Vol. III. No. 53. 



THE AGKIGULTURAL NEWS. 



1.35 



SCIENCE NOTES. 



A Shade Tree for Cacao. 



The 'Madera' sliade tree of Nicaragua {Glirieklla 

 maculaUt) is reported by Mr. Broadway to be now in flower 

 at the Grenada Botanic Station ; thi.s is the second time this 

 tree has flowered since it was introduced to Grenada from 

 the Botanic Gardens at Trinidad. There are a number of 

 the.se trees in the gardens at King's House in .Jamaica. 

 The ' JIadera ' shade tree is also now flowering at Chelston, 

 Barbados, where it is regularly freiiuented by a large number 

 of humming birds. It is worth cultivating for these alone. 



G'iricidia maculata, which belongs to the natural order 

 Lcguminomf, has flowers of a light-purplish colour borne 

 along the branches for 18 inches or more. 



Mr. Hart states in the TTmk\A.A Bulhtin of Miscellaneom 

 Information (September 189-3) that this is the tree in general 

 use in Nicaragua as a shade for cacao : ' The plantation is 

 formed, and the " JIadera," or permanent shade, is planted 

 from seed in straight lines, aliout .5 varas apart, which 

 would be equal to alx)ut 13 English feet. After allowing 

 the shade to grow for from eighteen months to two years, the 

 cacao trees are planted in the same lines as the shade trees 

 and alternating with them in the rows at about 12 or 13 feet 

 apart or less. The " Madera " becomes the permanent shade 

 of the jjlantation.' 



Insect-attacking Fungi. 



Fungi, in so far as they concern the agriculturist, are 

 often looked upon as a group, every member of which is 

 either harmful or certaiidy not beneficial. There i.s, however, 

 a group of fungi the members of which are distinctly friends 

 of the agriculturist ; this group includes tho.se fungi which 

 are parasitic upon insects. 



One of the most noted of these fungi is the so-called 

 'South African locust fungus' {Mucor «'(V/o.<7(s), which has 

 been largely used in South Africa for the destruction of the 

 locust. Other fungi are known to be parasitic upon scale 

 insects in the West Indies and elsewhere, and Mr. Ballou has 

 expressed the opinion {Ai/rictcltiinil News, Vol. II, p. 232) 

 that some of these fungi do a considerable amount of damage 

 to the scales. House-flies often suffer severely from tlie 

 attacks of the fly fungus {Emjmsa) while chinch bugs are 

 attacked by a fungus, Sporott ichi/m, which often destroys 

 large numbers of these pests. 



Fig 7. Larva of Diatnea saccJiaralis killed by Cordyceps 

 Harden'. 



Among the most interesting of these fungi are a number of 

 species of the genus Coixlyreps belonging to the Ascomycetes. 

 The genus is world-wide in its distribution and most of the 

 species live upon caterpillars and grubs of various kinds ; 

 Cordycejis Barberi (Fig. 7) is parasitic upon the larva of the 

 moth-borer of the sugar-cane. 



When a spore of Cmxlyceps falls upon the body of a 

 living grub it puts out a short germ-tube or hypha, which 

 bores through the skin of the host and then branches. The 

 hyiihae jienetrate further into the inner tissues of the grub. 

 Ne.xt these hyphae, inside the host, begin to produce spores 

 (conidia) ; the.se conidia get into the blood and then connnence 

 budding in a similar manner to that described for the yeast 

 plant {Agricultural News, Vol. Ill, p. 123). The budding 

 proceeds rapidly, and the spores so produced are carried in 

 the lilood to all parts of the animal, which then dies. 



The spores now put out hyphae which branch and grow 

 through the tissues of the grub, which they consume and 

 replace. Finally, what appears to be the insect body is 

 simply a mass of very thickly interwoven hyphae of Cordyceps. 

 The hyjihal mass or sclerotiitm, however, still retains the 

 external form of the grub. 



Later on, the fungus begins to produce spores. Thickly 

 woven masses of liyphae break out from the sclerotium and 

 grow up into the air to form club-shaped bodies with a stalk 

 and head. The illustration shows these, in various stages, 

 growing from all parts of the sclerotium. Wlien ripe, the 

 head is seen studded with nimierous minute pores : these 

 pores are the openings of flask-shai)ed chambers in which the 

 spores are produced. In each flask numerous long, narrow 

 asei are formed, and in each of these eight thread-like 

 ascospores are formed. Before the ascospores are liberated, 

 they break up into very numerous small spores, which escape 

 through the pore of the flask into the outer air. 



A few species of this genus are parasitic upon other 

 fungi, the truffles and their allies. One of these, Cordyceps 

 ophiogloss^oides, is found in England, growing upon a fungus, 

 Elaplioinyces, which in turn grows upon the roots of pine 

 trees. 



Resurrection Plants. 



Three different plants are known under the above name, 

 says ilr. A. Hemsley in the Garden. Mesenibryanthemum 

 Tripolium is one of the most remarkable. When drj', the seed 

 capsules are tightly closed up and when soaked in water the 

 capsules will open out their curious valves. On being dried 

 they will close, but will open again with moisture. This may 

 be repeated several times without destroying the remarkable 

 hygroscopic properties. The seed vessels or capsules of many 

 other plants possess the .same properties, and it is chiefly 

 those which grow in countries or districts where they have 

 long dry seasons. The seeds which ripen during the early 

 part of the dry season, remain on the ground for a consider- 

 able time, and are protected by the folding up of the capsules. 

 AVhen the rain conies these coverings open and allow the seed 

 to escape during the time the ground is most suited for their 

 germination. Anastatica hierachuntica is another known as 

 the Eesurrection plant. It is a curious little annual belonging 

 to the Cruciferae. The third known as the Resurrection plant 

 is SehKjinella, lepidopihylla, a club mos.s, which, after being 

 dried up, will again assume its natural appearance. On this 

 account it is often sold as a vegetable curiosity. {Indian 

 Planting and Gardening, February 6, 1901. ) 



Goats at Malta. Milch cows are few in number 

 nearly all the fresh milk being furni.shed by the goat, which 

 is of a good breed, the best specimens being able to furnish 

 on an average from 5 to 6 pints per diem. The milk 

 derived from sheep is all turned into cheese. (CO. Rep>ort, 

 1902-3.) 



