364 



Mayne (R.). Rapport sur une Maladie des Bananiers au Mayumbe 

 (Bas-Congo). [Report on a Banana Plant Disease at Mayrimbe 

 (Lower-Congo).] — Bull. Agric. Congo Beige, London, vii, nos. 3-4, 

 September-December 1916, pp. 236-239, 1 fig. [Received 11th 

 June 1917.] 



Cosmopolites sordidus, Germ, (banana weevil) seems to be of recent 

 introduction in the lower Congo, serious damage by it having been 

 rejjorted only during the last 2 or 3 years. The larva bores into the 

 root and base of the stem, attackmg chiefly young plants and those 

 in dry situations, and is most injurious in dry weather. In badly 

 infested districts the natives have been compelled to substitute the 

 cultivation of ground-nuts and maize for that of the banana. The only 

 control lies in the destruction of infested plants, not, however, by 

 burning, as the succulent nature of the stem renders this impracticable, 

 but by cutting up and burying them at a depth of from 20 to 30 inches, 

 the subsequent decomposition killing both larvae and adults. 



Cotton Experiments 1916. — Mississipjn Agric. Expt. Sta., Mississippi, 

 Bull. no. 178, December 1916, 40 pp., 3 figs., 19 tables. [Received 

 11th June 1917.] 



Anthonomus grandis (the cotton boll weevil) is the chief limiting 

 factor in the production of cotton in Mississippi, where it has gradually 

 spread and increased since 1907. No satisfactory method of control 

 has yet been found, though many have been suggested and tried. 

 Picking by hand during the early part of the season, or collecting the 

 weevils by shaking the plants over a bag, which has a barrel hoop sewed 

 in it to keep it open, are of no practical value on large plantations. 

 Since cotton is the sole food-plant of this weevil, the cutting off of the 

 food supply in autumn by destroying the cotton stalks would prevent 

 many from hibernating. All dead timber and hollow trees that are 

 the favourite hibernating places should be destroyed, and cotton 

 should not be planted on areas adjacent to woods or forests. The 

 early planting of early maturing varieties of cotton is an additional 

 safe-guard. 



Leiby (R. W.) & Sherman (F.). Spraying Irish Potatoes. — Agric. 

 Extension Service, Raleigh and W. Raleigh, N. Carolina, Exten. 

 Circ. no. 48, May 1917, 8 pp. [Received 12th June 1917.] 



Leptinolarsa decemlineata (Colorado potato beetle) can be controlled 

 by spraying with poisoned Bordeaux mixture every 10 or 15 days, 

 accordmg to the persistency of the beetles and the amount of rain, 

 beginning when the plants are only 4-6 inches high. The recommended 

 formula for Bordeaux mixture is : — Stone lime (rock lime or quick 

 lime, unslaked) 4 lb., bluestone (copper sulphate or blue vitriol) 3 lb., 

 lead arsenate, 3 lb. in the paste form or H lbs. of dry powder, water 

 50 U.S. gals. A simple dusting powder may be made by thoroughly 

 mixing 1 lb. Paris green and 15 lb. dust lime. 



Planters and a Bug Pest.— African World, London, 9th June 1917, 

 p. 147. 

 Since the ravages of the variegated bug [Atitestia variegata] con- 

 stitute a most serious menace to the future of coffee planting in the 



