June 1, 1912.; 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



451 



there has recently been a great awakening of interest — not only 

 among the English, but among Americans in all of the West 

 Indian Islands. The opening of the Panama Canal, which bids 

 fair to take place promptly on the advertised date, will tremen- 

 dously increase the importance of many of these islands. 



While of the 43S pages contained in the book, only 9 of them 

 are devoted to rubber, those 9 pages are naturally most interest- 

 ing to the greater part of the readers of this publication. Rub- 

 ber cultivation is an industry of comparatively recent date in the 

 West Indies, but within the last few years — particularly since the 

 great possibilities in rubber plantations have been shown by many 

 phenomenal successes in the Middle East — a great deal of rubber 

 interest has been aroused in certain of the West Indies. In 

 Trinidad and Tobago alone, there are now some 33,000 acres of 

 rubber plantations — 30,000 being planted to Castilloa, and 3,000 to 

 Hcvea. In Tobago alone, there are over 120,000 trees. Six years 

 ago this island exported less than 100 pounds of rubber ; last 

 year its exports amounted to nearly 5,000 pounds, and very few 

 of the planted trees have yet reached an age for tapping, so from 

 now on, the exports will rapidly increase. A little rubber plant- 

 ing has taken place in some of the other islands — namely, St. 

 Lucia, Dominica and Jamaica, but they have not reached the ex- 

 port stage. 



In British Guiana there are now 1,700 acres planted to rubber — • 

 1.000 acres to Hcrca Brasilicnsis, and 700 to Sapiuin Jeninani. 

 The chief rubber industry of British Guiana, however, is in the 

 export of balata, which is bled from the indigenous balata or 

 bully-tree. This industry amounted last year to over 1,000,000 

 pounds, valued at nearly one-half million dollars. 



It will be interesting to prospective planters to know that there 

 is a vast deal of land, finely suited for rubber cultivation, still 

 belonging to the Crown that can be acquired under very easy con- 

 ditions. According to Mr. Aspinall, it is estimated that there 

 are still in British Guiana, 9,000,000 acres of Crown land, "emi- 

 nently suitable for the cultivation of rubber" — land that resembles 

 in nearly all its conditions those tracts in Brazil, where the Hevea 

 Brasiliensis reaches its highest perfection. 



Considering the small number of the pages devoted to rubber, 

 the author has managed to pack into them a great deal of valu- 

 able information. 



INSECT PESTS OF THE LESSER ANTILLES. BY H. A. BALLOU, 

 M. Sc, Entomologist of the Imperial Department of Agriculture for 

 the West Indies; 1912. [8vo. Paper. 194 pages with 185 illustrations.] 



Those who have not made a study of entomology may fail to 

 recognize the fact, that its definitions and distinctions are as 

 minute as those of any other branch of natural research. Quite 

 as exact as the terms of botanical differentiation are those of 

 entomological description ; with the additional difficulty, that 

 while the objects described are in the one case often examples 

 of living vegetation, they are in the other usually dead and 

 grouped together as found, after long and patient search. 



Seeing the inherent difficulty of his task, Mr. Ballou is to be 

 congratulated on the completeness of its execution. Following 

 him through his treatment of the subject, it will be noted that 

 he keeps in view the insects of the Lesser Antilles, locating 

 them in the first place; atuong the group, of "arthropods," or in- 

 sects with jointed limbs. This group is itself divided into four 

 classes : Crustacea, arachnida, myriapoda and hexapoda. 

 Roughly speaking the equivalents of these four scientific terms 

 would be : Crabs, spiders, multipedes and insects. These defini- 

 tions are further elucidated by eight illustrations. 



Next comes the general question of the natural history of 

 insects, including the points which insects have more or less 

 in common. These points (treated in detail) comprise : Struc- 

 ture and growth; senses; circulation; respiration; nervous 

 system ; digestion ; reproduction. 



The class of hexapoda (or insects properly so called) is, as 



will be remembered, one of the four classes of the group of 

 arthropods. This class is itself divided into ten orders : Straight- 

 winged; fringe-winged; half-winged; dragon flies; flat-winged; 

 nerve-winged; scale-winged; sheath-winged; two-winged; mem- 

 brane-winged. Thus tracing an insect through the various defini- 

 tions of group, class and order, it has in each case a distinct 

 place in the economy of nature. 



At this point Mr. Ballou takes up the practical part of his 

 subject: insect pests of crops; successively dealing with cotton; 

 sugar-cane; citrus fruits; cacao; Indian corn; arrowroot; to- 

 bacco; sweet potatoes; cocoanuts ; rubber; nutmegs; bananas; 

 yams ; beans ; miscellaneous plants. 



The several species of rubber-producing plants cultivated in the 

 Lesser Antilles are more or less subject to the attacks of scale 

 insects, Castilloa being particularly so, and Hevea being less 

 liable to them. The common mealy bug is often found in the 

 leaves of Castilloa trees, causing, however, less injury than 

 might be anticipated, as these trees shed their leaves at inter- 

 vals. Funtuinia rubber is very liable to attack by the green 

 shield scale, while the Cearli specimens now being grown are 

 attacked by a fiat black shield scale. Castilloa trees are some- 

 times attacked by a borer, the larva of one of the long-horned 

 beetles. 



In the concluding chapters, Mr. Ballou deals with the insects 

 which respectively attack man, domestic animals and stored 

 products. Preventive and remedial measures are fully dis- 

 cussed, an interesting feature of this section being the con- 

 sideration of the control exercised by the natural enemies of 

 insects. 



One of the most noticeable points of Mr. Ballou's interesting 

 w^ork is the sharpness of the illustrations (185 in number), which 

 bring out the objects with microscopic clearness. The text is 

 throughout lucid and condensed, the whole work reflecting much 

 credit on its author. 



A LECTURE OX THE PAR.\ RUBBER TREE (HEVEA BRASILI- 

 ensis. By W. J. Gallagher, M.A., Director of Agriculture F. M. S.). 

 Kuala Lumpur, 1912. [Paper. 8vo. 27 pages.] 



While much has been written about the cultivation and 

 treatment of the Para rubber tree, the lecture by W. J. Gal- 

 lagher, Director of Agriculture, Federated Malay States, de- 

 livered before various planters' associations in 1909 and 1910, 

 treats in detail the physiology of that tree and the operation 

 of tapping. Such a talk from a practical man to practical 

 men has undoubted value. 



The ideal system of tapping, in Mr. Gallagher's opinion, 

 is most likely to be evolved by the scientist, as a compromise 

 between scientific necessity and practicability. Meanwhile 

 he urges planters to learn all they can of the build of the tree 

 and what they do to it, besides extracting latex, when cutting 

 away part of its living body, as in ordinary tapping. 



ALGOT LANGE'S "IN THE AMAZON JlrNGLE." 



Our May issue contained a review of Algot Lange's exceed- 

 ingly interesting book, telling of his unique experiences in the 

 jungles of the upper Amazon. The review as written contained 

 this sentence: "He has set down the facts as they befell; and 

 if many of them seem rather remarkable and others of them 

 quite miraculous, that's the reader's gain." But the compositor, 

 with the perverseness of his kind, after proofs had been care- 

 fully read and approved, in a moment of unholy abandon 

 changed miraculous to ridicnloiis — a horse quite of another color. 

 There was much in Mr. Lange's jungle adventure that might 

 properly be called miraculous, but nothing assuredly that could 

 be called ridiculous. 



