Vol. XVI, No. 401. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



283 



by Dr. G. A. K. Marshall of the Imperial Bureau of 

 Entomology as Pachriaeus citri. 



PIMENTO. A new species of armoured scale {Odonaspis 

 pimentae, Newstd.) attacks the trunks and larger branches of 

 the pimento trees in some localities This tree normally sheds 

 its bark in long strips at intervals, but the scale insect 

 interferes with this normal process of bark shedding by 

 gradually producing a bark-bound condition, and at the same 

 time gradually weakens the tree by sucking the sap. No 

 parasitic insects have so far been recorded from this scale, 

 but it is attacked by the black fungus (Mynangium duriaei), 

 and the redheaded fungus (Sphaerostilbe coccophila). 



Termites are responsible for injury to pimento trees 

 which have been damaged by storm or by careless breaking 

 of twigs by pickers of the crop. Remedies advised are the 

 control of careless breaking, and use of white arsenic in the 

 nests. A small quantity of this poison put down in the 

 galleries is carried into the nest by the insects and well 

 distributed. The damage done by termites in general, and 

 some of the control methods used against them have been 

 mentioned in the Agri'-ultural News for August "26, 1916 

 (Vol. XV, No. 374). 



PINE- APPLE. This crop was found to be attacked by the 

 grubs of a new weevil, which was determined by Dr Marshall 

 as Metamasius ritchiei. A technical description of this weevil 

 has appeared in the Bulletin of Entomological Research, 

 Vol. VII, Part 2, October 1916. The grub either bores into the 

 stem causing the pine-apple to break over prematurely, or 

 else it tunnels in the fruit inducing fruit rots, which attract 

 the brown weevil (Metamasius s^riceus). Suggestions for 

 control included the digging out and splitting open of 

 infested plants so as to expose the grubs to weather, 

 and to natural enemies, such as fowls, hogs, lizards, frogs, 

 etc. The plants so treated will dry out and the further 

 development of the immature stages of the grub will 

 be prevented. This pest has so far occurred only in one 

 district, but a high percentage of the crop has been lost, and 

 it is very difficult to get healthy slips. 



The pine-apple scale (Diaspis hromeliae) and mealy-bug 

 {Pseudococcus hromeliae) are generally present on pine-apples. 

 The planting of clean slips helps to control the mealy-bug 

 and its attendant ants. An oil emulsion spray is effective 

 against the scales and mealy-bugs, while the addition of 

 carbolic acid serves as a repellent to the ants. 



These notes will be continued in the next issue of this 

 Journal. 



J.C.H. 



Destruction in St. Vincent of Host Plants of 



the Cotton Stainer. — a report of this work has been 

 handed in by Mr. Sands, the Superintendent of Agriculture 

 in St. Vincent, to His Honour the Administrator. From this 

 report, a copy of which has been forwarded to the Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture, it appears that a total number of 

 11,-570 'John Bull' trees (Thespesia popuhua) and 1,552 

 Silk- cotton trees (Eriodendron anfractuosum) have been 

 eradicated in St. Vincent during the period from August 

 1916 to June 30, 1917. In addition. thousand.s of seedlings 

 of both species have also been destitoyed. 



Mr. Sands pays a well deserved tribute to the efficient 

 and tactful manner in which the Cotton Inspectors have 

 performed their work, which has often been of considerable 

 difficulty. Sometimes it was not found possible to fell a silk- 

 cotton tree growing amidst cocao cultivation, for fear of the 

 damage to the plants beneath it. In such cases the trees 

 were 'ring-barked" with the hope that they would die before 

 developing pods. An instance is mentioned of a ring-barked 



tree which nevertheless fruited, and became 'literally 

 covered' with cotton stainers in all stages of develop- 

 ment, attracted from the neighbouring cotton fields. It 

 was necessary to take immediate action. A man was set 

 to climb the tree, and cut back the limbs so as to throw all 

 the pods to the ground. > This was done so carefully that 

 only five cacao trees were somewhat damaged. To preve it 

 the myriads of insects spreading over the district they were 

 trapped with cotton seed and destroyed by means of boiling 

 water and the ga.soIene torch, as described in the previous 

 issue of the Agricultural News, p. 257. 



Mr. Sands states that there is a general firm conviction 

 that the silk-cotton tree is a serious menace to the cotton 

 industry of the Colony, and that there is need to destroy this 

 favourite food-plant of the cotton stainer pest. 



The British Rubber Industry.— According to 

 Professor Dunstan, Director of the Imperial Institute, whose 

 article 'Some Present Needs of the British Rubber Industry', 

 appears in the issue of the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute 

 of December 1916, the British Empire has gained the 

 premier position in the world as producer of raw rubber. In 

 1915 the total export of British plantation rubber exceeded 

 70,000 tons, whilst the natural forests of Para trees in the 

 Amazon district of Brazil exported only 34,629 tons. In 

 that year the United States took more than half of the 

 British-grown rubber in addition to 20,000 tons imported 

 from Brazil, while some of the great rubber-manufacturing 

 enterprises in the United States have begun to acquire land 

 in the tropics for rubber production. Apart from the effect 

 of the war upon the various industries in the United States, 

 which no doubt accounts in a large measure for the increased 

 exports, America has become the principal rubber-manufac- 

 turing cauntry in the world. The problem of the United 

 States is to acquire control over the production of the raw 

 material that she utilizes, while that of the British Empire is 

 to apply to manufacturing purposes the raw material 

 over which it now has control. In his report on Para 

 rubber cultivation, published in June 1914, Mr Bancroft 

 showed that the area in British Guiana was 4,018 acres 

 and was still increasing. As however only 4,000 fti. of 

 rubber has been exported from that Colony during the 

 present year, it can hardly be said that the industry has 

 advanced beyond the experimental stage. The importance 

 of the development of the industry is one which may well 

 receive attention of the Government and people of British 

 Guiana. 



The Port-of-Spain Gazette, August 17, 1917, states that 

 at a meeting of the Agricultural Board of Trinidad, Mr. F. G. 

 Urich, Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture, 

 reported that in order to obtain evidence one way or another 

 as to the fowl-eating propensities of the mongoose, he had 

 obtained the contents of some mongoose stomachs. On one 

 estate the stomachs of 149 mongoose, caught between 

 December 27, 1916 and February 10, 1917, were e.'camined 

 with the following results: small birds' feathers in 8, 

 parts of toads and frogs in 33, of lizards in 9, of crabs in 10, 

 of fish in 34, of insects in 63, of snakes in 4, of mice and 

 rats in 11, and of egg-shell in 1, while the stomachs of 28 

 were empty. In another district the stomachs of those 

 caught during the dry season contained no animal matter 

 at all. It would appear, therefore, that in Trinidad at least, 

 the much reviled mongoose is not quite as black as he is 

 painted by many of his enemies in the smaller islands. 



