9 
drives off the ants, the result apparently sage on the ero 
mmonia during decomposition. The saving of trees attacked fr 
the tap-root, or beneath the ground level, is a far more difficult matter, 
for, as noted in previous paragraphs, there is = frequently no 
indication of damage. Should this be detected in time, the base of 
the tree should be well exposed and treated with lime. If large cavities 
exist, two or three ounces of carbide of caleium orto be introduced 
with a little water, and the aperture plugged with у. The 
acetylene gas thus produced is a fairly powerful Silkedticido, but its 
usefulness is mfra by its great diffusive power and consequent 
ephemeral effect. Carbon bisulphide has been suggested as suitable, 
and there is no doubt that this chemical is a most valuable insecticide 
which could be put to a multitude of uses in this country if only it was 
England 
, 
procurable at a reasonable cost and with some regularity. g 
it is much used for freeing grain from weevils Lus could be applied to 
rice in this a for a Se deer 1 owever, think 
dioxide formed, than on its output of carbon bisulphide. I have gone 
into the question in detail and believe that the chemical could be 
produced in in this country at a far less cost than it would be 
por to import it for, when the prohibitive freight and heavy loss 
in transport is taken into account. My estimates and the facts on 
which they are based are embodied in Appendix A. 
XVI.—SUMMARY. 
Summarising the above information, it may fairly be taken as 
proved :— 
(a) That Termes gestroi, oe a scarce and unimportant 
er conditions normal to the country, has risen 
to the rank of a бейш agricultural pest, owing to the 
provision in large Mise of a suitable food : 
(b) е fas voee caused to estates is, in the main, due to 
tes bred within boi m and not in the adjacent 
Migle, otherwise trees near the boundaries would be 
most affected, which is not ot {ош to be the case ; 
(e) = less damage occurs on light soil, and when the spacing 
s far more than co 
is very wide, but that this i more unter- 
b by the more vigorou igit and better return 
per acre on heavier soil more thickly plan 
(d) That the mischief is most active in rainy weather ; 
(e) That the nests of the termites are to be found inside the 
trunks of the trees destroyed, and that Е d 
swarm—-i.e., attempt to form new irri pues e- 
time between September and Christma 
Cf) = no species of termite other than T. dei is injurious 
o living Para; 
(9) ed the attacks of the termites do not appear to be due to 
tecedent ase, fungoid or otherwise, е воше- 
times induced by mechanical injury to the cambiu 
