .J. Jordan, Agricultural Instructor at Montserrat, 

 has recently concluded a series of experiments with several 

 insecticides for the control of the cotton leaf-blister mite .so 

 common in that island. 



Several of the well-known contact poisons were used as 

 sprays and a dry mixture of lime and .sulphur was dusted on 

 to the plants. All the j)lants were badly atfected by the 

 disease and no ditt'erence was to be seen in their condition ; 

 but at the conclusion of the experiment, those plants treated 

 with lime and sulphur were in a much healthier state 

 than the others. 



The plants were cut and weighed, and the results 

 carefully tabulated. The plot on which the\- grew was not 

 treated except by the application of lime and sulphur. 

 Young jilants are coming uji and, although those removed 

 were badly infested, apparently the seedlings are compara- 

 tively free from the di.sease. 



While this ex[)eriment is not conclusive, it indicates 

 that lime and sulphur will probably furnish a means of 

 control for this very .serious pest. Similar ex[ieriments were 

 started in Montserrat early in Sei)tember last (see Aiivi- 

 cultuntl A'eirii, Vol. II, p. 309), but owing to unfavourable- 

 weather conditions they were discontinued before any results 

 had been reached. 



