Vol. SVIII. No. 45.?. 



THl AQFJOULTURAL NEWS. 



SG-} 



'the States in search of white grubs, of which it is very fond. 

 The pell of the skunk is valuable,, and for that reason 

 numerous skunk farms are condorted in the .States for the 

 .BUrp se of raising skunks. From these, pairs of skunks 

 could be easily purchased for introduction into Porto Rico. 

 The entomologist has had considerable correspondence with 

 the Chief of the Biological Survey in Washington, DC, and 

 learns from him that the introduction of skunks into the 

 island is whi'Uy practicable, and 'hat the life history of the 

 animal a^^ known in the United States, ioes not justify any 

 fears that it may in any way hiecome a menace to agriculture 

 on the island, as was the case with the mongoose. 



' The toad of the American continent is a reptile of the 



amphibian class ; that is, half of its life is spent in the water 



as a tadpoly, and the other half on dry land as a toad. 



The length of time spent as a tadpole may be only 



A few weeks, whik- its age as a toad may be ten years 



or more. Tadp)les are reputed to be active agents in 



•the riddance ot mosquito wiggletaila from stagnant water, 



and are therefore beneficial. The adult toad is not 



unlike the tree frogs of I'orto Kico in appearance, but 



is very much larger, being ofttn a half-foot or more in 



length of body. It is therefore able to devour far greater 



fluantitios of insects than our tree frogS; and would readily 



devour insects the size of May-beetles where the native tree 



•fiogs do not. Toads are very inoffensive creatures, hiding 



in glass or rubbish during the day, and coming forth e^ich 



night to visit the same feeding grounds to devour night- 



.flying insects. They require but two things for existence, 



insects and water, both of which are plentiful on the island. 



Toads could be very easily introduced by bringing to the 



island the large egg masses that are at the margins of pools 



in the States and in Mexico, where toads are important 



factors in insect control." 



.^n attack ol black hardbacks {Dy seine tm trachypygus) 



was reported in 1917, when it was found that the adult beetles 



-were attacking the roots of sugar cane, as many as twenty to 



thirty being dug from a .single cane stool, and many stools 



■had been killed. The larvae live on decaying vegetable matter. 



An attack of red spider was noted on the leaves of 



sugar-cane in a plant house where the temperature was several 



■degrees higher than outside. The rt>d spider did not cause 



a serious attack outside the greenhouse. It occurred on both 



the upper and under sides of the leaves, forming a light 



webbing over the surface, particularly near the midrib, and 



-causing by the extractiori of the chlorophyll an appearance 



very similar to that produced by the mottling disease. 



Young seedling canes were attacked by the yellow cane 

 aphis {Sipha flava). Trials with insecticides have led to the 

 conclusion that no advantage is derived from spraying with 

 contact insecticide. This t-est is well controlled by its 

 natural enemies, which include .several lady-bird beetles, a 

 ■chrysopid tiy, several syrpliid Hies, and at least one internal 

 hymenopterous parasite. 



its field investigations. This remedy consists of a mixCard 

 of 2 parts byvoluneof ordinary comm-^rcial pine tar, and 

 1 p»rt by Tr)lunie of cottonseed oil. In mixing the 

 ingredients add the cotton so^d oil to the pine tar and stir 

 until a uniformly smooth mixture is obtained. When the 

 weather is cold, the pine tar and cotton seed should be warmed 

 so that they will mix readily and tiow freely, but they should 

 not bo heated more tlian is necessary. The mixture will 

 remain uniform for a long time without separation or 

 deterioration It is relatively inexpensive, easy to prepare, 

 and when properly applied, it kills the ticks but does not 

 injure the animals. It may be used on any species of domes- 

 ticated animals- 



Cotton-seed oil is a fairly good solvent for earwax. and 

 the mi.Kture penetrates ordinary loose masses of earwax and 

 ticks, but it will not penetrate the hard masses- It not only 

 kills all ear ticks with which it comes in contact, but being 

 <)f a sticky consistence, it remains in the ears and protects the 

 animals against reinfestation for about thir y days. 



An ordinary metal or hard rubber syringe holding 

 from one to 2 oz. is the best mstrumenti to use for 

 injecting the pine-tar-cotton-seed-oil mixture- 



ACCIDENT TO A DOG WITH A FRUIT 

 CASE. 



The Brazil nuts of commerce, Bcrtholklia, excelsa, are, 

 as most people are aware contained in a hard fruit case, 

 spherical in form, which has four cells, each containing sis 

 or eight of the nuts, which mh indehiscent. These cases 

 are in some instances as large as a man's head. The tree 

 BerthoUetia (order Lectyliideae) is, of course, a native of 

 tropical South America. 



The subject of this note wa.s an Airedale terrier, and 

 its owner, after extracting the nuts th'ou^h an opening made 

 in the apex of the case, gave the jmpty case to the dog to 

 play with. 



One day, when playing with it, the dog's lower jaw 

 became firmly wedged in the opi .aing alluded to, and he was 

 unable to withdraw it, and this was not possible until the 

 dog had been put under a general anaesthetic ( A.C.E.), and 

 the case sawn through across the middle and down the two 

 aides— the case being wedged firmly behind the lower canine 

 teeth. An idea of the size of the case is given above ; its 

 weight is 8 oz. 



It is regretted that the absence of a camera at the time 

 of operation has rendered it impossible to show the case in 

 situ.. (From the Vetfriuary Record for August 16. 1919 > 



CONTROL OF EAR TICKS. 



Ear ticks infesting cattle cannot be eradicated by 

 dipping or spraying, but they may be controlled, and 

 the loss they cause prevented by injecting the ears 

 with the mixture described below. This int.jrmation 

 is taken from Fari^xers Bulletin No. 980, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, entitled 'The Spinose 

 Ear Tick' by Mr. j\[arion Jones. 



^n effective remedy agiinst ear ticks wa< foruiulated by 

 othe Bueiu of Anima! Industry aud thoroughy tested during 



A note appears in the Wealth of Indin ior June 1919, 

 dealing with a novel form of co-operative society for 

 improving the fishing industry in the Aran Islands. By an 

 important rule, individual members are] bound to sell all tish 

 to the society, and the society is bound tJ buy all (iah 

 caught by the members. On the society's side it is provided 

 that the fish must be delivered in good condition, and at times 

 warrante 1 by market conditions. Due provision must be made, 

 before paying for fish, for all working expenses, interest 

 01) and reduction of loan capital, depreciation of property, 

 the creati >n of a reserve fund, and other charg. s incidental 

 to the business of the society. In case of failure to accept 

 fish, the society must pay XI by -^vj of damafies to the 

 injured member ; and the member who withoat the commit- 

 lee's written consent disposes of his tish except to the society, 

 must similarly pay .£1 to the society. 



