Vol. XIV. No. 



THE AGRICULT1 RAL NEWS. 



155 



CASSAVA STEM BORER. 



S icimens of an insect al _ the stem of cassava 



plants in St. Vincent were n i ived al the < tffice of 



the [mperial Department It ure. 



Cassava growing at the E nl Station was rathei 



seriouslj attacked and i con intof injury result 



ed. The insect has been identi peci< of Cryptoi hj n 



chus, a genus which is credited with an unusual number of 

 in the West [ndies and the American tropics. The 



anion and abundant Cryptorhynchus is probabhj the 



- oi J u ol the sweet potato, C. batatae. Another 

 form i> C.corticalis, which is known - a borer in ornamental 

 crotons in St. Vincent and Grenada, while another species 



is injury by boring in b n I of orang 



similar trees. This insect is shown in Fig. 7, which serves 

 i i ral h genei J appearance of these insects. 



(^^ 



Fl< 



The » >H VNGE Bokkr. 



Flu. H. I'l r \ iii Si w: \ 



bee. Enlarged. 



The cassava stem borer is largi i than the scarabee, the 

 being J inch, the pupa | inch, and the full-grown larva 

 about J inch in length. The pupa very much resembles that 

 of the scarabee which is shown in tin' accompanying Fig. 



The cassava stein borer is so little known that 

 has been no opportunity of testing methods that may 

 In used t"i' iis control. It is suggested, however, that all 

 material for planting shou Id bi free From infestation, 

 and, in tail, that no plant material should lie taken from 

 any field known to lie or suspected of being infested by this 

 insect, and all bits of stem in infested fields should be 

 carefully removed from the fields and either burned or 

 deeply buried in order to kill the gri b I beetles in them. 



H.A.B. 



Revival of the Beche-de-Mer Industry in 

 the Bahamas. — Recently a shipment oi be'che-de-mer, 

 valued at about 68,000, was made to Chinese ports from the 

 Bahamas, which revives an industry that for a period of 

 forty years promised well. The sea slugs in the waters of 

 the Bahamas appear to be of high quality as compared with 

 those of the East [ndies and Australian coast and the atolls of 

 Polynesia. In the south-western section ol the Pacific the 

 ' ■ try is valued at more than £2,500,000 annually, but 

 i, is to be getting limited. It is said to be 

 likely that, with proper selectioi with reference to size, 

 colour, ami correct method ol i n a and the facility for 

 shipment through the Panama ('and. tin Bahamasmay in 

 the near future benefit from an increased demand for this 

 article. Even in Paris beehede mer is served at many 



i it ity is required for the 

 1 In: i. (Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, 

 March L9, 1915.) 



OUTLOOK FOR CASTOR OIL SEED CULTI- 

 VATION IN THE WEST INDIES. 



enquiry concerning the cultivation oi the castor 

 plant, recently n fa Ofl ncludes a statement to 



the effect that an acr< under tins crop will yield £14 



tcts relating to i i :ultivation show this estimate 



to be high, and it may be of interest to consider thi 



The time which the castor crop takes to 

 bearing varies with the variety and the climatic conditions 

 under which it is grown; the fruits may be gathered 



in four months, but it may be seven months Ol 



longer. With 1,210 plan: pet u i | plant* d 6 feel bj 6 

 the yield may be expi ie under ordinary circums 



about 1,000 lb. Assuming thai two crops could be pro- 

 duced annually, the yield would be approximately 2,000 fl>. 

 The price of castor eed i Liverpool in May 1912 was £12 

 pei ion, in apparently varies from I". 1 to £13,) so that the 



gross revenue from an acre each year would In- I' 1 1 » I5»i 

 Subtracting the cost of cultivation and transportation, 

 which would amount to at least £4, we arrive at an estimate 

 oi £6 1 5s., which i I than half that which has been 



■i above, liven £6 15«. is probably too high since, as 

 already intimated, it is not possible to reh upon two crops 

 each year (because of climatic conditions), and certainly 

 unwise toexpect the maintenance of the English market price 

 at a normal level like £ I 2 per ton. 



The castor plant make, an exhausting crop and can only 



lie grown commercially on good soil. Tl il is usually 



expressed abroad, but il d locally the residual cake, being 



Unsuitable as a foodstuff, makes a useful manure. The 

 most likely way of growing castor seed profitably in the 

 West Indies is as a catch crop on well manured land, or as is 

 done in India, growing it around cotton or sugar-cane fields, 

 or with potatoes, cereals or a leguminous crop. 



ft may be added thai experiments with castor oil have 

 been conducted at several of the Botanic Stations in the 

 West Indies, especially at Antigua during 1908-10. Here 

 two ,',, acre plots were planted 5 feet X 4 feet on February 



17. Each plot contained two varieties, that is, ..',, acre was 

 planted in each variety. The seeds were harvested on 



November 1. Hence the crop was in the ground nine and 

 a half mouths. 



The yields were as follows: — 



Ricinus No. 3,173,65 ft>. shelled seed or L,300 ft), per acre 



» 3,172, 61 „ „ ,. „ 1,220 „ „ 



» ; U7<',, »* » „ „ .. 960 „ „ 

 ,. Zamiba.rie.mis, 42 ,. „ „ „ 840 „ „ 



The crop is not grown in Antigua or any one of the lee- 

 ward Islands except to a limited extend as a green dressing, 

 and an extension under ordinary circumstances is not to be. 

 expected. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture left 

 Barbados on Maj 5, 1915, bj the S.S. 'Guiana' with the 

 object of paying an official visit to St. batts and Dom- 

 inica in connexion with agricultural administration. 

 The < iommissioner is expected to return to Barbados by 

 i he s.S. < tuiana 1 arrn tng on or about June 10. 



Mr. W. Nowell, D.LG, Mycologist to the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, is expected to leave Barba- 

 dos on May 19, by the C.R.M.S. 'Chaudiere' with the 

 object of 'paving a visit to I) inieu in connexion with 



plant diseases. 



