17 



also tried at St. James on a portion of one plantation. The other 

 fields on this plantation were handled in the ordinary manner. The 

 offbarred stubble-cane yielded from 15 to 17 tons, while that handled 

 in the ordinary way was yielding from 8 to 12 tons per acre, and 

 nnich of this was of a rather poor grade. The offbarred cane suckered 

 well, and the suckers grew well and were not nearly so badl}^ injured 

 as those growing on the other cane. Mr. Leche, at St. James, put 

 in a few acres of cane in the fall of 1901, but will plant most of 

 his cane in the spring. This will give him opportunity to thoroughly 

 clean the stalks and also to stir the soil in the spring and disturb the 

 beetles that are hibernating or the pupa^ of those not yet fully devel- 

 oped. No fall cane was put in on one large plantation at Broussards, 

 while at most of the other places visited the planters have planted 

 as much cane this past fall as the season would allow. 



It is the custom on many plantations to allow the trash to remain 

 on the field as it falls from the knives at the time of cutting. This is 

 plowed under, either in the fall or the next spring, and the plant cane 

 thus gets the full benefit. It serves, however, as an admirable hiding 

 place through the winter for all kinds of insects that are present in 

 the fields, and even when plowed under serves the same purpose for 

 other insects that prefer to go beneath the soil for winter. 



It is the general practice to follow stubble-cane with corn. Some 

 planters, however, are still attempting to run stubble-cane for tw^o or 

 three years before making the change. Cornfields that follow second 

 or third year stubble suffer a much greater percentage of injury than 

 those following only first-year stubble. Where plant-cane was 

 injured badly it was found that the cane had been laid in the same 

 rows that were in corn the previous year, the furrows being cut out 

 down the corn row, the canes laid in, and then dirt, stubble, and trash 

 turned back over them. In any of the plans used, there is bound to be 

 more or less trash buried with the cane at the time of planting, and 

 often three successive layers of decaying vegetable matter are found, 

 the two lower of which are scarcely disturbed throughout the year. 

 It will readily be seen that this affords an ideal place for the breed- 

 ing of white grubs of all kinds, as well as the larvae of several other 

 insects. 



The headlands and roadsides in the fields almost invariably con- 

 tain grass sod, sometimes sufficient to enable quite a cutting to be 

 made for hay. In this sod were found the larvae of several species of 

 white grubs, wireworms, and rootworms, all of which are injurious 

 to corn or cane in either th-e larval or adult stage or both. 



It would appear that some such simple remedies as the following 

 would materially aid in reducing the ravages of these insects, espe- 

 cially that of the sugar-cane beetle: Clean culture of headlands, 

 28739— No. 54—05 m 2 



