410 



The fact tliat a field is generally most heavily infested in the outer 

 rows next to the woods has led to the planting on that side of a few 

 trap-rows of early-sown or more rapidly maturing seed, on which the 

 weevils concentrate. These rows should be gathered and the ears 

 fumigated before the main crop is harvested. The crop should be 

 gathered as soon as possible and no rubbish should be left in the field 

 in which the weevils can breed during the winter. It must be remem- 

 bered that nothing can be done to kill weevils while the maize is in the 

 field. The methods of dealing with the gathered crop have already 

 been described [loc. cit.]. When stored, fumigation with carbon 

 bisulphide should be practised for any infested maize, or as soon as 

 any weevils or moths appear in the bin. If they are numerous, a second 

 fumigation should follow 2 or 3 weeks after the first, and if weevils 

 begin to appear during the warm days of spring the maize should be 

 fumigated a third time. Some farmers have lately begun the practice 

 of shucking all maize before it goes into storage and then fumigating 

 clean and infested seed together. The method and cost of fumigation 

 is discussed and types of fumigating sheds are described and illustrated. 



HoRTON (J. R.). Insect Pests of Figs. — U.S. Dept. Agric, Washington, 

 B.C., Farmers' BuU. no. 1031, March 1919, pp. 28-34. 

 [Received 26th July 1919.] 



This paper forms a section of a bulletin by H. P. Gould, entitled 

 " i''ig Growing in the South Atlantic and Gulf States." Well-kept 

 fig orchards in these States are not very susceptible to the attacks 

 of insects of serious economic importance. By far the most injurious 

 are three or four species of wood-boring beetles, of which the chief 

 is Ptycliodes vitfatus (three-lined fig-tree borer). This Longicorn appears 

 about March and continues to oviposit throughout the summer, in 

 the bark of the trunk or larger branches, generally in the neighbourhood 

 of a wound or diseased portion of the tree. The females live from 

 three to eight or nine months and deposit from 130 to 260 eggs each. 



The young larvae feed along the bark near the surface for two or 

 three weeks and then work into the wood, sometimes going to the 

 heart of the branch or trunk. After mining for two or three months 

 the larvae pupate. A perfectly sound tree is seldom attacked, except 

 when the borers are excessively numerous. The insects thrive in either 

 living or dead wood, but prefer wood that is dying and has lost a 

 portion of its sap. Preventive measures against the borer are better 

 than remedies. The young trees should be pruned to the best shape for 

 withstanding heavy winds. Accidental w^ounding of the bark should 

 be avoided, and where a branch is broken off the wound should be 

 painted with a mixture of 5 parts of coal-tar and one part of creosote 

 or crude carbolic acid, applied in two or three coats. Trees that have 

 become thoroughly infested should be cut down and burnt, as the 

 insects survive in dead wood. If infestation is only slight and its 

 area limited the eggs may be destroyed with a sharp knife, but all 

 cuts made in removing eggs or larvae should be carefully dressed and 

 treated. Oviposition may be prevented to a considerable extent 

 by ensheathing the trunk and larger branches in wire netting practi- 

 cally throughout the year. 



The mealy-bug, Pseudococciis citri, Risso, frequently infests the 

 branches and leaves of fig trees, and where the Argentine ant, 



