136 
FUMIGATION  OF  COTTON  SEED. 
In  the  majority  of  cases  the  gas  was  administered  to  imported 
plants  as  a precaution  against  possible  pests.  Notable  among 
them  were  four  small  sacks  of  cotton  seeds.  Our  Federal  Ex- 
periment Station  is  just  now  hard  at  work  demonstrating  the 
practicability  of  cotton  growing  on  these  islands.  They  seem  to 
have  advanced  sufficiently  to  arouse  the  interest  of  some  people 
and,  in  order  to  prevent  the  scramble  for  seeds  of  choice  ( ?)  varie- 
ties, imported  from  abroad  with  the  attendant  great  danger  of 
introducing  the  cotton  boll  weevil,  this  warning  note  is  issued 
to  the  people.  It  should  be  known  that  the  boll  weevil  is  the 
great  menace  to  the  cotton  industry  in  the  United  States  at 
present.  While  it  only  infests  a portion  of  the  cotton  belt,  it  is 
destructive  to  the  extent  of  $25,000,000  annually.  In  other 
words,  the  extent  of  its  injury  to  cotton  may  be  compared  td 
that  of  our  sugar  cane  leaf-hopper  a few  years  ago.  It  would 
be  calamitous  therefore  to  introduce  this  pest  just  as  cotton  grow- 
ing is  beginning  to  promise  such  satisfactory  results.  The  cot- 
ton seeds  we  fumigated  came  from  Georgia,  a State  not  yet  in- 
vaded by  the  weevil,  nevertheless  we  took  the  precaution.  Far 
wiser  still  would  it  be  for  prospective  cotton  growers  to  secure 
their  seed  thru  if  not  from  the  Hawaii  Experiment  Station.  But 
in  any  event  we  shall  fumigate  imported  cotton  seed  without  fail. 
The  other  ten  lots  fumigated  were  found  infested  with  a variety 
of  scale  bugs,  none  of  which  are  desirable.  In  a number  of  in- 
stances we  were  obliged  to  remove  soil  from  roots,  but  our  facili- 
ties at  present  for  immediately  wrapping  such  roots  in  wet  sphag- 
num moss  reduce  the  danger  to  plants'  so  treated  to  a minimum. 
SCORPIONS. 
A passenger  aboard  the  “Korea”  from  the  Orient  on  the  19th 
brought  a pair  of  South  Java  scorpions.  Huge  fellows  they  were 
and  quite  formidable  in  appearance.  The  gentleman  reported 
them  immediately  upon  arrival  and  consented  to  have  them  de- 
stroyed which  was  promptly  done.  As  is  well  known  scorpions 
are  rather  useful  economically  in  that  they  are  wholly  insectivor- 
ous. The  gentleman  that  brought  them  kept  them  alive  for  three 
months  on  flies  and  cockroaches.  Nevertheless  they  are  hardly 
desirable  neighbors  because  of  their  poisonous  sting. 
BANANAS. 
Bananas  in  Fiji  are  badly  damaged  by  fruit-flies,  on  which  ac- 
count their  importation  to  Hawaii  is  strictly  prohibited  and  the 
regulation  strictly  enforced.  Vessels  coming  from  the  South, 
however,  frequently  carry  on  deck  large  quantities  of  bananas 
from  Fiji  to  Vancouver.  Such  shipments  unless  well  covered 
