866 



Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W, 



[Dec. 2, 1920. 



of decaying tissue. In this condition it is deserted entirely by the beetle 

 larvae. Badly infested suckers are easily pushed over, and in some cases I 

 have found the larval tunnels extending up to the stem 12 inches above the 

 ground level. Where a plantation is badly infested no fruit may be pro- 

 duced, or, if any, the bunches are small and the fruit undersized. From 

 what I have observed, however, a considerable time may elapse before a 



Arrested growth ot Suckers, due to attacks of Beetles. 



plantation, originally laid out with infested suckers, begins to show any 

 material effect of the infestation. I have seen a plantation originally 

 planted with infested suckers still producing good bunches four years after 

 planting. Where the infestation is the result of a natural migration of the 

 beetles themselves from one plantation to another, it would take much 

 longer to show a definite effect in a plantation. 



