628 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



corn and su^ar cane indiscriminately. Early in the season, how- 

 ever, the question arose as to whether the insect infesting corn was 

 not distinct from that injurious to sugar cane. The means of control 

 that have been suggested were based upon the supposition that the 

 borers in corn and sugar cane were the same. It therefore became 

 necessary to investigate the matter thoroughly. A.t the laboratory at 

 New Orleans experiments soon showed that the same insect attacks 

 corn and sugar cane in that vicinity. It is therefore clear that the 

 two crops must be taken into consideration in any plan of control. 



An experiment was undertaken on the grounds of the Louisiana 

 Sugar Experiment Station, near New Orleans, to bring about the 

 total eradication of the cane borer. The conditions at this point 

 were ideal for an experiment of this kind, the results of which could 

 be applied in varying degrees on all sugar plantations in the South. 

 In this experiment it was planned to exclude all cane that was not 

 fall planted, to collect and burn all trash, cane tops, and similar 

 debris left in the field, to uproot and destroy the stubble, so that no 

 cane except that fall planted would occur on the grounds, to do away 

 with windrowing the canes, and to plant the corn on the station 

 grounds later during the season in order to deprive any of the moths 

 that might have survived the operation described of any opportuni- 

 ties for breeding. This experiment, which has been made possible by 

 the hearty cooperation of the Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, 

 when completed, will be of the utmost value to planters in the con- 

 trol of an insect which causes a loss of several hundred pounds of 

 sugar per acre throughout the greater portion of the cane belt. 



Another effort was made to introduce an important insect enemy 

 {Cryptolwmus montroiizien) of mealy bugs to attack the sugar-cane 

 mealy bug in Louisiana. One shipment was obtained from California 

 and released in a plat of cane at the experiment station. Another 

 was liberated at Adeline, and a third in a large hothouse at Audubon 

 Park. The individuals in all of these shipments seemed to thrive for 

 some time after they were introduced and two generations were reared. 

 However, the winter conditions were evidently not suitable for the 

 insects, as none survived. These experiments seem to demonstrate 

 that there is no hope of obtaining control over the mealy bug in 

 Louisiana by the introduction of the Cryptolremus. 



The work on sugar-cane insects was conducted in close coopera- 

 tion with the Sugar Planters' Association of Porto Rico. That asso- 

 ciation sent an agent to southern Mexico to obtain parasites of the 

 borer. Such enemies of the insect are entirely absent in Louisiana. 

 Any material that is obtained by the Porto Rico station will be 

 shared with the bureau for experiments in introduction in Louisiana. 

 In line with this cooperation the bureau assisted in the shipment of 

 the predatory beetle Cryptolfcmns raontrouzieri to Porto Rico. This 

 species, as has been noted, failed to establish itself in Louisiana, but 

 it was supposed that the conditions in Porto Rico might be more 

 favorable. Large numbers of specimens were obtained from Cali- 

 fornia for forwarding to Porto Rico. At New Orleans they were 

 fed and repacked for shipment. The reports from Porto Rico up to 

 the present time indicate that the introduction will probably be 

 successful. 



