35 



could be profitably resorted to. In case this is attempted, a cart 

 should be devised to be drawn by a team, and straddling one row, 

 spray it and another row^ on either side. This might be readily 

 done in unirrigated fields, but probably too difficult to accomplish 

 in irrigated fields, on account of the crookedness of the rows of 

 cane in conforming to the natural contour lines of the land. 



Ai-senate of lead would be the better poison to use, as it is 

 easier retained in suspension in the water of the spraying cart; and 

 it also adheres to the leaves permanently, even in rainy times; 

 whereas Paris Green would wash off with the first shower. About 

 41l)s. of the Asenate to 100 gallons of water would be a good pro- 

 portion to use. This should be effective against the Army worm 

 and cut worms as well. They sometimes infest the fields of young 

 cane at the same time the leaf- rollers do, though usually they are 

 apt to be injurious to young cane at an earlier stage than it is 

 attacked by the leaf -rollers. 



A method which has been used at times is to go over the field 

 row by row, and by hand, pinching all the "retreats" of the 

 leaf-rollers that can be seen, thus destroying the caterpillar within. 

 This could be accomplished without much additional labor at the 

 time of hoeing, the laborers being properly instructed to look for 

 the " retreats " which are usually conspicuous, when one knows 

 what to look for, i. e., the portion of margin or tip of leaf rolled 

 up into a tube on a portion of the leaf which has been more or 

 less eaten away by the caterpillars. 



Young palm trees may be easily relieved of the leaf-roller pest 

 by frequent examination, and destroying the young caterpillars 

 soon after they hatch, when they are feeding gregariously on the 

 the surface of the leaf. The colony may be recognized by the 

 web by which they are covered; and a stiff brush, or something 

 similar, may be used to kill them at one stroke. After they have 

 grown to a larger size and fastened together leaflets or folds of the 

 leaf for hiding places, they may be killed by pinching together 

 the folds with the fingers, continuing the pressure along the whole 

 length of the fold of the leaf or leaflet. This is applicable to 

 small trees only; after they have grown larger, beyond convenient 

 access, nothing can be done to advantage. Spraying with poison 

 is not feasible, as the caterpillars do so much of their feeding 

 inside of folded leaves that the poison is not likely to be placed 



