103 



' The general plan has been to collect and destroy all the mature fruits o 

 nil kinds known to be punctured throughout the country ; and in such cases, 

 where trees bearing large numbers of small fruit are too numerous, about 

 90 per cent, have been pruned back to prevent their producing fruit during 

 the next fruiting season ; by doing this it is possible to collect all the fruits 

 produced by the trees that were left unpruned last season. 



" The fruits were collected in sacks, weighted by inserting a big stone 

 before closing the bag, and thrown into the sea. In a few instances it proved 

 more convenient to burn or boil the fruits. 



" The work was begun as soon as possible after the Act came into force. 

 Ten sets of tools were purchased, and an inspector was appointed for each of 

 the nine parishes, and the inspectors were supplied with labourers as necessity 

 demanded." 



In reply to my request for further information, Mr. Harris sent me a copy 

 of their Act and an interesting letter, part of which I extract. He says : 



" We are working here in Bermuda on the assumption that the female fly 

 dies after all its eggs have been laid, and that if we carefully collect the fruits 

 as soon as the eggs are laid in them, we get at the root of the trouble. We 

 had already, last year, reduced the number of fruit-trees about to just a few in 

 each parish, and these are being kept under close observation. At this time 

 (1st March) last year there were, I should say, several millions of loquat 

 fruits teeming with maggots and the fruit rotting on the ground. This year 

 the observation trees that were permitted to fruit have proved to us that we 

 are working on the right lines. Of about 100 trees we left to fruit in the 

 whole country, about seventy have matured their fruits without a single 

 puncture, while the remainder have had less than 50 per cent, punctured 

 once or twice, and these have all been collected. For the last fifty years the 

 peaches have begun to ooze sap when they were as large as marbles ; this 

 year, now, the trees are laden with fruit as large as hen's eggs and not a single 

 one punctured. 



" We were careful, you see, not to destroy all the fruit, fearing that the fly 

 went about and punctured things unknown to us ; they appear to find their 

 way to the observation trees, but I am of opinion that they do not, as a rule; 

 travel very far ; indeed, I had come to that conclusion last summer, that if 

 one orchardist were to collect and destroy all diseased fruit and his neighbours 

 did not, his neighbours' flies would not go over the fence unless they were 

 blown over by the wind. We had at the end of last summer sapodillas 

 (Achras sopota] and anonas quite free of maggots, and also a few late peaches. 



" I have at the garden two large loquat trees near some old peach trees ; 

 all are in full fruit, the peaches quite large and no sign of a puncture, while 

 the loquats show 50 per cent, with just one deposit of eggs each. I have 

 caught and killed five flies on the two trees the last a week ago, and now 

 there are no more; have gathered all the 'stung' fruit and am leaving the 

 rest to ripen. The flies appear to prefer ripe loquats to unripe peaches, for 

 the branches of both trees intermingle yet the peaches are not punctured. 



" I notice also that the punctured spots contain from two to five eggs this 

 year, whereas last year at this time as many as twelve and fourteen were 

 found in each hole, while each fruit was punctured in as many as twenty 

 places. 



"It is very evident also that the flies go about 'stinging' the fruit some 

 time after all the eggs are laid, for many of the single punctures contain 

 no eggs at all, yet the flesh of the fruit is killed at that point, the dead 

 portion being & of an inch wide and a J deep. Can you say what the 

 poison is ? " 



