Vol. XI. No. 2.57. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



(0 



Burning of trash is strongly recommended as a control 

 measure, and tlie selection of a hard variety of cane such as 

 Yellow Caledonian is also considered to be of value. The 

 selection of uninfested seed cane is of importance, since the 

 adult weevil is able to work its way to the surface even 

 though buried to a considerable depth. If a cane cutting 

 which is used for planting contains a borer, the grub will 

 have every chance to complete its development and escape, 

 while the cutting will be destroyed. 



The practice of collecting the weevils in the field and at 

 baits consisting of pieces of sugar cane about 12 inches long, 

 split lengthwise, distributed along the borders of the field, 

 has been found to yield valuable results. These baits also 

 furnish the adult females with opportunities for egg-laying, 

 becoming in consequence heavily infested, and as the canes 

 dry up the young grubs perish. 



The Hawaiian sugar-cane borer has long been known as 

 Sphenophorus obsmrus; it is related to the West Indian 

 species Sphenophorus seviceus which attack.^ sugar-cane, and 

 to other species of the same genus, such as .S'. sordidns which 

 is a pest of Ijananas and S. sexguttatus, which is recorded as 

 attacking sugar-canes in Porto Rico. 



The Hawaiian sugar-cane leaf-roller is the caterpillar of 

 a moth which is a native of the Hawaiian Islands. It some- 

 times occurs over large areas in sutiicient numbers to cause 

 a considerable amount of damage to growing sugar-cane 

 The species, which is primarily a grass feeder, now occurs 

 very generally on sugar cane throughout the islands, feeding 

 on the leaves, and in the crown of the plant. It is attacked 

 by parasitic and predaceous insects to such an extent that it 

 only occasionally becomes a serious pest. 



The very young larvae feed in the crown of the sugar- 

 cane plant, where the young leaves have not yet unrolled. 

 Later on they roll the margin of a leaf over, forming a tube 

 for their ' retreat '. When nearly full-grown they are found 

 in their rolls or tubes, toward the tip of the upper leaves. 



No remedial measures are con.sidered necessary, since the 

 degree of control exercised by the natural enemies of the 

 leaf roller is generally sufficient to keep the pest reduced to 

 fairly small numbers. 



The sugarcane mealy-bug is known in, Louisiana and 

 the West Indies as well as in the Hawaiian Islands. This 

 insect feeds on the stalk of the canes. It is not generally 

 a serious pest, being held in check by its natural enemies. 



The burning of trash and the selection of clean cut- 

 tings for planting are strongly advised in Hawaii as means of 

 keeping the mealy-bug from increasing too rapidly. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Mr. P. T. Saunders, M.R.C.V.S., Veterinary Officer 

 on the Staff of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 returned to Barbados, from Grenada, by the R.M.S. 

 'Tagus', on February 23, 1912. 



Mr. G. E. Bodkin, Economic Biologist to the 

 Department of Science and Agriculture, British Guiana, 

 after attending the recent Agricultural Conference in 

 Trinidad, paid a visit to Barbados, in order to have an 

 opportunity of making investigations, at the Head 

 Office of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, con- 

 cerning biological matters of agricultural import in 

 British Guiana and the West Indies. .Mr. Bodkin left 

 for Dominica, in pursuance of similar work, by the 

 S.S. 'Parima', on February 29, and will probably return 

 to Barbados on March 16. 



WEST INDIAN RUBBER AND 



THE RECENT RUBBER 



EXHIBITION. 



Messrs. Lewis and Peat, of Mincing Lane, were kind 

 enough to examine critically the various exhibits in the AVest 

 Indian section of the recent International Rubber PZxhibition, 

 and have submitted the following commercial report regard- 

 ing them. 



The West Indies were represented at the International 

 Rubber E.xhibition by Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana, 

 Dominica and Jamaica. About eighteen or twenty different 

 estates sent samples, and the quality and variety of sorts 

 exhibited showed a great improvement on those displayed at 

 the last show at Olympia, three years ago. 



HEVEA. Practically all the samples were good, and 

 some compared very favourably with those from Malaya and 

 Ceylon. The ((uality of the rubber without exception was 

 satisfactory, but a little more experience must be gained, and 

 a little more attention paid to the various stages of the prep- 

 aration, especially the washing and drying. Many exhibits 

 were spoilt by being insufficiently dry, and others by being 

 too resinous, many showing small particles of dirt and bark. 

 The smoked biscuits from the Trinidad Botanic Gardens 

 deserved special mention. 



CASTILLOA. Taken all round, the exhibits of this 

 species were e.xcellent, and the rubber prepared by Mr. H. S. 

 Smith's new machine was as good as any yet produced from 

 this tree. The two best samples shown were from Major 

 Walker's estate, Easterfield, and Mr. Smith's Caledonia 

 estate, Tobago. These sheets showed what can be done 

 with (,'astilloa latex, and we should think that this rubber 

 would rank very close to Hevea if sent to the market as well 

 prepared as these two exhibits. They were better than any- 

 thing we have seen, either from Mexico or anywhere else. 

 The Ceara samples were good, but nearly all showed too 

 much resin, but this might be entirely due to the tree being 

 very young, and to the insufficient washing after coagulation 

 and before drying. 



The small samples of Landolphia, Funtumia and Ficus, 

 shown by the Trinidad Department of Agriculture, indicated 

 that all three of these species give a very marketable latex; 

 but we doubt whether their cultivation, where Hevea, Castil- 

 loa or Ceara will grow with such good results as shown by 

 the other exhibits, is advisable. 



Altogether, the collection was most satisfactory, and 

 although the West Indies are perhaps a few years behind the 

 big plantation centres of Ceylon and Malaya, they are certain- 

 ly coming along very fast, and in a few years will be able to 

 compete. As to Castilloa curing, we think that Mr. H. S. 

 Smith and his colleagues are teaching the rest of the world 

 how to do it, and if they can be sure of a good yield, they 

 will bring the cultivation of this s])ecies to a very high posi- 

 tion in the rubber-planting world. 



Naturally, until the production can be increased so that 

 regular supplies can be relied upon, it is very difficult to 

 obtain fair values, and with such small and irregular parcels, 

 both as regards quantity and quality, prices from time to time 

 are most erratic, and cannot be fairly quoted as the intrinsic 

 value of any one of them against either wild Para or plan- 

 tation Para, cultivated with success in the Middle West. 

 {Bulletin of the DepaHment of Agriculture, Trinidad and 

 Tobago, Vol. X, p. 198.) 



