■Vol, XI. No. 266. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



219 



liers in the West Indies, causes extensive damage to 

 banana plantations in certain localities in Fiji. It is consid- 

 ered likely that it is an introduced pest, having been imported 

 'into the Colony with banana suckers for [ilanting. 



la the introduction to the report, Mr. .Jepson mentions 

 tbe case of a recent importation of bananas from Janwica and 

 •Barbados, •which upon arrival were found to be infested with 

 A borer, quite distinct from the banana or sugar-cane borers, 

 already known in Fiji, although apparently vei^y closely 

 related to them. It is stated that in the case of the Gros 

 JUichel varieties, out of 676 suckers, only twenty were found 

 ■to be free from the attacks of this insect. This instance serves 

 ■to show the manner in which such a pest may be introduced 

 into a new locality, and also the value to be derived from 

 careful inspection of imported plant material. 



An attempt has been made to discover an etticient 

 parasite of the banana borer, but the search has not yet been 

 successful. 



Several other insects affecting bananas are mentioned in 

 the report, but these do not seem to be of great economic 

 importance. 



Among the insects attacking sugar-cane it is interesting 

 to note that the principal pest is a weevil borer, Sj'/ieno- 

 _phorus obscuriis. This insect is closely related to the weevil 

 borer {Sphenophorus sericevs) which attacks sugar-cane in 

 the West Indies (see Figs. 5 and 6). In Fiji, however, the 

 weevil borer is a principal pest of the sugarcane and 

 appears to be able to attack healthy canes; while in the 

 West Indies the weevil borer is a pest of secondary 

 importance, and is able to attack the cane only when the 

 rind lias been broken or ruptured by some cause such as 

 wind, attacks of rats or moth borer. 



The sugarcane borer in Fiji is controlled by collecting, 

 principally at baits, which consist of pieces of split canes 

 about 12 inches long placed on the ground in the cane field 

 at regular intervals. As fermentation commences, the beetles 

 lare attracted to the cane baits, and deposit eggs in them. 

 The bait pieces should be collected and burned before the 

 beetles are fully developed, and others put down in their 

 .places. 



A parasitic fly has been discovered in Xew Guinea (see 

 Agricultural News, Vol. IX, p. 138) attacking the cane borer; 

 ^vhich may eventually prove a valuable natural enemy in Fiji. 



Cacao is stated to be aitackcd by two species of shot 

 borers, and by scale insects. Pine-apples are attacked by 

 scale insects, and a fruit fly, TcphritfS [Dacus] xanthodes.) , 

 has been reported as being bred from pine-apples from 

 Fiji, although Mr. Jepson states that he has not found it in 

 the Colony. 



Cotton is attacked by two species of stainers, Di/sdercus 

 jaacijica and D. insularis, and by a tip worm, the larva of 

 a small moth, Earias fabia. The injury to the cotton results 

 from the twig-boring habit of the larva. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture re- 

 turned to Barbados, from visits to ( Ircnada and Trinidad 

 in connexion with official matters, bv the S.S. 'Verdi', 

 on June 27. 



Messrs. H. A. Ballou and F. W. South, Entomo- 

 Jogist and Mycologist on the Staff of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, returned to Barbados from 

 S(. Kitts, by the S.S. 'Parima', on .June 21. 



AGRICULTURE IN ST. LUCIA, 1910. 



The information given Itelow, concerning the agri- 

 cultural industries in St. Lucia during 1910, is selected 

 from details presented in Colo n ial Reports — Annual, 

 No. 713, issued recently: — 



The principal products of the Colony are sugar and 

 cacao, but as there are no reliable statistics available of the 

 area of each under cnllivatinii, the value of the industries 

 can be estimated only by the quantities exported. 



In 1910, the quanuty of cacao exported was 8,liS7 bags 

 of 200 Bb., value £40,935, as compared with 10,8.50 bags, 

 value £-51, 27.5 in 1909. The amount of usine sugar shipped 

 in 1910 was 5,199 tons, value £64,988; in 1909, 5.360 tons, 

 value £59,623. Other sugar, and muscovado and its pro- 

 ducts, reached a value of £2,674 in 1910, and £2,265 in 

 the preceding year. 



The quantity of cacao produced from year to year 

 does not exhibit that rapidity of increase that might be 

 reasonably expected from the area of land to be seen 

 employed in its cultivation, and it is more than probable 

 that this is owing to the lack of attention bestowed by the 

 small growers on their cacao plots, and to their ignorance, 

 despite the effoits made by the officers of the Agricultural 

 Department to teach them, of proper cultural methods. The 

 following summary of figures recently prepared by the Agri- 

 cultural Superintendent shows that it has taken twenty years 

 for the quantity of cacao exported to double itself. 



Quinqennial periods. Annual average export. 



(Bags of 200 ft).) 

 1891-5 4,581 



1896-1900 5,070 



1901-5 7,094 



1906-10 9,434 



The production of lime juice is steadily increasing, the 

 value of the export in 1910 being £320, the value in 1909 

 and 1908 being, respectively, £297 and £126. Honey did 

 not do quite so well, the figures being, for 1910 £402, and 

 for 1909 £479. Cotton, on the contrary, showed a remark- 

 able increase, the value of the output lieing declared at 

 £1,302, as compared with £432 in the year previous. The 

 cotton industry is one, however, which for various reason.s, 

 does not find favour in the planting community, and that 

 this is so is borne out by the fact that cotton cultivation is 

 being largely given up by those who were engaged in it 

 during the year under report. 



The number of applications for the purchase of Crown 

 Lands, received in 1910, was seventy-two, the acreage 

 of which was 692, as compared with 121 applications for 

 1,609 acres in 1909. But the applications in the latter year 

 included two applications in respect of 407 acres, and three 

 in respect of 2C0 acres. Surveys to the number of eighty- 

 seven were executed during the year, of which fifty-five were 

 re surveys, and the total alienations amounted to 1,042 acres; 

 twenty-four Crown grants were issued, and fifty-seven 

 remained unissued at the close of the year. Economic plants, 

 comprising coffee, cacao, limes, nutmegs, cinnamon etc., were 

 distributed to Crown Lands purchasers, free of cost, to the 

 number of 5,406, more than double the number issued in the 

 year previous. 



The Crown traces, Colombette to Canaries, Esperance to 

 La Borne, and Ravine Soufre were completed during the year; 

 the Raillon trace, which leaves the main road between Den- 

 nery and Micoud at the crossing of the Praslin River and 

 extends upwards and along the southern side of the valley 

 of that name for a distance of nearly 4| miles, was begun, 

 and considerable progress made with its construction. 



