514 



THE AGEICULTUEAL ^•E^\'S. 



SEfTEilbEI; 24, 1904. 



INSECT NOTES, 



Dominica. 



The following extracts are taken ii\<\n Mr. iSallou's 

 ix-port on his recent visit to Dominica : — 



As the time at my cli^i">,sal was very sliort 1 maclf no 

 iiisiiectio7i of the gardens ami nurseries. Some time wa,-- 

 spent in discussing a di.>ea>e of the pine-apple and an injury 

 to cacao which ilr. Broolcs brought to my notice. The I'lne- 

 apple disease appeared to be 'Tangle root,' wliile tlie injury to 

 cacao seemed to be due to the action of wind rather thiin 

 to anj" specific disease. 



The two fumigation chambers have lieen completed and 

 are in place at tlie Botanic Station ready for tlie fumigation 

 of imported and other plants. 



Some time was also spent going over the lime groves on 

 the Bath estate. Most of the lime trees were in excellent 

 condition, and though a few >-cale insects were to be seen, the 

 beneficial eifects of the thorough and systematic spraying 

 done in 1903 were very evident. No spraying has been 

 clone on the Bath estate on the present crop (1904), which, 

 Mr. Frampton informed me, promised at that time to be the 

 largest in recent years. On one lot (Xo. 12) Mr. Frampton 

 pointed oiit several trees that had set large numbers of fruits 

 which had dropped while still quite small, leaving only ^■ery 

 few to develop. The cause of this was not apparent, and in 

 view of the large crop being harvested, it would not seem 

 that much loss had resulted from the dropping of the fruits, 

 but in another year when the crop was lighter its effects 

 might be much more noticeable. The trees on which this 

 condition was observed were all old and slightly infested 

 with scale insects (Mi/tUnspif citn'co/tt), and in some cases 

 the tips of the branches from which the limes had fallen. 

 ■^^"cre infested, but without further investigation it could not 

 bo asserted that they cau>ed the young fruit to drrip. 



Antigua. 



In liis ro]iurt on iiis recent xisit tn Antigua, 

 Mr. Ballon makes the t"lli'\\ing interesting oh.serva- 

 tions: — 



At the time of my \ itit Antigua was suffering from an 

 unusually prolonged and severe drought, the effects of which 

 were plainly to be seen in the conditiou of the plants at the 

 Botanic Station, of the crops cm the estates, and in the 

 appearance of vegetation generally. 



In the nursery I discovered a red bug very .=imilar to 

 the cotton stainer of the Southern Islands (Bi/gdercus aiKh-'or). 

 This insect was feeding on the seeds, seedlings, leaves, and 

 stems of the Balloon vine (Cardwq:iermiuii liaUmcalum) in 

 much the same way that the cotton stainers feed on the 

 cotton. It proves to be quite a distinct .species from the 

 cotton stainers. It had not been jireviou.-lj' noticed, and a.- 

 .syraying was at once resorted to, it i^ hoped to prevent it- 

 spread. 



At Scott's Hill the .--eedling limes were (juite free 

 from scales. They liad recently been sprayed. The lime 



hedge, however, was attacked by .--cales and a plot of cotton 

 \vhich was stOl standing was attacked, but this latter had 

 yielded it> crop and was about to be taken out and burned. 



At liendall's the canes which were at the factory were 

 seen to be infested by the cane scale (Ax/'idiofm siiirhari). 

 It seeuiS likely that this .scale woidd have been much less 

 conspicuous, perhaps not noticeable, had the canes been 

 harvested at the usual time, but the harvesting of the crop 

 had been delayed on account of the changes being made in 

 the factory. 



In some parts of the island the gold tick [HyalomnKi 

 a-iDjpfi'-Hi') was abundant, and there were a few eases of skin 

 disease of cattle reported. At Skerretfs one animal was seen 

 with skin disease, but no ticks were to be found. This animal 

 (a young bull) has had the skin di.sease since last year, and 

 though not getting better does not apiiarently get any worse. 

 Most of the disease among cattle seemed to be due more to 

 l>oor water and scarcity of feed and iiasturage than to the 

 skin disease. There seems to be a difference of opinion as 

 to the relation of the ticks to this disease. 



Another serious problem is the disease of .Vntigua pine- 

 api'les. This di-sease has already had a very bad effect on 

 the trade in jiines, as many pines are lust in shipment : pines 

 which ajipear perfectly sound from without are found to have 

 black hearts when cut. 



The cotton worm which has no other recorded food plant 

 than cotton is said in Antigua to feed on the wild tamarind 

 (I'Uhci-olMum liticifolium). In Antigua also it is reported 

 that the uaulding feeds on the cotton woim. 



IMPERIAL DIRECT WEST INDIA MAIL 

 SERVICE. 

 Prior to the departure ol the .S.S. ■ Port King.stou,' 

 tlie latest addition to the Imperial Direct W'est'lndia 

 line of steamers, a luncheon was given on board by 

 Sir Alfred Jones, wliich was attended by a rejjresenta- 

 tive company of merchants, shippers, and others. 

 Responding to the toast, ' Success to Jamaica and the 

 West Indies," Sir Daniel Morris said ; — 



He was of opinion that the West Indies, as a whole, 

 were beginning to improve, after having had a long spell of 

 bad times due to circumstances beyond their control. Xow 

 that the sugar bounties had been removed there was a better 

 chance for that industry, and he believed that with fair plav 

 the sugar industry of the West Indies had as good a clianc'e 

 of being a success as that in any part of the world. He paid 

 a tribute to the splendid work which Sir Alfred .Jones had 

 done for the West Indies in many directions outside the 

 contract in connexion with the West Indian line. Tlie 

 Imjierial Direct Company had done its best in the interests 

 of Jamaica, and he believed it was jio-ssible for it to do still 

 more by conference with the peojile of .famaica, and bv 

 meeting their reasonable wishes as regards the .shipment of 

 fruit and produce. He wa.s, he said, in full sympathy with 

 anything calculated to impro\e the service between this 

 country and the '\^"est Indies. The company had already 

 carried upwards of one and a half million bunches of bananas 

 and had brought to this country about 35 million oranges 

 besides other products. At his own expeu.se Sir Alfred Jones 

 had carried on the vessels a large quantity of live stock, he 

 had sent out men to inquire as to the tea industry, and he 

 had sent out mining experts, whilst in other ways steps were 

 being taken to develop the resource.- of .Famaica! He rejoiced 

 at the e\ idence t<j-day of the coming prosperitv of the' We^t 

 Indies. 



