209 



which end in an acute point on each side, and leave the tip of the 

 body exposed to view. 



Though not injuring the trees themselves, mention must be 

 made of a curious weevil, of remarkable form and sculpture, 

 which first became injurious in Honolulu in 1900, having, no 

 doubt, been imported with ferns, somewhat previous to that date. 

 On the settlement of Pacific Heights it must have been carried 

 up with ornamental ferns, and it soon spread along the ridge, at- 

 tacking the native tree-ferns. By 1902 it had become extremely 

 numerous and injurious over a limited area, and is slowly spread- 

 ing across the mountains. Being without wings, its progress 

 is naturally slow, as compared with a flying insect. This borer 

 is only known elsewhere from Australia, and was described under 

 the name of Syagria fitJvitarsa. 



(To be continued.) 



SEA ISLAND COTTON IN HAWAII. 



One difficulty which has been experienced in growing Sea 

 Island Cotton in Hawaii is that of excessive yield, which results 

 in a too prostrate form of growth. 



In one locality on the windward side of Oahu, where the rain- 

 fall is about 70 inches per year, two acres of Sea Island cotton 

 required about 5000 props in order to keep the branches from 

 lying upon the ground and causing the bolls to rot. In this re- 

 spect the Caravonica cotton is superior to Sea Island, since it 

 invariably has an upright habit of growth. The difficulty experi- 

 enced with the prostrate habit of the Sea Island can be appre- 

 ciated from a consideration of the fact that, in the two-acre field 

 just mentioned and in another one-acre field, on the leeward side 

 of Oahu, the average number of bolls per plant was 700, and on 

 one tree 1200 bolls were counted at one time. This produces a 

 weight under which the slender branches of the Sea Island can 

 not support themselves in an upright position. 



An elaborate series of pruning experiments is now being car- 

 ried out with the idea of learning a method by which an upright 

 growth can be induced in the Sea Island cotton, at least for the 

 second and subsequent years of the crop. Some promise is al- 

 ready held out by these experiments. A strain of Sea Island, 

 secured from one of the best plantations of James Island (South 

 Carolina ) shows a more upright habit of growth than any other 

 stram of Sea Island which has thus far been secured. — Agricul- 

 tural Ncics (W. I.). 



