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of a turkey's egg, on a flat board, covered with 

 a wooden bowl, in several parts of the planta- 

 tion. The ants soon take possession of these, and 

 perish, while the poison is transmitted to their 

 successors who feed upon them. They are said 

 to be driven from a soil by frequent hoeing. 

 They are found to prevail most upon newly broken - 

 up lands. 



In Central India, the penetration of white-ants 

 into the interior of the sets, and their consequent 

 deterioration, is prevented by dipping each end into 

 buttermilk, assafoetida, and powdered mustard-seed, 

 mixed into a thick compound. 



5. Storms. Unless very violent, Dr. Roxburgh 

 observes, u they do no great harm, because the 

 canes are propped. However, if they are once laid 

 down, which sometimes happens, they become 

 branchy and thin, yielding a poor watery juice.'* 



6. The Worm " is another evil which generally 

 visits them [the cane-plants] every few years. 

 A beetle deposits its eggs in the young canes ; the 

 caterpillars of these remain in the cane, living on 

 its medullary parts till they are ready to be meta- 

 morphosed into the chrysalis state. Sometimes 

 this evil is so great as to injure a sixth or an 

 eighth part of the field ; but, what is worse, the 

 disease is commonly general when it happens 

 few fields escaping. 7 ' 



