14 On the Value of Poison Bait for Controlling Cane (irubs. 



''Tile question, of course, is one that eau only be absolutely settled 

 by field te.sts. l)ut my y'ww. as stated above, is based on the following- 

 conclusions : — 



(1) The eggs would have been laid before the planting of 

 the peas, and seeing that the beetles, as a rule, oviposit either 

 close to the stool or directly under it, the chances are that the 

 resultant grubs whilst very small would not travel that far, but 

 feed on the fibi-ous cane roots close at hand. 



(2) Drawing the trench for planting of peas would, as I 

 have intimated in m.s., probably destroy most of the egg cham- 

 bers formed by beetles at a distance of from 6 to 32 inches from 

 the stool, and .so minimise chances of attack from grubs located 

 in that situation. 



(3) By sowing the peas in the bottom of a deep trench as 

 .suggested in m.s. they (the plants) would be obliged to root in 

 a lower strata of soil than that in which eggs are generally 

 deposited, and being at a lower level would not only be isolated, 

 as it were, from direct attack, but situated partly on subsoil of 

 too firm a nature to admit of easy access from first and second 

 stage grubs ; moreover, grubs, as a rule, prefer to travel in loose 

 soil, which they are continually ingesting for the sake of extract- 

 ing the organic matter." 



Bv Authority: Anthony James CuJfMiNG, GovenmuMit l'iiiit(M-, ]3risb:ine. 



