Oct.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
259 
shall  have  a sufficient-  supply  of  material.  I will  not 
fail  to  return  to  these  questions.” 
The  lnrvse  as  well  as  the  beetles  meet  one  another 
constantly  by  their  incessant  burrowing  in  the  earth, 
and  thus  communioate  the  iufeotion. 
A plantation  strewed  with  diseased  larva  and  beetles 
thus  becomes  in  a short  time  thoroughly  infected, 
whilst  the  wind  and  ether  natural  helps  tend  to  dis- 
seminate and  multiply  seeds  of  the  blight,  and  newly 
formed  or  freshly  arrived  beetles  on  all  sides  either 
infect  others  or  are  infected.  The  poisonous  blight  is 
thus  newly  produced. 
As  a tube  of  Botrytis  Tenella  is  brought  into  the 
market  by  Messieurs  J.  Fribourg  and  Hesse  for  six 
franos,  an  entire  estate  could  be  infected  at  the  cost 
of  three  guilders,  provided  the  bacteria  in  the  tube 
should  fortunately  retain  full  germinating  powers. 
The  mannerin  which  the  effeot  is  carried  out,  I hope 
to  make  clear  in  the  following  remnrks. 
III. 
The  annexed  representation,  fig.  2,  gives  a micro- 
scopic appearance  of  the  spores  of  the  blight  plant 
Botrytis  Tenella. 
A hundred  of  tho  grubs  are  laid  close  together  on  a 
flat  earthen  dish  covered  with  damp  earth  or  sand. 
They  are  then  sprinkled  one  by  one  with  these  spores 
and  the  dish  is  covered  with  a plank  on  which  there 
is  damp  moss.  After  about  six  honrs  the  grubs  be- 
come infected — they  are  then  buried  in  a flower 
pot,  and  in  about  15  days  they  will  all  be  found  dead, 
they  will  then  present  an  appenranoe  as  Bhown  in  fig,  3, 
and  will  have  assumed  a light  rose  color. 
In  abont  a month  after  they  present  on  outward 
appearance  like  tho  fig.  below,  4. 
Fig.  4. 
Fourteen  days  later  on  they  take  the  form  shown 
by  figure  5. 
Fig,  5. 
It  can  be  easily  conceived  that  the  grubs  (oerets) 
thus  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  poisoned  spores— from 
which  tbe  blight  plant  itself  derives  its  origiD,  the 
poison  being  buried  right  and  left  near  the  trees, 
cause  the  remaining  still  healthy  grubs  and  beetles, 
which  burrow  in  tbe  ground,  to  come  into  contact 
with  the  infected  remains  of  others,  beoome  diseased 
aDd  die,  and  help  to  renew  new  tbe  infecting  poison, 
and  to  spread  the  deadly  disease  more  and  more  in 
all  directions. 
It  should  moreover  be  remembered  that  besides  the 
wind  and  the  rain  the  digging  up  or  ploughing  of  the 
foil  is  naturally  a great  help  in  disseminating  the 
poisoning  blight  plant. 
When  100  grubs  can  be  successfully  infected  with  a 
tube  of  Botrytis  Tenella — 95  of  them  are  buried  in 
the  soil  about  a foot  deep.  The  remaining  five  infeoted 
insects  are  placed  with  some  hundreds  of  healthy 
specimens  in  close  contaot  in  an  earthen  pot — the 
rewly  infected  insects  are  buried  in  the  soil,  retain- 
ing some  of  them,  for  the  purpose  of  communicating 
tho  infection  to  others— which  in  their  turn  are  to  be 
put  out  into  the  ground. 
The  infection  germs  can  be  cultivated  in  other  ways 
namely  by  strewing  the  Botrytis  Tenella  on  boiled  po- 
tatoes mixed  with  glycerine.  This  preparation  should 
be  placed  in  different  parts  of  the  ground.  The  grubs 
and  beetles  which  come  into  contact  with  it  will 
become  infected. 
As  all  experiments  are  subject  to  failure  I cannot 
sufficiently  urge  on  the  planters  the  necessity  for  perse- 
verance, and  for  their  not  giving  up  the  efforts  in 
consequence  of  failure  at  first. 
What  has  succeeded  at  Pagilaran  may  well  be 
brought  to  pass  elsewhere. 
Since  the  Academie  des  Soiences  nt  Paris  has  in- 
terested itself  in  the  matter,  and  as  the  German 
Agricultural  Journals  have  declared  that  on  ploughing 
an  infected  field  the  grubs  (arete)  were  found  dead  in 
thousands,  it  seems  to  me  that  in  this  matter  science 
goes  hand  in  hand  with  praotice. 
I oould  here  produce  a translation  of  letters  by 
way  of  attestation  to  the  importance  of  this  sub- 
ject, for  example  : — 
From  Monsieur  de  Bassoreille  dated  21st  Sept.  1891, 
From  the  same,  Bellevue,  15th  Jan.  1892. 
From  Monsieur  Devanse,  dated  La  Bozoche,  19th 
Nov.  1891. 
From  Monsieur  Tribondeau  eli've  diplome  of  Grand- 
Jonau,  dated  13th  Nov;  1891. 
To  infect  the  beetles,  they  are  put  into  a box  in 
which  air,  holes  are  pieroed  and  powdered  with  the. 
Botrytis  Tenella, 
At  the  expiration  of  10  days  the  blight  begins  to. 
show,  and  they  assume  an  appearance  like  that  shown 
iu  the  figure  6.  Buried  in  tl»e  ground  they  help  to 
a disseminate  tbe  poison, 
