May 2, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S. W. 405 



till this last few years, lias been sugar; and the island is dotted over with 

 small mills, many of which are worked with windmills. Within this last 

 year several mills are fitting up with modern nuichinery, and propose to 

 buy and crush cane on the co-operative plan. Last year (1906) Barbados 

 exported 50,630 tons of sug.ar, while the total output of the West Indies 

 and British Guiana was 254,118 tons, valued at £2,157,147. The revival of 

 the cotton industry in the West Indies has been one of the most important 

 events of the last few years, and the total area now under cultivation is 

 over 24,000 acres, chiefly in the islands of 8t. Vincent, Muntserrat, Nevis, 

 Antigua, and Barbados. On the latter, 6,935 acres are under cotton, the 

 value of the crop being estimated at £120,000. There is a co-operative 

 cotton ginning mill in Bridgetown which was completed last year, which 

 is said to be the largest Sea-island cotton mill in the world. Sea-island 

 cotton is a very profitable crop, bringing up to 2s. 6d. per 11). ; one lot 

 from St. Vincent bringing as high as 2s. 8d., or 64 cents per lb. Cotton 

 has a number of enemies, though there is nothing like the American boll 

 weevil in the islands. The most destructive are the two cotton worms, 

 Aletia argiUacea and Ahtia Jividula, which attack the foliage. These 

 pests are controlled by the dusting of the foliage with dry Paris green 

 mixed with lime. The boll worm larvae of two crimmon moths (Heliothis 

 armiger and Laphygma fnigiperda) also damage th'^ bolls. Cotton aphis, I 

 am told, however, is one of the worst pests at certain seasons, and as it 

 attacks the under surface of the leaves, is difficult to destroy. A scale insect 

 (Lecanium nigrum) at times is very abundant 0]i the twigs, and " Ked 

 Maggot," the larva of a Cecidomyia fly, congregate under the decaying bark 

 of any branchlet attacked by fungus disease. Lately another species of 

 Cecidomyia fly has been found depositing her eggs in the flowers of cotton 

 gTowing at Antigua, the larvae of which are said to feed upon the pollen and 

 canSQ_the flowers to drop. 



Montserrat and Dominica are the cliief islands where limes are grown 

 for the manufacture of limejuice and citrate of lime, and the value of 

 these products from these islands in 1906 was £62,057. In Montserrat 

 there is a plantation of 2,000 acres. All of these trees are very much 

 infested with scale insects, chiefly white louse (Chmaspis citri) and brown 

 olive scale (Lecanium nha'). It is said that the whole of the forest ti'ees 

 are scale infested ; and the country is so rough that the trees, which inter- 

 lace overhead, could not be sprayed or fumigated. 1 found no evidence of 

 fruit-fly in any of the islands; but obtained a report upon the action 

 taken by the Government in Bermuda to deal with the fruit-flies in that 

 island. Early last year (1907) the Governor passed an Act entitled The 

 Fruit Fly Destruction Act, which was administered l)y Mr. T. J. Harris, 

 Director of the Public Gardens of Bermuda, who furnished a I'eport upon 

 the work done up to the middle of August. The Act came into force on 

 1st March, the Legislature having granted the sum of £500 for the pur- 

 pose of carrying into effect the reconnnendations of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, namely : " that an attempt be made to eradicate from this island the 

 insect pest known as the fruit-fly (Ceratitis capitata)." 



