UNITED STATES 



DEPARTMENT of AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 303 



Washington, D. C. December, 1923 



HOT-WATER TREATMENT OF SUGAR CANE 

 FOR INSECT PESTS— A PRECAUTION. 



P. A. YODER, 



Technologist, Office of Sugar -Plant Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, and 



J. W. INGRAM, 



Junior Entomologist, Southern Field-Crop Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology. 



The hot-water treatment of sugar cane for the destruction of in- 

 sect pests, suggested by E. W; Brandes, of the Office of Sugar-Plant 

 Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, has much of promise for 

 reducing or eliminating infestation, especially with reference to the 

 moth borer (Diatraea sacckarolis crambidoides Grote) and the sugar- 

 cane mealybug (P&eudococcus oalceolariae Mask), which are the 

 principal insect pests of sugar cane in the Southern States. Recent 

 rests as here reported indicate, however, that there is danger of in- 

 juring the cane by this treatment if it has sprouted during winter 

 storage. Even should this treatment be impracticable for general 

 application with sprouted cane, it may still serve a useful purpose 

 in the preparation of such cane for transportation to an uninfested 

 locality or for the planting of special areas for seed-cane production. 



Since the original experiments were made on a small scale by 

 Doctor Brandes in January, 1922, the tests Avere carried out at his 

 suggestion on a larger scale at Audubon Park, New Orleans, La., by 

 T. E. Holloway and his assistants. W. E. Haley and J. W. Ingram, 

 of the Bureau of Entomology. The results of these tests were 

 briefly reported in January, 1923. 1 The results of the original ex- 

 periments by Doctor Brandes, in which it was determined that heat- 

 ing individual infested cane stalks for 20 to 30 minutes in water at 

 52° C. sufficed to kill the moth borer and its larvse, were never pub- 

 lished but were communicated by Doctor Brandes in private conver- 

 sation to Mr. Holloway in July, 1922, with the suggestion that the 

 entomologists carry the experiments further and on a more exten- 

 sive scale. 



1 T. E. Hollowav. Sugar cane insects in 1922. In Louisiana Planter, vol. 70, no. 4, p. 

 70. 1923. 





