452 



present themselves which demand for their solution the highest skill 

 of the best investigators, and unless the earhest symptoms of injury 

 are constantly watched for and their causes traced by experts, it is 

 only a question of time for disaster to occur. The extent and potential 

 wealth of British tropical possessions undoubtedly justify better 

 facilities for the full utilisation of the ever-growing resources of science, 

 and whether these advances are going to be made by the British 

 Empire or by some other competitor for the world's wealth, will be 

 largely determined by the use or neglect of available knowledge. 



Pour combattre les Vers gris de la Vigne. [To control the Caterpillars 

 of FeUia excla7nationi3 on Vines.] — Vie Agric. etRurale, Paris, vii, 

 no. 32, 11th August 1917, p. 102. 



The Director of the " Services Agricoles " at Vaucluse, M. Zachare- 

 wicz, recommends the following methods of controlling caterpillars of 

 FeUia exchmaiionis. They can be caught at night on the stocks, or 

 trap holes may be made in the ground for them. Carbon bisulphide 

 placed in holes a few centimetres deep around the trunks has been 

 found successful The liquids that have given the best results are : 

 lib. potassium sulphide, 2 lb. black soap, 20 gals, water, which should 

 be sprayed on the trunks at night ; and 10 lb. black soap dissolved in 

 10 gals, boiling water, to which are added, while stirring, | gal. paraffin 

 and then | gal. nicotine (100%) and lastly another 40 gals, water, 

 which makes an equally good night spray. To prevent the caterpillars 

 from ascending the trunks, a band of tanglefoot placed near the base 

 is recommended. 



Packard (W. E.). Control of Grasshoppers In Imperial Valley. — 

 California Univ. Agric. Coll., Berkeley, Circ. no. 143, November 

 1915, 11 pp., 8 figs. [Received 14th August 1917.] 



In this locality, Melanoplus devastator is the grasshopper most 

 injurious to crops on account of its numbers. Schistocerca vaga is a 

 common pest of trees, but has not been observed on plants of economic 

 value. None of the species found are truly migratory, although they 

 may pass from one field to another in search of food. The most 

 effective control measure is cultural treatment. The usual remedies 

 are recommended where the insects are numerous, and several types 

 of hopper-dozer are described and illustrated. It has been observed 

 that when sheep have pastured on land during the winter, very few 

 grasshoppers appear in the spring. Apparently this is due to trampling 

 of the ground. 



Home-made Remedies against some Common Plant Pests. — Planters' 

 Chronicle, Bangalore, xii, no. 29, 21st July 1917, pp. 366-368. 



Leaflet no. 5, 1917, of the Department of Agriculture, Madras, 

 which is reproduced in this paper, deals in a popular manner with the 

 commonest pests of plants, including Aphids and scale-insects, and 

 describes the method of preparation and application of the usual 

 remedies. 



