16 



weeks. In case the burrow is tortuous so that the wire can not reach 

 the beetle a spoonful of bisulphide of carbon should be poured into the 

 hole and the hole immediately closed by a handful of wert clay, or it may 

 be applied to a wad of cotton which is immediately thrust into the 

 burrow. This liquid should not be used except in cases where the wire will 

 not suffice, and only when the insect is known to be in the burrow. Fine 

 dry sand thrown into the crown may be of some use providing it can 

 be made to enter into all parts of the leaf bases in the crown. 



The red beetle (Rhynchophorus species) is fortunately of rare occur- 

 rence here. This beetle enters as a grub through wounds or cracks 

 in the trunk, burrowing about in the softer tissues, and is difficult to 

 combat on account of its habits. A tree becoming badly infested should 

 be immediately cut down and burned. 



A small trunk-boring species of beetle also attacks trees, especially 

 those in a weak or diseased condition. 



Scale insects sometimes attack the older leaves, but are by no means so 

 common in general in the Philippines as they are in most other countries. 

 In severe cases on young trees they can be controlled with kerosene 

 emulsion. 



The fruit bats which are believed to destroy a considerable number 

 of small nuts in India and the East Indies apparently do little or no 

 harm in the Philippines. 



Eats undoubtedly injure a small percentage of the nuts in some dis- 

 tricts; they may be prevented from climbing the trees by nailing strips 

 of tin or zinc around the trunk of the trees at the height of 2 meters 

 from the ground. Kerosene tins may be used for this purpose, but 

 in the vicinity of the seacoast are effective for only about two years. 

 Eemoving the dead leaf bases, fruit stems, and ''strainer" cloth (at the 

 time of picking the nuts) deprives them of shelter. 



In many localities the white ants, or anay (Termes spp.), are very 

 troublesome to young coconuts; in plantations located on newly cleared 

 land, where there were numerous colonies of these insects before the 

 jungle was removed, the pest is especially troublesome from the fact 

 that, their original food material being removed, they are forced to eat 

 even living vegetable matter. If their nests are not in evidence, it will 

 be a difficult matter to exterminate them except by careful and constant 

 attention : any of the arsenical poisons placed in the nests are usually 

 effective. By constantly loosening the soil about the base of the young 

 plant and by allowing no dead wood to accumulate in the vicinity of 

 the young trees they can be gradually driven away or starved out. 

 Keeping the crowns free from dead material deters them from working 

 on old trees. 



Wild pigs are probably the most destructive enemies of young coco- 

 nuts, and where they are very troublesome, a fence may be absolutely 



