December, 1911.] 



515 



Live Stock- 



further security all the apparently 

 sound seeds should be germinated in 

 a box under a wire screen, so that any 

 weevils which may occur in seeds which 

 show no visible sign of infestation may 

 be retained and destroyed. The danger- 

 is particularly great where, as is now 

 the case, mango seeds are being import- 

 ed for planting in regions in Florida 

 where fruiting mango trees occur. 

 Where there are no mango trees, or 

 trees of fruiting age, the danger is per- 

 haos negligible, as no other food plant 

 is known for the mango weevil. Still, 

 if large numbers of these weevils should 

 be introduced and liberated, they are 

 long lived and might easily be carried 

 on railway trains to regions where they 

 might find lodgment. It is, therefore, 

 desirable in any case to observe all 

 the precautions indicated. 



It has already been stated that this 

 mango weevil is the principal enemy of 

 the mango practically wherever this 

 fruit is grown. In the Hawaiian Islands 

 Mr. D. L. Van Dine, formerly ento- 

 mologist of the Hawaii Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, reports that during 

 the first year of his examination he 

 found 60 per cent, of the mangoes infest- 



ed and the following year from 80 to 

 90 per cent., in some instances as many 

 as four larvae being found in a single 

 seed. While the mango weevil destroys, 

 primarily, the seed of this fruit, it is 

 also believed by growers to hasten the 

 maturity of infested fruit and thus in- 

 crease the percentage of fallen mangoes. 



Inasmuch as this insect passes its 

 entire development within the seed, it 

 is beyond the reach of insecticides and 

 fumigation, and the only remedy which 

 the bureau is able to advise to prevent 

 it from becoming a pest in the United 

 States is to collect and destroy all of the 

 fallen or supposedly infested mangoes. 



It is most urgently important now, 

 however, for Florida to keep this weevil 

 out. Mango seeds are now probably 

 being imported into Florida by various 

 growers, and the danger of such import- 

 ation should be thoroughly understood, 

 and whatever authority the State may 

 have to prevent or control such import- 

 ations should be put in operation. 



Approved : 



James Wilson, 

 * Secretary of Agriculture. 

 Washington, D. 0., May 23, 1911., 



LSVE STOCK. 



GERMANY. 



Milk Supply in Large German 

 Towns. 



One of the most important questions 

 for consumers in large towns is that of 

 the Milk Supply. Not only does milk, 

 with bread and meat, form the most 

 important food of the whole population, 

 but since it is the principal nutriment of 

 children and of the sick, the possibility 

 of an abundant supply of pure and cheap 

 milk becomes not only an economic but 

 also a social and sanitary problem deserv- 

 ing of every consideration. 



Nor need we mention that, in these 

 days in which the price of all foods has 

 risen appreciably, the rise in price of 

 milk, though perhaps less appreciable 

 than in the case of other articles of foods, 

 has yet occasioned much discontent and 

 sometimes even strong protest on the 

 part of the consumers. If this rise in 

 price may be explained by the increased 

 cost of cattle, forage, labour, etc., and 

 that of carriage, since, as the cities grow, 

 milk must be brought from more and 

 more distant centres of production, yet 



it must not be forgotten that an import- 

 ant factor of the price is the gain of the 

 middlemen. 



Milk in its journey from the country 

 producer to the town consumer passes 

 generally through the hands of two or 

 three dealers, each of whom naturally 

 receives his appreciable profit. So, 

 while the increased price is a burden on 

 the consumer, it does not reach the 

 pockets of the producers and is no gain 

 to National agriculture. 



It is therefore a wise policy for 

 consumption to reduce to a minimum, 

 if not altogether to eliminate, the work 

 of the middlemen, and while this would 

 be an economic gain, it would certainly 

 be no loss from a sanitary point of view, 

 as there would be no more superfluous 

 and injurious manipulation of the milk, 



It is, therefore, interesting to consider 

 what is being done in the matter in 

 Germany, where the problem is con- 

 sidered of such importance, that there 

 has even been an agitation for a law to 

 regulate the milk trade in a uniform 

 manner and to guarantee its purity. 

 We are helped in this study by the data 

 given in an article in the August number, 



