218 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 10, 190&. 



INSECT NOTES. 



The House-fly, or Typhoid Fly. 



The following note on the house tiy or typhoid 

 tiy, as it is being more commonly calleil, is from the 

 editorial page of the June number of the Jdurnaldt 

 Kamomic Entoninlcfii/, and will serve to show how 

 seriously the situation is being t;iken by the sanitary 

 authorities in cities and localities where typhoid fever 

 is likely to appear in epidemic form : — 



An extraordinary campaign against the typhoid or 

 house- tly is now in progress. .Magazuies, weeklies, and dailies 

 are chet-rtuUy giving niucli space to exposing the true 

 character uf the in.sect. Satire, denouncement, and exhorta- 

 tion are all beintj employed. Municipalities here and there 

 arc adopting nuich-needed sanitary regulations designed to 

 reduce the nuniWers of this nefarious tiy. The Merchants' 

 Association of New Yoik City, and some other associations, 

 as well as numerous individuals, are giving much time and 

 effort; to this most commendable work. The control of this 

 insect is an entomological proljlem, since efficient repressive 

 work must be based upon adequate knowledge of the habits 

 of the tly, and the way these may be taken advantage of to 

 rcdun- the uundiers of the pest in the most economical 

 manner. The sanitarian and the medical man are both in 

 position to give cogent reasons, for the suppression of this 

 long tolerated menace and nuisance. Special pains should 

 be taken to encourage every good feature of the movement, 

 and at the same time care exercised to avoid everj'thing 

 which may ajipear like an over-statement of facts. This 

 <ami>aign, if it is to be successful, must be conducted along 

 common-sense lines, and the necessity of attending closely to 

 details emphasized most strongly. Otherwise there may be 

 a disappointing reaction, wduch may result in a serious set- 

 back to home .sanitation, not to mention the continuance of 

 needless suffering and loss of health and life. 



The Larger Moth Borer, or Cane Sucker. 



In ()ctol)er 1004, Mr. (i. N. Betluino, niaii.-iger of 

 I'lantalion Enmore, British (Juiuna, sent to the 

 Imperial l)epartment of Agriculture, specimens of 

 a larger Lepidopterous insect, which has since been 

 identified as Castiiia liens. Mr. Bethune stated that, 

 at that time, this insect was a severe pest, since on 

 account of its enormous inimbers and its great size, it 

 was doing great damage to the sugar-cane on that 

 plantation. 



The larvae attain a size of about ■_'.', inches in length 

 and aliout .', incli in dianicU'r. The turnu'ls which they 

 excavate in the canes and in the underground parts of the 

 stool are of great injury, not only resulting in the loss of 

 much sugar, but also causing the death of the stools and 

 lireventiiig a ratoon growth. Reference is made to the notes 

 published in the AijriniltHral A'eirf (.see Vol. 3, p. 426, and 

 Vol. f, p. 2G), and to the paper road by the JMitomologist on 

 tjiestalfof thelm])erial l)e|'ai tnient of Agriculture at the Agri- 

 «;idtural (.'oufereucc at Trinidad in .lanuary 190."), which was 



published in the ll'w? Iixliaii Bulletin, Vol. 6, p. 41. The Hon. 

 B. Howell .Jones sentspeeiniens to the Bureau of Entomology 

 of the United States liepartment of .Agriculture, from which 

 notes and drawings were made, which apjiearcd in Bulletin 54, 

 p. 72 of the Bureau of Entomology. C'a.ftnia licux has 

 received the common names of the larger moth borer, in the 

 publications of the Imperial I)epartment of Agriculture, and 

 the giant sugar-cane borer by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. ' 



The fJulletin of Agricultural Information for .Januaiy to- 

 April 1909, i.s.sued by the Department of Agriculture, 

 Trinidad, contains notes and drawings of this pe.st, to 

 wdiich the conunon name cane sucker is given. It is stated 

 that although long known to occur in that island, it is now- 

 recorded as a pest for the first time. It is known to attack 

 fugar-eane and banana, and it is believed to feed also on the 

 soft internal portion of several iialms. Castnln linig was 

 originally reported as having been bred from Ochidearum,, 

 and it is of common occurrence throughout the northern 

 parts of South America and in Central America. 



The remedies are the catching of the adults, and-^ 

 plugging the holes in the cane stumps immediately the canes 

 are cut, with mould or clay to prevent the emergence of the 

 adult. It is stated that in one district in Trinidad 2.5,000 moths 

 were caught from November 1908 to February 1909. 



The cutting and grinding of attacked canes will cause 

 the death of a large [irnportion of the larvae. Carbon 

 bisulphide is found useful injected into the burrow. 



CATALASE OF SOILS 



Jlessrs. D.W. May and P. L. Gile, of the Porto Kico 

 Agricultural Experi,ment Station, have been conducting 

 experiments on the power possessed by soils of giving 

 off oxygen from hydrogen peioxide solutions. This- 

 povver is due to an enzyme of vegetable origin known 

 as catalase. They found that the amount of catalase 

 depended on the amount of humus and of bacteria and 

 mould fungi present in the soil. Consequently a measure 

 of the amount of catalase in any given soil is also 

 a measure of the dead and living organic material it» 

 contains. 



The amount of the catalase present is determined by 

 measuring the time taken by 5 gran:ines of the soil in evolving 

 100 cubic centimetres of o.\ygen from 60 c. c. of neutral 

 92 per cent, peroxide at a constant temperature, and with 

 constant shaking of the flask in which the reaction is pro- 

 gressing. This was found to be the only method of obtaining^ 

 reliable result.s, as the time required was found to be atlected 

 by the tcmiierature, the volume and concentration of the 

 hydrogen peroxide and the amount of .shaking the Hask 

 received, as well as by the alkalinit}' or aciility of the 

 hydrogen peroxide solution. The usual method of estima- 

 ting catalase by measuring the amount of oxygen evolved by 

 a given weight of soil from a definite amount of hydrogen 

 peroxide is valuele.ss, as a small amount of catalase will 

 deconqicse as much peroxide as a larger amount within 

 certain Hunts, though the rate is slower. The method of 

 compari.snn based on measuring the vohune of oxygen evolved 

 in a given time was also found unreliable. 



Artificial manures are without eticct on the catalase 

 content of the soil. But carbon bisulphide antl high tem- 

 peratures can destroy part of the cataliv.se. 



'I'he power of evolving oxygen is also possessed by certain 

 forms of iron and aluminum found in .some soils, but this has 

 very little effect on catalase deterndnations. 



