Vol. XIV. No. 356. 



I'lll'. AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



111 



The pink boll « irm I '.'■ is a serious 



pesl of cotton which is known to occur in India, Ceylon, 

 Burnish, straits Settlements, Egypt, B : ■ Vfrica, 



German East Africa, Nigeria, Sierra I. ne, and the Hawaiian 

 Islands. This insect in it- larval form injures the 

 boll, often causing a loss of 50 percent, of the bolls. The life 



ordinarilj :upies about tifi\ four days but the larva 



is capable of living for long periods in the old '"'Us or inside 

 :otton eed e this was as much as 



months. Living larvae have been found in cotton eed 

 shipped from Egypt when examined in the United States 

 Preventive mea dnst the introduction ol thi pi 



include the prohibition of the importation of all old cotton 



seed from countries in which it is known t :cur, the 



keeping of imported baled cotton for at least a year at some 

 point north of the cotton belt before allowing it to betaken 

 into a cotton growing area, and Fumigation. In this 

 connexion tin- notes on the fumigation of baled cotton in 



nm ment ioned below will be of interest. 



PES! - OF MISCELL V.NEOI - CROPS. 



coco-nuts. The insecl pests of coco-nuts were referred 



to in a review of the insect portion pj Copeland's 1 k on 



jits, .in page 12. This is an ii ti resting account of the 

 pests of this plai it in the Philippines and the islands of the 

 Far E 



cacao. Aii article on the p cac page 58 was 



a review of the chapters oi van Hall's book on i acao 

 relating to the insecl and other animal pests of that crop. 



( ).\ page 31 I, cacao thrips are discussed in an abstrai I 

 of a rep >rt of the Entomologist on a reeenl visit to Gn n ida. 

 Here il is suggested that thrips instead of being a pesl 

 should be regarded as always indicating something wrong in 



the matter of soil or drainag 'disease. Any considerable 



increa f thrips on cacao in Grenada should be taken as 



a warning that something is wrong with the trees. 



sweet potato. The insect notes on page I'll dealt with 

 the sweet potato weevil (Cylas icai ius) which was at 



that time recorded from the Bahama Islands. It was formerly 



known t :cur in many tropical countries and in this part 



of the world it was recorded in Jamaica, Cuba and British 

 Guiana. It may be mentioned that sincethat article appeared 

 this in.-eet 1 1 ad been recorded in Porto Rico (see Notes on Porto 

 Insects, page 282). This is a seriouspest and every effort 

 should be made to prevent its introduction into the Lesser 

 Antill' s. 



papaw. An article of considerable interest in view of 

 lis that have been made to interest planters and 

 small holders in the West Indies in the growth of papaws 

 (Cartel I'apoy-i | or the produi tii n of papain is that on page 

 10(1 entitled, A Fruit l'l\ Attacking Papaw Fruits, bj Messrs. 

 Knab and Vothers. The insect is the pajjau fruit fly (Toxitry 

 pan" ■ ' The egg i inserted into nearly ripe fruits, 



by tin the larvae occur at first in the central 



seed cavity of the fruit and later, when nearly full grown, are 

 found in the flesh ol the fruit. The. full-grown larva leaves 

 the fruit, falls to nd and pupates under a bit of rock or 



in the soil. This inert is known in Florida, Bahamas, Porto 

 Rico and the Danish West Indie.-, and in Central and South 

 America I' is a serious pest and lias increased rapidly. It 

 das threatened the future development "I the pipaw industrj 

 in Florida 



cassava. A weevil 1 m iring i n the stems of cassava has 

 occurred at the Experiment Station, St. Vincent. This appears 

 to be a species of the genus < !rj ptoi bynchus which may become 

 v .i\ troublesome. I nguested that the cuttings for 

 planting should be free from infection and that all sti ins (rom 

 fields where the i - occurred should be burned as - i 



as the crop is b This note appeal 



ism \ n i "i;\. i in page 186, a u the c irn 



ear worms was given. These are Laphi 'ma <iper< I 



ntrol - ; on the 



use of powdered lend ar 1 Pai ["hi I 



starch in diluting il poisons for usi [ndi 



med "M I": ote which will be summarized 



below. 



i i\i: \ gr iss. An account I 3 inea 



ninth on g s and Para 



pagi 186. 

 eoii ..\ 1 dealing with 1 . ive 



been published during the year on page 23-1 1 



linei uid stained cotton, .and on pa . . ■ 



an Internal Boll D ease of Cotton Seed These show the 



'ii "I COtton stninei's to stained cotton, 



ol i lie cotton seed. A 01 iti a lotton stainer trap 



.hi the cotton worm in the United States appi 

 and 1 66, respectively. 



sugak-i \\k. A noti appeared on page 266 giving 

 account of a caterpillar, probably Laplnjy 



ing sugar-cane in St. Lucia, and one on pagi 3JN with 

 regard to the effect of attacks of the 1 



iatus) on suga: 1 1 1 grown for experimental put 

 in Barbados. 



wi-. Three notes '>u ant.- have appeared during 

 i; e, page 33< 1, sounds a warning as to the possibil 

 he icri ibal anl becoming a pesl of cacao in Gi en 1 la, an 



page 378, gives notes on th itrol of ants which take away 



in St. Vincent, while the third, page 59, is 1 

 note on ants in the Botanic < lardens, I » uninica 



1 ... 1 -is. Tin- notes 1 n Ii icusts includ 1 if 



the outbreak of the South American migratory 

 (Schistucercu p'iraneiisis) in Vi and the threatened 



invasion of Trinidad, page 202, and an ai nut of an oul 



of locusts in British Guiana, page 347. 



jack Spaniards. On page 298, an illustrated n 

 I West Indian Wa-ps gave an account of Si ral 

 specie- ..f wasp- aii. I mentions their value as predato 

 insect pests, and also refers to a certain disease which attacks 

 one or more specie-. 1 In page 395, there is a note on 

 Introducing the Jack Spaniard into St. Luci 



SOIL-INHABITING ..l.i lis. This note on page 122 deals 



with the grubs of the rool borers I liaprepes and Exophtha 



and of the hard Laid; I'liytalus and Lachnostema in the 

 Lesser Antilles. 



[NSECTICIDES. < )u pice 362 an interesting article emit led. 

 Starch Instead of Lime with Paris ( den,, gives an u 

 experiments in St. Vincent which indicate thai a low grade 

 arrowroot starch 'Madingo' is much more satisfacti 

 a diluteiit of Paris grei n ind irsenate i I lea 1 than lime. The 

 note m Cyanide oi Potassium in tree that in certain 



trials in Barbados the introduction into the 



of certain woody plan'- resulted in the death of larg 

 of bark and wood. 



ii Mi..\in.\ Two .brief notes on Fumigation, o 



1 54 and the other on page 282, refer to trials of fuiuig 

 yanide ol plant in iterial in vacuum. Ttiis i 

 interest in connexion with the attempt.- to fumigal 

 cotton, ui. I has reference particularly to the danger of the 

 introduction ol the pink bull worm in iu led cotton. 



en m:\nii\i:. On page 170 the Insect Notes deal with 

 the difficulties of Plant Quarantine. 



mi-, ii.i.wi.oi - notes include the following: A Cri 

 I :eous on Tenuities, page 202, Black blighi and 3 



page 394. Fly larvae in horse manure, page 22, and the 

 Animal pests ol Hevea Rubbei 23. 



Notes on tick,- are lo be found on pages 59, II'.". and 212. 



