MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY IN BERMUDA. 7 



being carried to the United States. Native-grown fruit is scarce 

 and a luxury even for the few who are able to grow it. Practically 

 all the fruit consumed in Bermuda and on the ships plying between 

 Hamilton and New York is grown in the United States. Further- 

 more, the climatic conditions in and about New York are known to 

 be decidedly against the establishment of the fruit fly, even if it 

 should be accidentally introduced. The fact that ships have been 

 plying between New York and Bermuda for many years without the 

 pest having become established on the mainland is an argument in 

 itself. Practically all agricultural produce grown in Bermuda can 

 not be marketed profitably in New York, where it is for the most 

 part consumed, unless it is placed on the market before that grown 

 in the Southern States is shipped north. Thus the bulk of Bermuda- 

 grown vegetables, whether subject to infestation or not, arrives in 

 New York at a season when the climate is too cold for the pest to 

 survive. With the addition at the present time of the strict quar- 

 antine regulations against all Bermuda-grown fruits or vegetables 

 subject to attack, to the restrictions already placed by nature and 

 the market, it would appear that Bermuda is a source of very little 

 danger to the United States from the fruit-fly standpoint. 



CONCLUSION. 



The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata Wied., was intro- 

 duced into the Bermuda Islands probably about 1865, when fruit 

 supposedly infested by this pest was unloaded there from a storm- 

 tossed vessel from the Mediterranean region. Since that time the 

 fruit fly has spread over the entire 19^ square miles of rolling coun- 

 try of which these islands are composed, and long since has ruined 

 the excellent peach industry enjoyed by Bermuda in the early days 

 and has caused such discouragement among prospective fruit grow- 

 ers that at the present time native-grown fruit in Bermuda is a 

 luxury. 



While Bermuda is probably at present a source of comparatively 

 small danger to the United States as a source of infestation by the 

 Mediterranean fruit fly, both on account of her trade relations and 

 the climatic conditions surrounding New York, the extermination of 

 the pest in these islands will be decidedly to the advantage of both 

 Bermuda and the United States. All parts of Bermuda are easy of 

 access. The topography is cut up by harbors, lakes, and roads into 

 small areas that can be easily inspected; the trees and shrubs, the 

 fruits of which are subject to infestation, are surprisingly few numeri- 

 cally, and a large portion of the uncultivated lands supports little 

 that is subject to attack. 



Experience in all countries where clean cultural work has been 

 undertaken, but especially in the city of Honolulu, has shown that 



