Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-12-27

The Indian Forester" publishes an
extensive article on the eradication of
lantana giving a review of the efforts
made TO wipe out the pest.
In May. 1900, suggestion was put
forward by the Inspector General to
introduce into the country some we'll
chosen natural enemies of the Lanta-
M in order to assist in its eradication.
The Lantana scandens invasion of
.Coorg." wrote Mr.. Ribbentrop has be.
come a scourge to the country, and is
spreading rapidly in other parts OF
Southern India.
Originally. have heard, introduced
by the wife Of a mission airy as q
hedge plant, 1t has taken rapid posses.
sion Of open places by spreading over
every failow area, even at distance
from the original stock. the seed prob.
ably being carried by birds.
THE eradication of the plant, when
once II has taken possession OF the
ground, is an expensive business. II
forms perfectly impenetrable thickets,
in which the sun does not reach the
I#ntana takes sole possession. Once
such thickets have formed, IL is said
III Coorg to be more costly to eradi'
cate them than to clear virgin forests,
The ryots, looking upon the invasion
as an unconquerable pest, do nothing
to help themselves and the evil is nat
urally spreading.
Al. ..FN I1.aFN 4 ma N
took up the eradication Of Lantana sys'
tematically and with considerable sue
cess. The Municipalities, and lately,
hear. the ryots. have followed suit.
Eradication Expensive.
THE first operations were naturally
expensive. costing, however but RS. 4
per acre, against RS. 80 estimated by
the Commissioner OF Voorg, where.
however. II is to be said, the evil has
taken q much longer and greater hold
of the country. In Berar We have not
succeeded in eradicating the plant, but
at cost OF Rupees 1910 per square
mile, which is decreasing year by year,
we keep II under sufficient subjugation
70 render II practically harmless. A
pre-considered plan for the work and
a careful and steady adherence to II
are, however. a sine qua non.
"Dr Watt, when in Coorg. was con.
suited by the Commissioner, and he adj
vised that enquiries should be made In
South America (but Mexico, think II
Isl, whence the plant originally come,
what its enemies were in its own coun'
try and to import them. This plan was
considered phantastic and was not act
ed up to. and think nothing else was
done either. am of opinion that a
possibility of success underlies DIR.
Watts plan. and | would advise that
in the first instance enquiries in this
direction should be made from the
Kew authorities. who are in touch with
the botanists Of the world.
Home Of lahtana.
1T may be possible that somebody
would have to be deputed TO the origi'
nal home OF the Lantana TO study the
question locally. but even that would
be but a small matter in comparison
with the object in hand.
THAT it is feasible. however, to keep
the Lantana within reasonable bounds,
without introducing its enemies into
this country, by unremitting attention
towards its destruction, at a consider
able cost 1t is true-bnt nothing com
pared with the estimate OF the Com
missioner of Coorg-has been proved
IL. the Ellichpur district in Berar,
where the plague assumed the most
threatening appearance; and this
might be pointed out to the Coorg au'
tlIorities."
This view Of the matter did not, how
ever, recommend itself TO Major
Prain, the Director of the Botanical
Survey of India, who wrote as fol
lows:
81 am not fayorably impressed by
the proposal to depute an officer &c
+. 80. 4 I. + + + + 4 4 I 4 + + = :