154 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 12, 1906, 



Acme Powder Bellows. 



On p. 90 (if the present volume of the AjricuHural 

 JVews a short account was given of the ' Acme Powder 

 Bellows' for applying Paris green to cotton and other crops. 

 The acconi[ianying illustration will serve to give an idea of 

 the construction of this simple, but useful machine. 



INSECT NOTES. 



Fig. 5. Showinc 



tunnels m.\de by 



Chlorida festiva. 



Two Tree Borers. 



During the past two years several trees of the Barbados 



ebony {Alhi::ia Lebhek), or woman's tongue, as it is frequently 

 called, have been observed in a dead 

 or dying condition in Barbados. 

 In all the cases that have been 

 examined the trees have been attacked 

 by borers. Figures 5 and 6 are from 

 ]iliotographs of sections of the trunk 

 of an Albizzia tree in Barbados that 

 had been attacked by borers and had 

 died. These borers were of two kinds ; 

 one of them {Chlorkhi festiva) is a green 

 beetle with a gold stripe running length- 

 wise of the wing-covers near the outer 

 liorder. The legs are light brown and 

 the antennae, which are longer than the 

 liody, are dark brown. Each wing- 

 cover is provided with two small 

 spines at the tip. Fig. 5 shows the 

 appearance of the tunnels made by this 

 insect, which are not cylindrical and 

 frequently open out into wide chambers. 

 Fig. 6 shows the tunnels of the 

 other principal borer in the Albizzia. 

 These burrows are cylindrical, uniform 

 in size, extending in all directions 

 through the wood. The tunnels of 

 (CIdortda f estiva), on the other hand, 



are generally confined to the young sapwood and rarely 



penetrate directly toward the centre of the stem. The 



insect, the work of which is represented 



in fig. 6, has not yet been identified. 



The adult is a long, slender, black insect, 



l^to li inches in length, the wings are 



small, not reaching more than two-thirds 



the length of the abdomen. They are 



weak in flight and can rise but little. 



The larva attains a length of lA inches 



or more, is nearly cylindrical, and of 



uniform size, except that the head and 



first segment of the thorax and the 



last two abdominal segments are longer 



than the others. The last two 



abdominal segments are enlarged in 



such a way that the larva is able to use 



them in travelling by pressing them out 



against the sides of the tunnel in which 



it lives. 



The thoracic legs are well developed, 

 but the antennae are very small. The 

 eyes are large occupying nearly the entire 

 head. As soon as the name of this insect Fk;. 6. Showing 

 is ascertained it will be published for the cylindrical tun- 

 benefit of readers of the Agricultural nels made by the 



XifeWS. BLACK BOKER. 



Fi.^ 



Acme Powder Bellows. 



The following description may be quoted from the 

 previous article ; — 



' One of these machines, which is marked the ' .\cme 

 Powder Bellows,' has been obtained by the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. It is a very simple hand bellows with 

 handles about 18 inches long, and with a funnel at the 

 nozzle end. About \ &. of Paris green is used as a charge 

 for the machine, and it is thrown out by quick pre.ssure on 

 the handles. A small inverted cone inside the funnel heliis to 

 spread the poison, which comes out with some force, and with 

 a good tendency to spread. The cost of this machine should be 

 small, and it seems likely that a labourer will be able to accom- 

 plish much more with it than with the bag, which is ordinarily 

 used. Field experiments are, however, necessary to prove its 

 value when used on a large scale. According to the printed 

 directions which accompany each bellows, only pure Paris 

 green should be used, but from the few trials already made, 

 it seems likely that the mixture of lime and Paris green, 

 which is used in the West Indies, could be satisfactorily 

 applied by means of this machine.' 



Inquiries have been made as to the cost of the ' Acme 

 Powder Bellows.' They can be obtained in the United 

 States at a cost of about $8 per dozen. Messrs. Gillespie, 

 Bros. i& Co., 4, Stone Street, New York, have been a.sked 

 to be prepared to execute orders from the ^\'est Indies 

 for these machines and also to quote inclusive terms, f.o.b. 

 New York. The information, when to hand, will be published 

 in the Agricultural Nevjs. 



INCUBATOR TRIALS AT ST. LUCIA. 



Mr. J. C. ^looru, Agricultural Sajjerintendent at 

 8t. Lucia, has forwarded the following notes upon the 

 .sati.stactory results that have attended carefidly con- 

 ducted trials, carried out at the Agricultural ychool, 

 of a Cyphers Non-iuoisturc Incubator, No. 0., of 

 GO-egg capacity : — 



On the first trial 90 per cent, of the fertile eggs hatched, 

 and on the second 78 per cent., an average of 84'3 per 

 cent. All the chickens hatched were strong and healthy and 

 are thriving. To accommodate the young chickens for the 

 first few weeks, a simple ' Brooder ' was constructed out of 

 a kero.sene box by tacking on the inside, in concentric circles, 

 strips of fiannel to hang down within \ inch of the fioor of 

 the box, for the chickens to nestle in at night. This 

 ' Brooder,' if placed in an out-house or closed coop, answers 

 very well. 



The operation of the incubator is very simple, and 

 involves little trouble, a few minutes' attention each day 

 being all that is necessary. In our trials the machine was 

 housed in the basement of a stone building. 



