44 MONTHLY NOTES ON GRUBS AND OTHER CANE PESTS. 
Though this land was grubby in former years, there is now no sign of 
injury, and there is every indication of a 50-ton crop. One can see why 
Mr. Jones believes in thorough cultivation and the use of nitrate for 
cane. It was on this estate (the late R. O. Jones’s) that such severe 
injury usually resulted from the grubs. The only place where they 
showed this season was along a ridge in a field of 4th ratoons, a part 
of the field which had received no ammonia, but the injury was of no 
consequence for the cane picked up again after the grubs ceased feeding, 
about the middle of April. 
There is a very interesting experiment in growing cane on the 
black forest land at Saltwater, on the farm owned by Mr. C. A. S. 
Andrews. This part of the farm has a most peculiar soil, as loose and 
friable as a garden, and one would naturally conclude that it would 
produce excellent crops. Experiments with early plantings, however, 
have invariably come on well until the cane is about waist high, when 
it quickly succumbs, as if the soil was too poor or dry. To investigate 
this matter, last season I dug under dead stools in this class of soil and 
found that Lepidiota french grubs were sufficiently abundant to account 
for the failure. Hence I was especially interested to find that Mr. 
Andrews was having success with late planting. He used both Clark’s 
Seedling and D1135, and the cane has made most satisfactory growth in 
spite of the severe setback that it got by the drought. 
This land has been treated with 5 ewt. meatworks manure, and 14 
ewt. sulphate of ammonia, per acre. This black soil is easy to work, for 
it is free from weeds. No chipping was required, and the searifier was 
used only two times; it is nevertheless very clean, and the cane covers 
the ground. 
The late planting in the present case has enabled the crop to escape 
the grubs, and it is now too late for them to injure it. By eutting in 
October or November it may be possible to ratoon the field so as to avoid 
them again, if the horsework is continued through December. Moreover, 
this pest, which has a two-year life eyele, probably will not continue 
after this first lot gets out of the way. The frencha beetles appear to 
prefer blady grass, and, as this is abundant on every side, they may stay 
out of the ploughed land. 
I was interested, too, in the disappearance of the cane rats at 
Mossman. I could hardly find a trace of them on this trip. The mill 
made no small outlay in laying poison baits at the end of crushing last 
season. These were prepared with split canes and arsenic, and seattered 
in all the rat-infested localities. Results were soon evident, for dead 
rats were found, and there was a strong odour of carrion along several 
of the watercourses. At any rate, the rats are not showing up this season, 
and the prospects are very encouraging. 
IMPORTANCE OF NECTAR-PRODUCING PLANTS IN CANE AREAS. 
The observation of our native parasitic wasps (Campsomeris sp.) 
feeding on flowers of various plants along the Mulgrave River suggested 
