216 



Ghosh (C. C). Some Aspects of Economic Entomology in India.— ^ 



Rept. Proc. 3rd Ent. Meeting, Pusa, February 1919, Calcutta, 

 1920, pp. 1073-1081. 



This paper deals with economic entomology in relation to agriculture 

 in India from the point of view of the Indian cultivator. The ento- 

 mologists' difficulties arising through lack of facilities for proper study, 

 etc., are not apparent to the public, and there is therefore a tendency to 

 belittle the importance of these officers as members of the agricultural 

 department. 



If the local conditions and current agricultural practices are not taken 

 into consideration when advocating remedial measures against insects, 

 those recommended are often impracticable, and the cultivators lose 

 confidence in the entomologist. Preventive measures are frequently 

 ignored by cultivators, as a result of their ignorance of insect biology, 

 and progress in education in agricultural economic entomology is 

 urgently needed. 



Beeson (C. F. C). Hoploceramhyx and the Dying-oJf of Sal. — Ind, 

 Forester, Allahabad, xlvii, no. 2, February 1921, pp. 68-76, 1 

 chart. 



As a result of investigations to ascertain the reason for the dying-off 

 of sal trees [Shorea robusta] in large numbers, it was found that factors- 

 connected with soil aeration were among the primary causes of this. 

 Borers, such as Hoploceramhyx spinicornis, Newm., are essentially 

 secondary factors, though, under epidemic conditions, they may deter- 

 mine the death or survival of a weakened tree. The resistance of the 

 trees is greatly lowered by a series of years of heavy rainfall, which 

 give rise to bad soil aeration. Resistance is marked by a copious 

 excretion of resin that floods the larval galleries and drowns the young 

 larvae. In the case of an epidemic of Hoplocerambyx, the trees attacked 

 should be enumerated as soon after the rains as possible, and all parts 

 of the tree down to 18-inch girth removed from the forest before 30th 

 April of the following 3^ear. In years of exceptional rainfall the parts 

 of the tree down to 12-inch girth should be removed. 



Attention is drawn to a paper by Stebbing, in which it is erroneously 

 stated that Hoploceramhyx spinicornis does not occur in the United 

 Provinces at all [R.A.E., A, iii, 154]. 



Jepson (F. p.). Shot-hole Borer Investigations. — Trop. Agric, Pera- 

 deniya, Ivi, no. 1, January 1921, pp. 23-30, 2 charts. 



A final trial was made in July 1920 of Speyer's paint-mixture on 

 tea bushes infested with Xylehorus fornicatus (shot-hole borer). Details 

 of the experiment are described. After a discussion of the results, it 

 is concluded that in view of the extremely high cost of this treatment, 

 the insufficient benefits derived, and the damage done to the bushes, 

 it is not to be recommended for use against this pest. A further experi- 

 ment is to be conducted to test the value of the castor-oil plant as a 

 trap tree. It is contended by some growers that the compulsory 

 eradication of castor in the tea areas has resulted in the borer turning 

 its attention to tea, but there is at present no confirmation of this. 

 An attempt has been made to limit the reproduction of borers by the 

 removal of infested branches at intervals, but it is feared that if this 

 work is carried out thoroughly more damage will be done by the pruning 



