CHAPTER IX. 



THE PESTS AND DISEASES OF THE CANE.* 



The cultivation of the cane is in many places one continuous struggle 

 against its pests and diseases ; this is so much so that the time of many experi- 

 ment stations is occupied in studying and devising remedies against the cane's 

 enemies. Within the limits of a manual such as the present only the fringe of 

 the subject can be touched on ; more complete details will be found in Van 

 Deventer's l Die dierlijke Vijanden van Tiet Suikerriet op Java, 1 in Went and 

 Wakker's 'Die Ziekten van net Suikerriet op Java,' in the 'Memoirs of the 

 Department of Agriculture in India,' in the West Indian Bulletin, in the 

 Sugar Cane and International Sugar Journal, in the Java Archief and in the 

 Bulletins of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association. 



Abnormalities in Canes. Peculiar canes with aborted joints, with 

 a superabundance of eyes, with absence of eyes, with excessive development 

 of the woody tissue, and with albino leaves, are sometimes noticed; the 

 phenomena have little interest other than academic. Some varieties show 

 these features more frequently than others, and the writer's clinical observa- 

 tions lead him to think that temperature variation may be a predisposing cause 

 for these abnormalities. 



Weeds particularly connected with the Cane. Certain 

 weeds have been noticed as associated with the cane, though their presence is not 

 in any way directly connected with the cane. Amongst these may be men- 

 tioned a succulent herbaceous annual Alectra Irasiliensis, whose roots penetrate 

 the cuticle of the cane and destroy it. This weed has been named the ' cane 

 killer' in Trinidad. In India a weed, Strigea lutea, and similar to the 

 'broom rape,' is known as a frequent inhabitant of cane lands ; the 'lantana,' 

 a woody shrub belonging to the Verlenacece, is known throughout the tropics 

 as a pestilent plant, rapidly taking over land temporarily abandoned ; it is 

 particularly obnoxious in Mauritius and the Hawaiian islands. In the latter 

 district it has been controlled by Koebele in an elegant way, namely by the 

 importation of sundry insects -with a specialized habit of feeding on the leaves 

 or of ovipositing in the flowers and seeds. 



Mammalian Pests. Excluding purely isolated cases of occasional 

 damage by the larger animals, it is only rats, hares and jackals, that can be 

 regarded as cane enemies. Rats are cosmopolitan in their distribution, and 

 not only destroy cane, but also cause considerable damage to parapets and 

 drains. Hares are known as a cane pest in India and in Mauritius, in the 

 latter place their depredations being considerable. Jacknls are confined to 



*Kirkaldy (Bull. 8, Ent. H.S.P.A.) has given recently a complete bibliography of cane 

 pests, enumerating in all 400 species noted as attacking cane. 



127 



