THE DISEASES OF THE SUGAR-CANE. 309 



and 15,102 hogsheads in 1872 ; while owing to severe 

 droughts in 1770, 1773 and 1778' there were no crops of 

 any kind, and the whole body of negroes were in danger 

 of perishing/ 



The records of the condition of the cane-fields in the 

 past are very fragmentary. When the sugar-planters were 

 in great prosperity, the remembrance of individual years of 

 failure was quickly obliterated by succeeding plenty. Never- 

 theless we do read of severe epidemics among the canes : 

 and the majority of these appear to have been much worse 

 than any at the present time. A few instances will suf- 

 fice : — 



It is recorded by Patrick Browne^ in 1756 of the ''Aphis 

 blight'" that it was "generally pernicious to all plants on 

 which it breeds : it has been some years known to destroy 

 whole fields, nay whole crops of canes. When they are 

 very numerous, people are obliged to burn everything 

 about them, even the most promising plants." 



In 1760 enormous numbers of ''Sugar ants'" {^Formica 

 omnivora) infested the cane-fields in the French and English 

 West Indies. These caused such devastation that it was de- 

 liberated whether Barbados, formerly so flourishing, should 

 not be abandoned. In 1876 the Government of Martinique 

 offered a million of their currency for a remedy against the 

 plague, and the Legislature of Grenada offered ^20,000 

 for the same object." ^ 



In 1 77 I, Samuel Martin^ wrote concerning the "Blast"" 

 that it was "probable that the island of Antigua would in 

 time be ruined by this disease ", This latter appears to be 

 similar to the Aphis of Patrick Browne. It is occasionally 

 found in Antigua to this day. 



In 1814, Lunan^ complained of the "Blast" in Jamaica 

 "which often destroys whole fields of canes, and is caused 

 by myriads of an invisible insect for which no effectual 

 remedy has been found." 



The Mauritius planters were greatly alarmed in 1848 

 because of the appearance in the fields of enormous 



1 Edwards (i), p. 447. - Browne (i) ; Morris (i). 



^ Schomburgk (i), p. 643. ^ Martin. ^ Lunan (i). 



