378 



THE AGRICULTURAL ITEWS. 



December 1, 1917. 



INSECT NOTES. 



THE PINK BOLL WORM. 



In the last number of the Agricultural News some 

 account was given of the habits of the larva of the pink boll 

 worm (Pectinophora -/ossppiella) under various conditions, 

 and attention was called to the rapid spread of tliis pest in 

 Mexico and Brazil, into which countries it has recently 

 gained entrance owing to the importation and distribution of 

 infected seed without a thorough inspection. In view of the 

 presence of this pest near the Mexican-United States border, 

 as mentioned in the last issue, its introduction in the South- 

 ern United States would appear to be only a matter of time, 

 in .'pite of the fact that every possible precaution is being 

 taken to prevent its passing the border. 



Now that the pink boll worm is well established in the 

 New World, it is not at all improbable that it will at some 

 future date spread to the cotton-growing islands of the West 

 Indies. It was stated by Ballou in the Agrieullnral Sews 

 (Vol. XIV, No. .346), that the pink boll worm would undoubt- 

 edly prove as destructive in the West Indies to the cotton 

 industry as any pest has ever been to cotton in any country, 

 which is equal to saying that the pink boll worm would most 

 likely put an end to the cotton industry in any West Indian 

 island where it becomes established. Our subsequent knowl- 

 edge of the habits of this pest, of the rapidity with which 

 it spreads, and of the ravages of which it is capable, only 

 serves to strengthen the above statement. 



The importance of the pink boll worm as a cotton pest 

 of the first rank has for some time been recognized by the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies, and 

 the question of prohibiting the importation of seed-cotton 

 and cotton seed into these islands had already received 

 thorough consideration. As soon as the information of its 

 presence in the New World was received, the machinery for 

 imposing the necessary restrictions was set in motion, 

 with the result that a strict quarantine again.at this pest is 

 now established in nearly all the British West Indian 

 islands, both cotton-growing and non-cottongrowing colonies. 

 Some details of the procedure followed in this instance may 

 be of interest. 



It may be noted that the British islands of the Lesser 

 Antilles are for purpo.ses of administration divided into two 

 groups, the Leeward Islands in the north, and the Windward 

 Islands in the south. Trinidad and Tobago constitute 

 a third group for governmental purposes. The first step 

 towards the quarantine of the pink boll worm taken 

 by the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture consisted 

 in writiuf! to the Governor of each of these three groups 

 advising him of the seiious menace which the pink boll 

 worm now presents !■• the cotton industry in the West 

 Indies, and strongly recommending that the importation of 

 cotton seed and seed-cotton be prohibited from all places 

 outside the particular group. Each island has its Plant 

 Protection Ordinance or Act, and proclamations were imme- 

 diately issued stopping the importation of cotton seed and 

 seed- cotton from all places outside the group to which the 

 island in question belonged. In some i.slands the Ordinance 



allows the importation of small quantities of seed-cotton for 

 experimental purposes under a special permit. 



As soon as the prohibition was in force in each island 

 of the above three groups, it was then a .simple matter to 

 modify the restrictions put on the importation of the above 

 two commodities, so as to allow of the interchange of cotton 

 seed and seed-cotton between the conforming groups of 

 islands. 



It will be found that as a general rale the imposition of 

 these restrictions will entail no hardship to cotton growers 

 in these islands, since each cotton-growing colony has within 

 the past few years been able to develop a good strain of fine 

 cotton, and if for some reason or other there happens to be 

 a scarcity of seed for planting in any island, this commodity 

 can, under the modifications of the Ordinances, be imported 

 from any other island within the conforming groups. 



At present no action has been taken as regards Barbados, 

 which forms a fourth separate colony The situation is com- 

 plicated there by the fact that there is a large importation of 

 cotton seed into the island for the purpose of manufacturing 

 cotton-seed oil. Since the Wesl Indian supply of seed is insuffi- 

 cient for the purpose, it is necessary to import this commodity 

 from outside sources, including South America. There is at 

 present no trade in cotton seed or seed-cotton from Barbados 

 to the other West Indian colonies, nor does there appear to 

 be any need for such a trade, since, as previously mentioned, 

 each cotton-growing island has developed a good strain of 

 cotton usually sufficient for its own needs. 



So far fs is known at present, the islands of the Lesser 

 Antilles belonging to foreign nations have not taken precau- 

 tions against the introduction of the pink boll worm, but the 

 hope is confidently expressed that they will see their way to 

 imposing the necessary restrictions, and making it as ditficult 

 as possible for this pest of cotton to gain an entrance into 

 these islands. 



J.C H. 



HOG CHOLERA OR SWINE FEVER. 



The possibility of a large increase in pig raising in the 

 West Indies was the s\ibject of a paper by the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture contributed to the West Indian 

 Bulletin, Vol. XIV, p. 221, and the matter has since then been 

 frequently attended to in the pages of the AgricMltural News, 

 see for instance, Vol. XIV, p. 118. In conneiion with this 

 matter it is well to point out that the keeping and raising of 

 pigs in large numbers is not without its risks, which are 

 minimized by proper feeding and proper sanitary arrangements 

 in pens, yards, and pastures, together with precautions against 

 infectious diseases. 



Among these by far the most deadly is the disease 

 known in the United States as hog cholera, which is 

 evidently the same disease as swine fever in England. 

 According to Farmers' Bulletin 834, of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture issued in August 1917, hog 

 cholera destroys about 90 per cent, of all hogs that die from 

 disease in the United States. The losses from this cause 

 have amounted to between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 hogs in 

 one year and the money loss has averaged probably more 

 than -530,000,000 a year for the last forty years. Especially 

 is the loss heavy in the States of the Middle West, where 

 hogs are reared in greatest numbers. In 1913 and 1914, 

 when the disease was exceptionally prevalent, in some 

 localities the industry was practically destroyed. 



In England also the seriousness of swine fever is shown 

 by the fact that in 1914, according to the Journal of the 

 Board 0/ Agriculture for July 1916, the total number o{ 



