130 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 2, 1908. 



transmit the infection for a certain period of time after- 

 wards, and it is reasoned that changes are going 

 forward with this mosquito, in the same wa^- as with 

 Cide.v and Anopheles under similar conditions. 



In the case of the diseases carried by the Tse-tse 

 fly, tlie paiMsites are minute organisnjs kncjwn as 

 Trypanosomes, which are conve^'ed from wild big-game 

 animals to domestic animals. The native wild animals 

 are loler-int of the disease, while imjiorted animals, 

 such as horses and cattle, are fatally affected by it. 



In the case of the insects aheady mentioned as 

 carriers of diseases, it happens that the adult insect 

 which attacks the infected host transmits the disease to 

 the ne.\'t host; but in the case of the ticks, which are 

 closely related to the insects, and are ver}' important 

 carriers of disease, the adult female when it has gorged 

 itself with the blood of the infected animals, does not 

 carry the disease directly to the new host. 



When the female tick has become fully gorged, she 

 drops to tlie ground, and deposits eggs, and the young 

 ticks which hatch from them carry the infection. 



The parasites carried by ticks are minute organ- 

 isms, various species of a protozoon called piroplasnia, 

 and the diseases caused by them are spoken of as 

 Piroplasmosis. The disease of cattle called variously 

 Texas fever, tick fever, blackwater, and redwater in 

 different places, heart water in sheep, and malignant 

 jaundice in dogs in Africa, are all forms of piroplasmosis, 

 and there is also one disease caused b}' piroplasma which 

 attacks man. This is the tick fever, spotted fever, or 

 Eocky Mountain fever.as it is called, which runs through- 

 out the wcstein half of the T7nited States. 



It is of the utmost importance that the carriers of 

 these disease-organisms should be known, and it is for 

 this ])urposc that effbrtsiare being made to enlist the 

 services of volunteer collectors in all the colonies, hut 

 more especially in tlie troj)ics. 



The circulars which have been prepared by the 

 British Museum (Natural History Department) give 

 directions for collecting, preserving, and forwarding 

 insects for the purpose of study, and include lists of 

 apparatus needed, give illustrations of the manner of 

 pinning and setting insects, and in short, contain all the 

 information needed by the most unpractised beginners 

 to enable them to prepare specimens suitable for study. 



Careful collections in newly opened districts, and 

 the careful identification of the specimens obtained 

 •will enable specialists to state the probabilities of any 

 l^nown diseases appearing, and will greatly help in 



dealing with the better-known diseases occurring in 

 those localities. 



In this connexion it may be mentioned that 

 some two years ago the Bureau of Entomology of 

 the United Stales Department of Agriculture sent 

 Mr. August Busck to the West Indies for the purpose 

 of collecting mosquitos, in order that the species 

 representative of different localities might be better 

 known, and precautions taken against the importation 

 of any diseases that might be transmitted by them. 



As a result of the interest in the study of mos- 

 quitos, a very large amount of literature has appeared 

 daring the past few years. Perhaps the greatest 

 publication of all is Theobalds Moiuyrcq^h on the 

 Culieidac of the WorhJ. This is a work in four 

 volumes of text and one volume of plates. An examina- 

 tion of the lists given in this w'ork will convey some 

 idea of the amount of material that is being collected 

 and sent forward for stud\' from many parts of the world. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Sugar Consumption in the United States. 



]\Iessr.s. Willett i: fJray have published a report on 

 the sugar trade of the United States for the year 1907. 



From tlie statistical tables iriveii it is seen that the total 

 consumption of -sugar during the year was 2,293,979 tons, 

 an increase of 129,966 tons, or 4-.o38 per cent., as compared 

 with the amount con.sumed in 190G. The increase compared 

 with the roiisum|ition of 100.") is 231,797 tons, or S-H per 

 cent. 



Full duty was paid on 3.5-0,297 tons of the sugar con- 

 sumed, \\ Idle tile amount ol .sugar on which a concession of 

 duly was alloweil, was 1,3.51,000 tons. The consumption of 

 duty-free sugar (from Hawaii and I'orto Hico) w^is 1,287,582 

 tons. 



('\d>a eouiriliulcd 1. .3 10. 100 t,. us : the Hawaiian Islands 

 41S,102 tons ; I'orlo i;i,-(, 212.s.-,l' tons: and the Philii.pine 

 Islands 10,700 ton.s. The ammint of home-grown cane sugar 

 consumed was 264,968 ton.s, and of liome-grown beet .sugar 

 375,410 It). The consumption of maple sugar amounted to 

 10,000 tons. 



The total amount of refined sngai- consumed during the 

 year was 2,843,928 tons. Of thi.s'no less than 2,841,246 

 tons (or 99-9 per cent.) were refined in the States. 



Tlio average consumption of sugar per head of 

 I'uited States jiopulation during_1907 was 77-54 lb. 

 compared with 7G-1 Itj. in l!)0(i, and 70-5 It), in 1905. 



Since 1897, tjic full duty on sugar imported into the 

 railed States has been 1 -685^ per It)., 96^ te.st. As already 

 meHtione<l, sugar from Hawaii and i'orto Rico pay no duty, 

 wliile that imported from the ndlippines is allowed a reduc- 

 tion of 25 per cent., and from Cul)a, 20 per cent. Sugai' 

 from all other countries pay.s full duty. 



