Vol, XIII. No, 327, 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



359 



The brown hard backs are also important new 

 pests. That of St. Kitts, Lachnostema imtruelis, is 

 a small insect, which occurs abundantly in the soil of 

 cane fields. The actual damage by these insects is not 

 yet known, but fi-om the numbers in which they occur 

 and the tact that the gi-ubs are roqt feeders, it is 

 believed tihat it is considerable. 



Thebi'own hai<l back of Antigua, iac/inostema sp., 

 is similar in colour to that of St. Kitts, but is larger. 

 It is known to be a serious pest of Indian corn and 

 several other crops, and to damage sugaa'-cane to some 

 extent, probably more than planters realize. Its fond- 

 ness for Indian corn, and the ease with which grubs 

 can be collected fi-om the soil at the roots of corn 

 plants, lead to the suggestion to use this crop as a trap 

 for th<- insect: and <lirections are given for carrvincf out 

 the suggestion. 



The pamphlet, which is fully illustrated, is by 

 Mr. H. A. Ballou. M.Sc, Entonicjlogist on the Staff df 

 this Department. Price Orf., post free 7if7. 



Irrigation in Italy. 



The benefit of irrigation to agriculture in countries 

 of irregular rainfall, such as are many of the West 

 Indian islands, is obvious: but the initial expense of 

 irrigation works is in many instances a hindrance to 

 their being undertaken. The main points in an 

 abstract of a paper by Professor Luigi Luiggi, D.Sc. 

 M.I.C'.E., read before the Engineering Section of the 

 British Association in Australia, which is given in the 

 Journal of the Royal Society of Arts (f)ctober 2, 

 1914) may be of interest. 



The Professor points out that all tra\ellers are 

 struck by the beautiful orchards and vegetable gardens 

 of Italy, especially tho.se of the fertile valley of the 

 Po. But, he says, the.se could not exist without irriga- 

 tion, because the land during the five to seven months 

 of the hot sea.son i-eniains generally without a drop of 

 rain, while during tht' winter months many regions 

 would be flooded by torrential rains. 



()wing, however, to the work of the hydraulic 

 engineer, and- the industry of the agricidturist, the 

 plains of Lombardy, which would nattn-ally lie waste 

 and barren, are transformed into most fertile meadows 

 and orchards, by legulating the natural water-courses, 

 impounding surplus water in reservoirs, and then 

 distributing it over the land at the proper time. 



When only small tjuantities are required, as for 

 orange groves or gardens, the water is generally raised 

 frfiin subsoil wells, either b}- rotary pumps mo\ed by 

 animals, or more modern and efficient centrifugal 

 pumjis worked by oil or electric motors. The cost of 

 this in Lombardy is from 4k/. to lU. per 1,000 gallons. 

 Yet the benefits are such that this high expenditure 

 is justified, a good orange grove giving a levenue of 

 from £8() to £.54 per acre. 



For irrigation on a large scale, recourse is had 

 to storing up the rainfall, the average of which, in Italy, 

 varies froin :5(i inches in the North to 1.5 inches in the 

 South, in reservoii-s. These vary in size from the modest 

 cistern of a few hundrdl cubic metres in capacity to 



large artificial lakes formed in some valley of the Alps 

 or Apennines by dams. 



The water fr<pm all these artifical reservoirs is 

 generally used first for motive power, and afterwards 

 distributed b\- means of canals, at the price of about 

 \d. to Ul per 1,000 gallons. 



The State considers it a duty to assist all these 

 undertakings, for the reason that irrigation either 

 renders land — of little value and almost sterile — capable 

 of remunerative culti\ation, or increases the value of 

 huid already cultivated. In either case the land be- 

 comes capable of sustaining an increased population. 

 The large emigration of its agricultural labourers is not 

 Ijeneficial to Italy, any more than it can be to any- 

 country. So, to artord more possibility of work at home 

 to that class, the State encourages irrigation b}' granting 

 subsidies to such undertakings, at least during the first 

 ten to thirty years of their working, all the works so 

 subsidized becoming State property after ninety-nine 

 years. 



The conclusion is that irrigation is very beneficial 

 to the farmer, when he can get water at the rate of lis 

 to 17s. per acre per year, but that, without a State sub- 

 sidy for the first thirty years, it would not pay the 

 administi-ation. The State, however, reaps the great 

 benefit of the increased welfare of its citizens, and their 

 conseqtient greater ability to contribute to the revenue. 

 With(_)ut irrigation Italy could not feed two-thirds of 

 her present population; with extended irrigation she- 

 hopes to feed in thirty years time a population of fifty 

 or sixtv millions. 



Camphor. 



The camphor market, according to the Bidletin of 

 the Fi'ilerated MaUnj States (June liU4), is largely 

 controlled by the Japanese output, the only serious 

 rival being the synthetic article manufactured in the 

 United States and in Germany. The price of Japanese 

 camphor for some time has been from 1.35.«. to 142.f. 6d. 

 per cwt. It is said that the manufacturers of the 

 synthetic camphor in the I'nited States have been able 

 to turn out this pro(hict with fair profit on the basis of 

 the prices obtained for the Japanese, while in Germany 

 it is stated that synthetic camjihor has been put on 

 the market at a cost of production of 80s. per 

 cwt. The continued success of this synthetic pro- 

 duct depencls, howevei', on the cost of the raw 

 niaterial, tm'pentine, which shows a tendency to rise, 

 unless some other raw material can be found. Plant- 

 ing new camphor trees, to compensate for the loss of 

 those cirt down, is being carried out on a large scale 

 in the Japanese islands, but the return does not seem 

 to be financially a great success. Experiments are being 

 made in the distillation of the leaves of the camphor 

 tree, not only in Japan, but also in German East 

 Africa, Ce3don anfl C'alifornia, with a prospect of 

 moderate returns. In ca.se of a very high rise in the 

 piice of turpentine, the manufacturers of synthetic 

 camphor might perhaps find a raw material in the 

 resin of some West Indian trees of the Order Teribin- 

 thaceae, such as various species of Bursera and 

 Amyris. 



