﻿OF 
  THE 
  SOUTHERN 
  PROVINCES, 
  NIGERIA. 
  203 
  

  

  for 
  Urena 
  and 
  the 
  various 
  species 
  of 
  Hibiscus 
  serve 
  to 
  attract 
  them 
  almost 
  as 
  much 
  

   as 
  cotton 
  itself, 
  and 
  moreover 
  the 
  cotton 
  scales 
  nourish 
  on 
  all 
  these 
  plants. 
  Okra, 
  

   in 
  particular, 
  might 
  probably 
  be 
  planted 
  with 
  great 
  advantage 
  as 
  a 
  trap 
  crop 
  by- 
  

   means 
  of 
  which 
  early 
  collecting 
  of 
  stainers 
  and 
  leaf-rollers 
  could 
  be 
  carried 
  out, 
  for 
  

   the 
  latter 
  breeds 
  as 
  freely 
  on 
  this 
  as 
  on 
  cotton. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  noticeable 
  at 
  Moor 
  Plantation 
  that 
  hybrid 
  cottons 
  planted 
  in 
  long 
  narrow 
  

   plots 
  between 
  belts 
  of 
  maize 
  were 
  relatively 
  free 
  from 
  insect 
  attack 
  as 
  compared 
  with 
  

   that 
  planted 
  in 
  broad 
  open 
  fields, 
  and 
  it 
  seems 
  highly 
  probable 
  that 
  this 
  freedom 
  from 
  

   insect 
  attack 
  was 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  tall 
  maize 
  in 
  preventing 
  the 
  wafting 
  abroad 
  

   of 
  the 
  odours 
  which 
  serve 
  to 
  attract 
  insects 
  either 
  to 
  feed 
  or 
  to 
  oviposit. 
  

  

  Many 
  visits 
  were 
  made 
  to 
  native 
  farms 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  studying 
  their 
  cotton. 
  

   Native 
  farmers 
  do 
  not 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  appear 
  to 
  appreciate 
  that 
  one 
  good 
  sturdy 
  plant 
  is 
  

   likely 
  to 
  produce 
  better 
  and 
  more 
  abundant 
  bolls 
  than 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  feeble, 
  under- 
  

   sized 
  plants, 
  and 
  they 
  often 
  have 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  eight 
  or 
  ten 
  sickly 
  plants 
  all 
  springing 
  

   from 
  the 
  same 
  spot, 
  a 
  condition 
  noticeable 
  even 
  on 
  farms 
  actually 
  adjoining 
  Moor 
  

   Plantation. 
  

  

  The 
  farmer 
  habitually 
  leaves 
  the 
  lint 
  unpicked 
  long 
  after 
  the 
  bolls 
  have 
  burst 
  open, 
  

   his 
  idea 
  being 
  to 
  gather 
  it 
  all 
  in 
  at 
  one 
  picking 
  instead 
  of 
  by 
  repeated 
  pickings. 
  It 
  

   then 
  becomes 
  stained 
  and 
  deteriorated 
  in 
  quality, 
  the 
  result 
  being 
  that 
  the 
  cotton 
  

   stainer 
  gets 
  some 
  unmerited 
  blame, 
  and 
  the 
  commercial 
  repute 
  of 
  the 
  lint 
  is 
  likely 
  to 
  

   suffer 
  unnecessarily. 
  Well 
  after 
  the 
  cotton 
  season, 
  in 
  May, 
  it 
  was 
  noticeable 
  that 
  on 
  

   many 
  farms 
  the 
  cotton 
  plants 
  were 
  still 
  left 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  that 
  late 
  bolls 
  were 
  

   unpicked 
  and 
  were 
  absolutely 
  infested 
  with 
  bollworm, 
  stainers 
  and 
  other 
  pests. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  highly 
  desirable 
  that 
  all 
  old 
  plants 
  should 
  be 
  pulled 
  up 
  and 
  burnt, 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  

   to 
  keeping 
  down 
  these 
  insects, 
  but 
  if 
  the 
  plants 
  are 
  allowed 
  to 
  remain 
  for 
  a 
  second 
  

   season, 
  the 
  old 
  bolls 
  should 
  certainly 
  be 
  destroyed, 
  when 
  picking 
  is 
  not 
  being 
  regularly 
  

   carried 
  out. 
  Legislative 
  measures 
  to 
  enforce 
  these 
  precautions 
  have 
  been 
  brought 
  in 
  

   in 
  all 
  the 
  great 
  cotton-growing 
  centres. 
  

  

  Cacao 
  Pests. 
  

   Insects 
  attacking 
  Cacao 
  Leaf. 
  

  

  Colonies 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  Psyllid, 
  Udamostigma 
  tessmanni, 
  Aulm. 
  var., 
  occurred 
  

   frequently 
  on 
  the 
  growing 
  shoots 
  of 
  young 
  plants 
  and 
  were 
  successfully 
  combated 
  

   by 
  brushing 
  with 
  kerosene 
  emulsion. 
  

  

  Black 
  Aphids 
  were 
  found 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  on 
  the 
  stems 
  of 
  young 
  yellow 
  pods, 
  

   and 
  on 
  the 
  under 
  side 
  of 
  young 
  leaves, 
  producing 
  a 
  characteristic 
  infolding 
  of 
  the 
  

   margins, 
  axial 
  rotation 
  of 
  the 
  leaf, 
  and 
  unusual 
  crispness 
  of 
  the 
  leaf 
  substance. 
  At 
  

   Agege, 
  the 
  cacao 
  centre 
  of 
  the 
  Colony, 
  12 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  Lagos, 
  the 
  larvae 
  of 
  two 
  

   species 
  of 
  Syrphid 
  flies 
  and 
  the 
  larvae 
  of 
  a 
  Lacewing, 
  preying 
  exclusively 
  on 
  the 
  

   Aphids, 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  abundance. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  aphis 
  colonies, 
  composed 
  both 
  of 
  

   imagos 
  and 
  immature 
  forms, 
  were 
  found 
  to 
  have 
  died 
  in 
  situ, 
  as 
  if 
  from 
  disease, 
  so 
  

   that 
  the 
  natural 
  agencies 
  checking 
  the 
  pest 
  were 
  thoroughly 
  effective. 
  

  

  Young 
  plants 
  were 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  attacked 
  by 
  the 
  grasshopper, 
  Zonocerus 
  variegatus, 
  

   already 
  mentioned 
  as 
  a 
  cotton 
  pest, 
  but 
  the 
  principal 
  insect 
  scourge, 
  as 
  in 
  previous 
  

   years, 
  was 
  the 
  Rutelid 
  beetle, 
  Adoretus 
  hirtellus, 
  Castn., 
  which 
  feeds 
  by 
  night, 
  

   nvariably 
  attacking 
  young 
  plants, 
  and 
  hiding 
  by 
  day, 
  often 
  about 
  the 
  roots. 
  A 
  

  

  