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Plant Sanitation. 



ability, and will endeavour to get his agents to back him up, too, even if 

 it does cost some money. I also hope the Dikoya Association will try 

 to help us. If the two District Associations will only loyally support one 

 another, I have great hopes that we may at any rate greatly reduce the 

 destructiveness of this pest. I would, in conclusion, propose that we form our- 

 selves into a General Committee, and thoroughly discuss the subject, and I beg 

 that anyone present will tell us anything he knows on the subject, and will help 

 us in every way he can. Finally, I would impress on you all the necessity for unity. 

 If we are only unanimous I firmly believe we can check this pest. If not, we must 

 simply trust to nature and luck. 



THE COLLECTION OP EGG MASSES. 



The Chairman then proposed that the meeting form itself into a General 

 Committee to discuss the subject, and this was decided upon. In Committee : 



Mr. Green said that the collection of egg masses had been tried on individual 

 estates for some years, but not continuously. A certain amount of good must 

 have followed from the wholesale destruction of egg masses, as each egg mass 

 contained about 250 caterpillars, so that collectors of egg masses were bringing in 

 eggs by the million. Unless, however, something could be done systematically, 

 unless the collecting were done under some system, money was practically being 

 thrown away. On that account he wished to support the Chairman's views on 

 co-operation. He thought they in that district should try to agree upon some 

 method of treatment. Collection of eggs should be given a fair trial, but it should 

 be done systematically. Mr. Green went on to say that he had found a large 

 percentage of the caterpillars were parasites, and he thought nature should be 

 encouraged in that direction to work for the destruction of the pests. He would 

 like to point out, he said, that it was very dangerous to rely upon the monsoon 

 to relieve them. After the experience of a certain estate in the district he could 

 not say that the monsoon would relieve them very much. He was on the estate 

 mentioned during the last S.W. monsoon, and the pest was simply rampant over a 

 large number of fields. The rain certainly did kill off a number of them, not by 

 drowning but by allowing fungus enemies of the caterpillar to get a hold, the damp 

 air and the moisture on the leaves allowing fungus to spread from caterpillar to 

 caterpillar. As to grevilleas he had no evidence to show whether they did good 

 or harm. As the Chairman had pointed out, the evidence was very contradictory. 



It was the same with the shot-hole-borer. Some planters had brought evidence 

 to prove that shot-hole-borer did live in grevilleas, and others that they would 

 not. One coidd find such evidence every day, and he did not think grevilleas had 

 much to do with it. The Chairman wanted to know whether egg-masses would be 

 likely to survive the drying of leaves. Perhaps a certain number of caterpillars, 

 hatched out, finding nothing to feed on, would be dried up, but others would 

 easily reach and feed on other leaves. The only thing to be done just now, 

 he thought, was to find out whether everybody was agreed to the recommend- 

 ation with regard to the collecting of eggs and to decide how it should be 

 done. (Hear, hear.) 



Mr. Pole was called upon by the Chairman to give the results of his 

 experience. He said he had very little to add to what Mr. Green had said. They 

 had all seen and proved that his opinion was the correct one at the end of the 

 valley. Mr. Green had impressed upon them the necessity for system and co-oper - 

 ation in the attempts to exterminate the destructive pest, sentiments with which he 

 entirely agreed. Unless there was systematic collecting, for instance, collectors 

 were wasting their time and the planters their money, as all they were doing 

 was to lay open their own estates to the ravages of insect immigrants from 



