4-2G 



THE AGEICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 31, 1904. 



INSECT NOTES. 



Cotton Insects in Barbados. 



In Novenilier and Deceiubfr 1903 cotton in Barkidos 

 A\a.- very Sfiionsly attacked Ijy tlie cotton worm, and many 

 fields were comi'letely defoliated. This year there has been 

 bnt little evidence of .such attacks. A few estates liavo 

 reported tlie appearance of the worm, but the promiit 

 application of Paris green has been efficient in killing tliem 

 before any damage had been done. In a few instances, 

 managers "have delayed tlie application of poi-sons for a day 

 or two, and in such cases some plants liave been more or less 

 stripped of their leaves. 



The cotton stainer has not been reported as doing any 

 damage, but the cotton aphis has been present in large 

 numbers in a few fields. The lady-birds, however, have 

 been very numerous and jToliably no damage has been done. 



The" red maggot has made its appearance but only in 

 a few places, and then only in .small numbers. Attacked 

 stems and branches have been cut out and burned and no 

 serious damage is expected from this cause. 



In one field a small number of bolls have been attacked 

 by a caterpillar that eats into the inside and destroys the 

 young seed and fibre in exactly the same way that the boll 

 worm attacks the cotton. This field is near the spot where 

 a small plot of corn was last year destroyed by a worm, and 

 it is likely that this is the same species, though it has not yet 

 been identified. 



The full-grown larva is about 21 inches long and .', inch 

 in diameter at the widest ]ioint, which is just behind the 

 liead. The colf>ur is a cream white, head light-ljrowu with l^lack 

 mandililcs. The young larva enters the cane near the ground, 

 and tunnels a short distance up in the cane and then goes into- 

 tlie underground portion of the stool. Mr. Kobert Ward, 

 Agricultural Assistant, states that the cocoon is in the under- 

 ground i>ortion of the canes. Larvae in captivity at the Head 

 Office of the lmi>erial Department of Agriculture tunnellect 

 through the gmund and one at least built a cocoon or eartli 

 cell in the .soih It is .supposed that the adult emerges by 

 moans of the tunnels in the cane stumjis, but it has not yet 

 been proved whether it has any other way of getting above 

 ground. This condition has suggested the i>lugging of the 

 holes in the cane stumps with wet clay, which is being tried 

 and some success has been reported. Mr. Bethune reported 

 that he was catching about 1,000 butterflies daily, with 

 nets, in the hands of children. 



The damage to the cane by this pest is twofold ; the 

 riiier cane is severely injured by the large tunnel extending 

 through about 2 feet of the basal portion, and the stum]is 

 are so thoroughly eaten out underground as to make it 

 inijio.ssible to ratoon them. It is hoped that a better 

 knowledge of the life-history and habits of this pest will 

 make it possible to apply remedies to prevent serious damat'e 

 to canes in British Guiana in future years. 



New Cane Pest in British Guiana. 



In October last specimens of a butterfly borer 

 vera received from Mr. G. N. Bethune, of Plantation 

 Enmore, British tJuiana, which was reported to be 

 causing fonsiderable damage to the canes. More 

 recently, the British Guiana Board of Agricultiiie 

 has sent additional specimens w^ith reports by the 

 Executive Secretary and the Agricultural Assistant. 

 The following brief description of this pest and the 

 damage caused by it is likely to be of interest: — 



The adult of the borer is a large butterfly, with a spread 

 of about 3 inches, dark brownisli-grey above, light-grey 

 beneath. The head is large, with large, prominent, dark- 

 brown eyes. The antennae are about il inch in length, 

 slender, swollen towards the tip, the extreme tip being a fine, 

 slightly curved point. The colour of the antennae is dark- 

 brown, lighter at tlie tip. The fore wing is crossed by 

 a white band from within the middle of the front margin to 

 the hinder angle, with a shorter white band outside it and 

 nearly parallel tci it. The hind wing has a white band, 

 which begins with two spots at the front margin and extends 

 back across the ving, increasing in width, so that it is widest 

 near the hind margin. The hind wing also has six jiale- 

 orange spots along the margin. 



The egg is about ,'; inch in length, pointed at each end, 

 with five prominent ribs running from end to end. The 

 colour ranges from a light grey to a dark grey. In ca[itivity 

 the eggs are laid singly, and not attached. 



KAPOK AND ITS USES. 



The following account of kapok and its uses is 

 taken from Climnhcrs' Jounnil: — 



Every year that busy centre of commerce, Amsterdam, 

 receives nearly 1,000 B). of a curious and interesting 

 vegetaljle substance known in Java and in the trade as 

 kapok, which is found very useful for stufting cheap 

 mattressci and pillows, among other iiurpo.ses. It is a sort 

 of yellow wadding which nature uses as a covering for the 

 seeds of certain trees in the Jlalaccas. Its fibres being very 

 non-resisting, it has been found impossible to sjiin or weave 

 it, but it gives excellent results for bedding, making 

 a mattress delightfully soft if it is expo.sed to the sun before 

 being used. It is exceedingly light and buoyant, in this 

 respect greatly surpassing cork, as it will snpiiort in the 

 water thirty-five times its own weight. The tree whence it 

 is derived {Erioihiidfun) grows rapidly, and in the second 

 year is 12 to 1-5 feet high, but it does not fruit abundantly 

 until the fourth year. Like the cotton plant, it bestows tw» 

 gifts on man, the special wadding mentioned, which lines the 

 husk, and the oil extracted from the seeds, which is used 

 especially in the Chinese markets. The threads of the soft 

 fibre taken from the pods are light-yellow, rather silky, and 

 only about an inch in length. They are made into thir» 

 rings. Kapok, it is said, never decays. Among the ever- 

 increasing uses to which this curious vegetable i)roduct is 

 put — causing the culture of the Eriodendron to make great 

 strides in the Dutch Indies, while efforts arc being made 

 to cultivate it in similar climates — it has been suggested 

 that excellent life-saving apparatus might be made from it, 

 which .should lie in the form of mattresses and cusIudus, 

 easily obtainable in moments of danger. Three hundred 

 grammes of kapok (lOi oz.) will .support a man of 10 stone 

 5 R). (ll.^ D;.) in the water; and experiments by a French 

 society with articles made of this wadding, which had 

 previously been soaked in w^ater for eighteen hour.s, gave 

 excellent results. One small mattress sujiported several 

 men. It is jn-obable that soon all ships' beds will bo made- 

 of kapok. 



