330 



THE AGKICULTUKAL NEWS. 



October 8, 1904. 



INSECT NOTES. 



The Cotton Worm. 



Keports have been received that tlie cotton worm 

 has made its appearance in fields of young cotton. We 

 have repeatedly urged in the Af/rictdtural iYcrs the 

 need for a careful look-out being kept for this pest. We 

 would further urge planters to communicate with tiie 

 local officers of the Department immediately on the 

 appearance of the ■worm if they are in any doubts as to 

 the methods of treatment to be employed. It is 

 absolutely necessary that prompt action be taken if 

 this pest is to be successfully dealt with. 



Ants on Fruit Trees. 



A planter in Dominica ha.s experienced trouble from 

 ants infesting blossoming orange trees. He states that in 

 some cases they swarm the lilossoms and ultimately destroy 

 the young fruits. 



The most etfective treatment in sucli cases would be 

 to treat the nests with carbon bisulphide if they cai\ be 

 located. An alternative treatment is to band the trees with 

 any sticky nnxture which would prevent the ants from 

 climbing the trunks, especially if it contained kerosene oil or 

 other substance which ants will not cross. Kerosene 

 emulsion (stock solution) ajiplied with a brush over 2 or 3 

 feet of the trunk should serve the purpose. 



Montserrat. 



The following extracts are taken from a report by 

 Sir. H. A. Ballou, B.Sc., Entomologist on the staff of 

 the Imperial DeiDartment of Agriculture, upon a visit 

 jiaid by him to Montserrat in Jul}' last : — 



The plants at Grove Station were insjiected and were 

 fuund in excellent condition as far as pests were concerned. 

 A wild cotton tree, a few citrus plants in the nursery, and 

 a Tdbernaeinontana were more or less infested with scales. 

 These were taken out and Inirned. 



On account of the dry weather that had prevailed but 

 few crops were being gi'own. Land was being prepared fm- 

 cotton and a small amount of seed had already been put in. 

 The cotton worm is not much dreaded as a pest, as the 

 .suppl}' of Paris green on hand in the island is believed to he 

 sufficient to meet the needs of this year's crop. 



The experiments tried at Dagenham with various 

 insecticides indicate that the leaf-blister nnte can be 

 controlled by the use of sulphur. Sulphur and water seem 

 to give the best results, without harm to the plants. The 

 a]iplication of dry sulphur and lime is much cheaper, however, 

 and gives very good results, although it is likely to cause 

 a slight scorching of the leaves. It seems probable that the 

 use of sulphur and dry aii-slaked lime will check the develoj)- 

 ment of the leafdjlister mite sufficient!}- to allow the 

 production of good crops of cotton. 



The most serious menace to the cotton crop at present 



is the black boll or boll rot. This is probably a vegetable 

 organism and attacks the bolls in all situations, under the 

 greatest variety of conditions of location, soil, growth, and 

 season. 



I \isited several of the lime plantations of the 

 ilontserrat Lime Co., and found that spraying had been 

 practised to some extent, in some cases with good results. In 

 other cases, however, the trees sprayed were old, and rather 

 badl}- infested : the improvement in such cases was not 

 marked. I .sugge.sted the desiral)ility of sjiraying young 

 trees and attempting to keep them fiom serious infestation, 

 and this will be tried on a fairly lai-ge scale. It would seem 

 that this would be both practicable and effective. 



I saw several fields in which Bengal beans had been 

 planted and allowed to climb over the lime trees. These 

 lieans grow so vigorously as to cover the tree completely, 

 and yet trees which had been so covered were vigorous 

 and comparatively free from scales, while I was informed 

 that previous to the planting of the Bengal beans they 

 had been badly infested. If this practice is always 

 successful, it would seem to be a good one to follow, as the 

 growth of such a vigorous leguminous croj) nuist result in the 

 fixation of a large amount of nitrogen, and the roots and vines 

 thus furnish a laree amount of valuable manure. 



SWEET POTATOS AS A STOCK FOOD. 



The New South Wales Agriculfaral Jouniul 

 for August has an article on the cultivation of sweet 

 potatos, wdiich, it is stated, are not cultivated in that 

 State as extensivelj- as they deserve to be. In New 

 South Wales the sweet potato has proved a splendid 

 drought resister. The following note on its use as 

 a stock food is of interest : — 



In addition to the value of the roots as a vegetable, they 

 are also a valuable stock food, and the vines make an 

 excellent cattle food. The roots have a slightly higher 

 feeding value than common potatos, but like them are fat, 

 heat, and energy producing rather than Hesh forming. Pigs 

 are very fond of the succulent roots and can harvest them 

 without difficulty or assistance. It is said that they keep 

 the kidneys and bowels in good order and so wai'd off 

 disease. Pig farmers who have poor sandy land would do 

 well to consider the advisability of raising this cro|) exten- 

 sively in place of maize for fattening. It is estimated that 

 it recjuires 4;', bushels of sweet jiotatos to equal 1 bushel of 

 maize grain in feeding value. But much sandy soil which 

 does not produce 1 ton of maize could be made, with little 

 trouble, to produce 5 or 6 tons of sweet potatos. 



Duggar, in the United States Department of 

 Agriculture Farmers Bulletin no. 2G, 'Sweet Potatos: 

 Culture and U.ses,' gives the average percentage 

 composition of the roots as follows, and discusses the 

 relative food values of corn and sweet potatos : — 



Water G9-32 to 73-11 



Ash 1-09 „ 1-29 



Protein I'SS „ 2-47 



Fibre 0-86 „ 1-23 



Starch, etc 22-73 „ 28-46 



Fat 0-43 „ 0-85 



Three pounds of sweet potatos afford almost as nuicli 

 dry matter, quite as much caibonaceous material, but less 

 than half as uuich protein, as is contained in 1 lb. of corn. 

 Bj- using i If), of cotton seed meal or 1 Iti. of cow peas (seed) 

 for every 10 It), of sweet potatos, this deficiency in protein is 

 fully .sui>plied. 



