Vol. XVI. Xo. 395. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



I>7 



HABITS ASD iLONTKuL METHODS. 



At present the most satisfactory method of dealing with 

 t)iese root-borer pests seems to be the collection of the adult 

 ■weevils and the egg-masses, and this would apply to all 

 varieties The adults are still emerging at the present time 

 and can generally be found during the day at the base of the 

 leaves of sugarcane and corn, or among pigeon pea, sweet 

 potatoes and other plants near the cane fields. In Grenada, 

 .Montserrat, Antigua, and tlie Virgin Islands the Diaprepes 

 adults attack the young twiiis of lime trees, often damaging 

 these severely by notching the leaves These adults often 

 become very abundant, sometimes emerging together in 

 thousands from a badly infested cane field and migrating to 

 ■other vegetation. 



In St. Kitts some 40,000 adults of the local variety 

 ■were collected in a short time in a cotton field during April 

 1914. In Antigua during the early part of 1916 some 70,000 

 adults of the local variety were caught and destroyed on one 

 estate where they were attacking limes. In Montserrat 

 several thousands of the adults are collected every year on 

 the lime tree experiment plot. 



The eggs are laid on the leaves of many of the above 

 plants and are usually hidden from view by a portion of 

 leaf stuck down over them. Recent observations made by 

 the Curator in Montserrat have established the fact that 

 the local variety of weevil lays its eggs on the leaves of lime 

 trees: the grubs attack the roots of the lime trees. Both the 

 adults and the egg-masses can easily be collected by small 

 hoys. 



Other measures of control are rotation of crops and the 

 digging up of infested stumps after the canes are cut. 



The hard backs will be dealt with in the next issue of 

 the Agricultural News. 



J.C.H. 



THE MAKING OF PANAMA HATS. 



The development of local industrie.s other than or 

 subservient to agriculture in these islands has never 

 been of greater importance than at the present time. 

 Nevertheless very little is being done to stimulate 

 matters in this direction. Amongst those industries 

 worthy of greater development are the fisheries, includ- 

 ing shallow-water cultivations, pot and chair making, 

 and the making of hats, particularly Panama hats. 

 Professor Harrison in I )emerara gave this matter atten- 

 tion a few years ago, and the following is an account 

 by him of a visit to the hat-making school at Param- 

 aribo, Surinam. The method of preparing the leaves 

 of thi? Carludovica palm is described thus: — 



The young and undeveloped leaves are cut with about 

 ■6 inches of the leaf-stalk attached: f. sharp thin knife is then 

 used for removing the larger veins of the leaf, and if this is 

 done .skilfully, the intermediary parts of the lamina alone are 

 loft attached to the upper portion of the stalk. The short 

 stalk is then held in the hand and given a sharp switch, 

 .similar to the cracking of a whip, in order to see that all the 

 intermediary pnrts are c|uite free from each other. After this, 

 the leaves are put into boiling water and kept boiling for, say, 

 ten to fifteen miiutes Care must be taken to see that the 

 vessel in which the leaves are placed is Dot one of iron, as iron 

 is said to stain them- Aiti-r they are taken out of the boiling 

 ■water they are put out in the sun lor two or three hours to 

 ■ rlry, and then bleached in a sulphur chamber for a d-iy. 



THE INDUSTRY RECOMMENDED FOR BRITISH GUIANA. 



We were informed that it takes six leaves to make aa 

 ordinary sized hat, and that a coarse hat can be made in one 

 day, while a finely made one would take about eighteen days. 

 After the hats are made they may be hung in an air-tight 

 box and subjected to sulphur fumes which will blea,ch them 

 to a beautiful white. We were also shown straw from the 

 -Kta palm {Mauntia flexuosa) from which hats were going to 

 be made. This palm, it may be stated, grows plentifully in 

 swampy parts of this colony. We were especially interested 

 in this school and formed the opinion that if a school, similar 

 to it, can be started in this colony and made to pay, some- 

 thing will have been done towards solving the growing local 

 problem of finding suitable employment for poor, respectable 

 girls and young women There should be no diflaculty 

 in cultivating Carludovicas, as they grow luxuriantly ia 

 the North West District of the colony, and even on fairly 

 heavy clay land such as occurs at or near to the coast-land; 

 and we are of opinion that they will also grow successfully 

 in the Pomeroon, on lands in the Canils Polder on the West 

 Bank, Demerara River, and on the light pegassy lands aback 

 of our vilUges and plantations. The subject of a local hat- 

 making school similar to the Paramaribo school on experi- 

 mental trial is one which we venture to think is worthy of 

 consideration. 



FISH POISONING. 



In the latest issue of the West Indian Bulletin (Vol. 

 \V1, No. 2) there is an article on the subject of poisonous 

 fishes in the West Indies, a subject which has been referred 

 to before in the Agricultural News. 



An attempt is made in the article in the Bulletin to 

 bring together such information as is available, including that 

 contained in Pellegrin's thesis "(Paris 1899), Evermann ancj 

 Marsh's Report on Porto Rico fishes, Tate Regan's Report on 

 West Indian poisonous fish, and other important papers and 

 works dealng with the subject. 



It is pointed out first that poisoning from fish may occur 

 in several different ways: — 



(1) Poisoning by ingestion, that is, by the consumption 

 of fish as human food. This may happen from two different 

 causes: — 



(a) The occurrence of a toxin in the body of the living 

 fish; 



(b) the production of toxins in the flesh of the fish 

 after death, due to decomposition. 



(2) Poisoning by inoculation of venom through wounds 

 inflicted by the fish. 



Coming under the heading of (a) are the Barracoutas, 

 certain sprats, the parrot fishes, the horse-eye -Jack, the 

 drunken or plate fish, and the globe and porcupine fishes. 

 The degree to which, and the conditions under which, these 

 fishes are poisonous vary. 



Under (b) most fish come that are consumed as food, 

 but the Cravalles appear to be specially dangerous in this 

 respect. 



The second chief group, which is poisonous by means of 

 venomous wounds, is represented by the scorpion or Lion 

 fish, the morays or tropical eels, and the batrachus. There 

 are other forms of marine life, not belonging to the true 

 fishes, which may also be included — for example, the sea-egg 

 and the 'Portuguese man o'war'. 



The article gives an account of the symp;omi of poisoning 

 from these causes, and of the treatment thtt has beea 

 ijuecessfully adopted. 



