138 



at the same time. Remo\ e as many leaves at the base of the 

 cut-off top as may 1)e necessary to secure this end. It is 1)etter 

 to waste tb.e top than to run the risk of planting out the 

 blight. Any practical person can satisfy himself of the utility 

 of this precaution wherever the insects are abundant if he will 

 take the few minutes' trouble necessary to make the pocket 

 lens examinations described. 



Now the ultimate result of this precaution is the prevention 

 of a large amount of rot. I'he damage the insects do is not 

 so very apparent to the ordinary observer. I think most of 

 the growers with whom I have conversed have shown a com- 

 parative disregard for this insect. The losses from it ap- 

 pear to them to be slight. Occasionally a pineapple looks bad with 

 the blight caused by this insect, but the number is not so 

 great as to cause much anxiet}'. However, when the fruit is 

 shipped, and rots on the way to market, questions begin to 

 arise. Xow, the answers to these questions lead back, as 

 we have seen, to this insect. The rot is caused by a fungus, 

 possibly by more than one fungus. But it is the insect that 

 brings the pineapple into the condition that gives the fungus 

 its best chance. Xo doubt the fungus would in any case ulti- 

 mately find its way into the pineapple; still, the insect helps 

 it to find a way in much quicker than would otherwise be the 

 case. 



Another point to be attended to by the provident planter is 

 the complete destruction of pineapple refuse. All such refuse 

 contains the material necessary to start the disease afresh in 

 new fields, and it is truly wonderful the number of ways in 

 which this may occur. Spores are minute things, — too small to 

 be seen by the unaided eye. Their abundance is enormous. 

 It is indeed difficult to overstate their abundance. x-Mmost 

 any moving object will be found more or less likely to carry 

 them from place to place. They become detached from their 

 place of origin and are washed away by water, or lifted by the 

 wind, whirled aloft and it may be scattered for miles around. 

 Failing this the}' may be carried by moving animals, including 

 insects and man. The ubiquitous fly carries all sorts of mi- 

 nute objects of this kind on its feet. There is a small beetle 

 that is almost invariably found m rotting pineapples. This 

 beetle daubs itself with spores and in passing from one fruit 

 to another it carries the spores of the fungus, causing the 

 pineapple rot. This chain of thought might be carried out 

 to an almost indefinite extent. But enough has been said to 

 indicate its importance. 



The "mealy-bugs" are attended by ants. I am not aware of the 

 precise relations between the ants and this particular species, but 



