566 



THE AGPJCULTUltAL NEWS. 



NOVEMBKK 2-' 



FORWARDING DISEASED PLANTS AND 



INSECT PESTS. 



Much dif-ajipointment ba,~ lately been exi)eriencecl, butli 

 i\v the sender and also by the receiver, through plants, 

 supposed to be diseased, and insect i)ests reaching the 

 laboratories of the Imperial Department of Agriculture in an 

 unfit condition for scientific examination. It i.> hoped that 

 officers of the Department and others will carefully study 

 and follow the suggestions that have been given by the 

 I)epartment on former occasions. (See Afiricnltural News, 

 Vol. I, p. 24-3, and Vol. II, p. 23.5.) The chief reasons for 

 this state of things are one or more of the following : — 



(1) The fragmentary nature of the material sent for 

 investigation. (2) Lack of care in transmitting, the 

 f-pecimens arriving shrivelled or dead or mouldy. (3) Absence 

 of information as to the conditions under which the j'lants 

 grew. 



It must be pointed out that a few fragments of 

 a diseased plant are of little use for investigation, and 

 suificient material should be sent .so that the primary cause 

 of the trouble may be located. 



In order that time and labour jnay not be wa.sted 

 in the examination of unsuitable material, care must 

 be taken in collecting and packing specimens .so 

 that they may arrive at Barbados in good condition. 

 Fresh specimens of moist vegetable matter should not 

 be sent packed in boxes or in envelopes, but should 

 be either suitably dried and sent in a well-ventilated package 

 or, preferably, placed in spirit immediately after collec 

 ticpu and forwarded in a bottle or corked tube. Care must 

 be taken with the strength of the .spirit used. A 30-per cent, 

 spirit is cpiite sufficient to act as a preservative, and this can 

 easily be obtained by taking distilled rum and adding 

 two parts of water to one of the rum. If material is sent in 

 luidiluted spirit or high wines, it becomes so hard and 

 brittle that examination is exceedingly difficult. 



When leaves, buds, or twigs are attacked, the specimens 

 should show as many stages of the disea.se as iiossible. 

 Detached leaves alone are, as a rule, useless. If practicable, 

 the root, after the soil has been shaken off, >hould be sent, 

 as, in many instances, the jainiary cause of the trouble i- 

 located there. 



When fruits or herViaceous stems are attacked, pieces, 

 .showing all stages of the disease, should be placed in spirit 

 as before. When it is thought desirable to send very large 

 specimens, such as portions of branches, root.s, or whole 

 cacao pods, these .should be collected as late as possible 

 before the mail steamer leaves and sent in a well-ventilated 

 case. 



Full particulars should also be forwarded giving details 

 of the time of appearance of the disease, the damage done, 

 the part attacked, the nature of the .soil, drainage, and al>o 

 whether an ajiparently similar kind of disease had been 

 previously observed. 



With regard to the fuiwarding of insects for examination, 

 directions have already been given in the A'jrkv.Uuml Nevs 

 (Vol. IV, !>. 168), but on account of the repeated 

 disappointment resulting from material being badly packed 

 the following detailed instructions have been prejiared. 



Insect material for transmission must be packed in such 

 a way (1) that it will not be broken, bruised, or crashed, and 

 (2) that it will not be spoiled by the growth of moulds, 

 mildew, or bacteria. 



In considering the manner of forwarding insects, these 

 may be divided roughly into these three groups: (1) 

 iarvae that is, grubs, maggots, caterpillar.-, including 



borers, etc. (2) Hard insects, such as beetles, bugs, gras.s- 

 hoppers, cricket.s, bees and wasps. (.Scale insects may be 

 included in this group.) (3) F^rail insects, such as butterflies, 

 moths, flies, etc. 



In packing for transportatic>n the following rules apply 

 to these groups : — 



Ofouji I. — When sent alive, larvae should be packed 

 with a supply of the food jilants on which they have been 

 found feeding or in the plant material they infest, in such 

 way that they should not be rattled about in the package or 

 crushed by portions of the food plant, etc. When not sent 

 alive they should be preserved in a tightly-corked tube or 

 vial, in diluted .spirit or formalin. 



Orovp II. — When sent alive these insects .should be 

 [irovided with food, as for instance, in the case of lady-birds, 

 leaves and twigs infested with the plant lice or .scale insects 

 on which they feed should be included and packed in such 

 a way that they cannot rattle about in the box. Footholds, 

 such as crumpled pieces of Iilotting paper, should bo given 

 the insects also. When not sent alive insects of this group 

 should be dried and wrapped loosely in soft tissue-paper, 

 each insect in a separate pajier, and then packed in a strong 

 box. In the case of .scale insects, each infested leaf and 

 twig should be folded or wrapped in soft paper and dried 

 Viefore being enclosed in a tight package. 



Griiup III. — Insects of this group should be killed and 

 handled carefully to prevent injury, folded or w'rapped in 

 paper and well dried before being packed. Butterflies, 

 with their wings folded together, may be folded in paper, 

 moths may be wrapped loosely in ti.ssue paper, and flies maj- 

 be included in layers of tissue paper between cotton wool, in 

 small boxes. 



Fidl notes should accompany all insect specimens, 

 stating the nature of the damage done, the part of the plant 

 attacked, where insects were found and whether larva or 

 adult does the damage; if the larva, a specimen of the adult 

 should be included also, if pcssible. Notes on their habits 

 such as whether night feeder or day feeder, where eggs are 

 laid, etc., etc., .should in every case be added, so far as known. 



Disappointment is most likely to result from (I) 

 insufficient material, (2) insufficient notes and information as 

 to habits, etc., (3) bad packing which allows specimens to be 

 crushed or to decay in transportation, and (4) from sending 

 specimens so broken and battered that it is impossible to 

 identify them. 



4 



MILLIONS. 



It will be remembered that early iu the year notes 

 appeared in the A(jricuUitral A^eics (Vol. I^', \i\>. 127 and 

 i;)8) in reference to the suggestion that the immunity of 

 Barbados from malaria might be due to 'the presence in the 

 swamps and ponds of the island of large numbers of tiny 

 fish, known as "millions.''' In the last issue of the West 

 India Committee Circulnr it is stated that some of these fish 

 were presented to the Zoological Garden.s, London. The 

 Superintendent of the Gardens reports that ' the fish are 

 thriving wonderfully, and are feeding voraciously u^ion the 

 larvae of gnats.' Some of the fish were sent to the Natural 

 History Museum for indentification and they are pronounced 

 to be closely allied to, if not identical with, a .species named 

 VirarJinus versirolar. It may also be mentioned that 

 quantities of these fish were forwarded by the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture to Antigua and St. Kitt's, 

 where they are reported to be doing well. At both these 

 places they are being kept at the Botanic Station and, as 

 they increase in numbers, they will, from time to time, be 

 distributed to the ponds and swamps in these i.^lauds. 



