456 ST. Vincent's. 



St. Vincent, from improved cultivation, the animal 

 is not very formidable ; but in some other of our 

 colonies, which, from the absence of mountains, 

 or other causes, are subject to dry seasons, it has 

 been known to blast the hopes of the year, to de- 

 stroy whole acres of canes, and to ruin the unfortu- 

 nate planter." The Diatrcea sacchari is a small 

 sized straw-coloured moth, with upper ^vings of a 

 tint best described as an ochry-drab, varied with 

 darkened lines and margined dots. The under 

 wings are pale yellow. The caterpillar is of a yel- 

 lowish colour, spotted with faint black dots, and in a 

 slight degree hairy. This Borer-moth is indigenous 

 to Jamaica, or at least is now ordinarily known to 

 infest the Sugar-cane. 



" The late Mr. Stephen Hannaford of St. Doro- 

 thy," observes Mr. Hill, " in a communication to me 

 respecting this pest, so well known on this side of 

 the island, wrote me that ' the system of trashing 

 and of keeping the canes clean is the best and surest 

 method, as well to prevent the depredations of the 

 Borer, as to improve the juices. In seasonable dis- 

 tricts, where this system can be fully carried out, the 

 mischievous effects of the Borer seem to betray a 

 want of proper attention on the part of the manager 

 to his field. But in districts subjected to long spells 

 of drought, the utmost caution is necessaiy. It is 

 generally observed that the Borer commits the great- 

 est injury to the cane after a rapid growth, which is 

 followed by a spell of dry weather, whilst vegetation 

 seems not only suspended, but the plant itself strug- 

 gling for life. In this dilemma the planter chooses 



