/oL. XVI. No. 396. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



20.3 



H AND COLLECTING. If the breeding places cannot be found 

 or if it is impracticable to f radicate ihem, then hand-collect- 

 ing .should be tried. This can be carried out at night by artifi- 

 cial light after the .slugs have come out to feed, or in the early 

 morning before they have returned to their hiding places. 

 Mr. Joseph .Jones, the Curator of the Botanic Gardens in 

 Dominica, writes that when this pest appears in great, numbers 

 it is usual to get women labourers to tur ■ out at dawn, each 

 with a slender sharp pointed stake and to skewer the slugs 

 before they return to shelter 



TRAPS. Put down pieces of board in the infested places 

 with room beneath for the slugs to collect. To make these 

 traps more attractive, smear the underside of the boards 

 with fat, rancid butter, stale beer, or fermenting molasses. 

 Mr. Jones mentions that in Dominica slugs are said to be fond 

 of bananas, but can only get them when a stem with an 

 immature bunch has fallen. The stem is then left on the 

 ground to allow the bunch of bananas to 'fill'. The slugs 

 cannot eat their way through the skin, but if the skin becomes 

 broken they are quickly attracted. This suggests the use 

 of pieces of banana as an attractive bait for use under the 

 boards or with other similar traps. Examine these traps 

 during the day and kill the slugs which have collected under 

 them. 



DUCKS. Some estates in Dominica keep ducks to 

 control slugs with good results. 



Li.ME. It has been found in Dominica that slugs may 

 be kept away from individual plants or small beds by placing 

 a ring of lime round the plant or bed. 



poisiONS. As far as is known at present, practically no 

 experiments have been made in the.se islands with poisons, 

 either in the .shape of sprays or poisoned baits, so that nothing 

 definite can be said as to their value. It has been observed 

 in Dominica that slugs will not touch fre.shly gathered leaves 

 of txrii.is wliifl) hivo lioei dnstrd wi'h Paris srpen and lime, 

 so that it seems likely that they may avoid pnison.s unless 

 these are attractively disguised in .some form oi bait 

 Experiments with various po'soned baits will be made later. 



.J.C.H. 



A WEED DANGEROUS TO STOCK. 



Mr. A. J. Brooks, A'/ricultural >Superintendent, St. Lucia, 

 reports that two instances have recently coniu to his notice 

 of appirertly healthy cattle, two in each case, having 

 suddenly died. After enquiring into the circumstances 

 Mr. Brooks believes that the cause of death was poisoning; 

 from the ingestion of the weed Spii/tHa anlhebaia. In the 

 first case this plant had been accidentally fed to the Huinials 

 in bundles of hand-cut fodder. One large animal died 

 within three hours, the other some hours later. In the 

 second case the animals were found dead in a pasture in 

 which the weed is cnmmon. 



The dangerous properties of the plant are well known. 

 The vernacular name applied to it in St. Liicia is brevilU, in 

 some islands hrinnie. obviously corruptions of Brini'illih-e 

 OT herhe Brinvilliei s, na,mes turreut in the French islands 

 and hiving reference to the notorious Marchioness of Brin- 

 liers, executed in Paris in 1676. In liarbados the plant is 

 known as Svaterweed'. Other names met with are poudre a 

 vers, herhe poisoit, wormweed, and Demerara pink-root. 



Twenly-nine years ago the Kew Bulletin rec(jrded the 

 receipt at Kew of specimens of this plant from St. Vincent, 

 accompanied by the information that it is poisonous to 

 cattle, sheep, and goats, proving fatal in two or three hours. 

 It is there staled to be commonly distributed throughout 

 the West Indies and Tropical America. 



The plant is common as a low-growing weed in gardens, 



arable land, waste places in the neighbourhood of cultivations, 



and in some pastures. In form its most prominent character 



IS the arrangement of its four uppermost leaves in the shape of 



a cross the lower (and lesser) pairs being somewhat widely 



separated. The leaves are slightly channelled over the veins; 



broad and rounded at the base, tapering off, with rather 



straight sides, to a point. From between the upper leaves the 



slender flower spikes grow up, bearing a succession of small 



pinkish flowers, followed by staall rough doubly-spherical 



capsules. 



It appears to be the current belief ic Barbados that 

 stock, except occasionally young animals, come to no harm 

 from the presence of this plant on their grazing grounds, 

 presumably because it is avoided. But the danger of 

 inchiding it in cut fodder is well recognized. The time for 

 application of remedies is short, and no effective treatment 

 has been heard of. 



The root and plant generally have been widely used as 

 a means for the cure of worms. Pink- root, sold for the same 

 purpose, comes from an allied species. According to the 

 Treasury of liotany, the action of these plants is also purga- 

 tive and slightly narcotic, and apt to produce very unpleasant 

 symptoms. Dimness of .sight, giddmess, dilated pupils, 

 spasms of the muscles of the eye, and even convulsions are 

 recorded among the effects. In poisoned aiamals the appe tr- 

 ance of the eye is characteristic, and is of value for diagnosis. 



The elimination of the plant from feeding grounds, as 

 suggested in the Kew Bulletin, would be a difficult matter, 

 but care may at least be taken to see that tho.se charged with 

 the management of stock are aware of the danger of includ- 

 ing it in cut fodder. 



FARM TRACTORS. 



In The Fie'd of March 1 7, the tendency to favour separate 

 tr.ictors instead of composite machines is noted as desfrvina 

 careful aiicuiion. The latter micbiues possess unquestioned 

 advantages, but they are complicated and e.xpensive. and 

 there is a good deal in the argument that although a collection 

 of independent midlines has the appearance of extravagance, 

 the aggregate cost may not be greater while the standard of 

 efficiency is hiaher. The detachable tractor comes within this 

 survey, and its use calls for immediate investigation, in view 

 of the plans maturing for increasing the supply of nil motors. 



The farm tractor occupies a .'omewhat peculiar posi- 

 tion. It has not yet approache'l, far less attained, 

 finality in efficiency and econonic use, and it is not 

 easy to set aside the argument, that while the state of 

 transition lasts, it would be advisable to keep expenditure 

 within reasonable bounds. The intention of those concerned 

 with the development "f motor traction appears to be to 

 encourage the manufacture of cheap machines, the life of 

 which may be short, but proportionate to the cost, say, two or 

 three years, l>y which time changes may be effected that 

 would make the introduction of a newer machine advan- 

 tageous. If a more durable class of tractor were produced 

 the buyer would be committed to a contrivance, perhaps for 

 some years after it was out of date, unless he were prepared to 

 scrap it before its term was ended and it had repaid the original 

 cost. It would be difficult at the present stage of mechanical 

 development to make a definite pronouncement upon the 

 relative merits of the different types, but prospective 

 employers of oil niotors would do well to examine the point 

 closely, and weigh the merits of the respective con- 

 trivances without bias. The oil motor is coming, and its 

 arrival and efficiency will be hastened or retarded acjording 

 to the manner in which it proves itself in the next few years 

 in fulfilling the requirements of the farm. 



