48 MONTHLY NOTES ON GRUBS AND OTHER CANE PESTS. 
while, right up to the line of treatment, the sprayed field is perfect. It 
may be premature to form a definite conclusion, but the suggestion is 
certainly worth consideration and further experiment. 
ON THE VALUE oF LATE CULTIVATION. 
Mr. Sugden also drew my attention to a 10-acre field of second 
ratoons on his stump-land, and gave me the following interesting 
history :—This cane was planted late in 1916. At the end of the season, 
1917, half of the cane was cut and the balance left for plants. The 
eyelone of March, 1918, wrecked this seed cane, but the best of it was 
eut, and all the discarded decaying stalks were left on the ground. The 
other half was so stunted by the cyclone that it made very poor growth, 
and, later, accidentally was set on fire. Mr. Sugden then decided to 
draw the logs together so that he could use the pony plough on this 
part, and consequently cultivated during last December and January 
while the beetles were flying. 
The present result 1s most remarkable; the cane in the cultivated 
area is as dark-green as if treated with sulphate of ammonia, and will 
cut a splendid crop, contrasting sharply the half which was volunteered 
through the rubbish, which is very yellow and grubby. 
Evidently, the pony plough was effective in preventing the oviposit- 
ing of the beetles, while possibly the surplus rubbish in the other part 
was an inducement to the beetles to lay. 
F'EEDING-TREES. 
Through the kind assistance of Mr. Sugden I was able to visit 
the extensive district extending out to Stewart Creek. The whole of this 
area is new, but is subject to grub-attack, simply because of its proximity 
to standing scrub. All of the holdings are small, and the owners are 
working under extreme disadvantage, owing to lack of funds to clear 
sufficient scrub to make their land immune. With the scrub quickly 
cleared, I have no hesitation in saying that there would be little or no 
danger from grub-injury, for the feeding-trees would then be left so 
far back that the grubs could only damage the edges of the fields. 
What I have said in regard to Stewart Creek district might apply 
to other valleys supplying cane to this mill; for I observed on a trip to 
the section known as the ‘‘Seventeen-mile,’’ that most of the small cane 
areas surrounded by serub were considerably grub-infested, and that the 
broad stretches of cane were immune, except, in some eases, if the fields 
bordered the scrub. 
It will be of interest to state that I do not find on the South John- 
stone River the definite relation of infestation to the south-east trade 
wind that I find in the Cairns district. Evidently the flight of the 
beetles is considerably influenced as well by the land breeze from the 
west, which is said to be the prevailing wind at night during the summer. 
Hence we may justly conelude that in this district any near-by scrub is a 
menace to the growing of sugar-cane. 
