The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-04-28

| judd who has taken great interest In
| the war on the lantana, and Mr.. A. b.
| Wood and several others who were at
| the nursery at the time. 1t was n
healthy looking lantana bush enough,
but close inspection showed that all the
clusters of seeds green and ripe, were
beginning to look as though they had
been scared by fire. THAT is the work
of the fly," said Mr.. Perkins. "wher-
ever that look of the seed appears, that
seed has been stung. And IL you look
closely you will see the flies about this
bush.' "A close inspection showed that
the fly was there, all right. although
1t was hard matter to find him. He
was so little, and so busy. You could
see him. If YOU were watchful looking
like tiny honey bee as he crawled over
the yellow ilowers-a small black fly
so minute as to be barely discernible to
the naked eye, and yet fraught with
such tremendous possibilities for good
in Hawaii. He is of Mexican extrac-
ton, the fly, and warm little number
but he has taken kindly to his new
environment and is a pretty good
American already in that he knows how
to work in the most effectual way for
the common good.
You see the fly here" went on Mr..
Perkins. We'll, three months ago /
turned him loose up Pauoa way, having
satisfied myself that he was an insect
clean of parasites, and l haVe no doubt
that he Is all over the island of Oahu
by this time. The war upon the Ian
tana has already begun, you see, and
I have no doubt there are thousands
of these flies everywhere spelling the
Of a 4.
Then, with the moth that lays it's egg
in the flower, and spells the whole
bunch, and with a perceptibly lessened
number of seeds to be scattered about
by the birds, and the other insects to
prey upon the various parts of the
plant, there would ,seem to be small
doubt of the success of the PLAN"
A NEW CRUSADE.
The war upon the lantana by means
of insects is a new thing, and a thing
that has never been attempted before
anywhere in the world. By the efforts
largely of the Hawaiian Stock Breeders
Association, Koebele was sent to Mex
leo to observe the habits of possible
lantana -destroying insects, and to col
lect and send some of these to Honolulu
il possible while Mr.. Perkins was kept
at this end to receive and propagate
the bugs, and superintend their appli-
cation to the work here. Both gentle
men. trained scientists. found their
work hard and wearing, but both did
it well. Perhaps there are not two men
in the world who could have done 1t
so well. Certainly there are not two
who could have done it better. Not
only were the lantana destroyers to be
propagated, but the scientists had to be |
most careful that no insect was intro |
duced that might in turn become a
pest upon other vegetation, and the |
parasites of the lantana destroyers |
themselves had to be watched for and |
killed. This was, perhaps, the most
wearing work of all But it has been |
done, and successfully done. The bug
house at the government nursery-it is |
but one Of many similar ones to be built
and devoted to the same good purpose |
is used now as a breeding place for
the lantana destroyers. AS fast as
these are propagated and are known to !
be clean" of parasites, they will be
let loose to feed upon their natural
food, and so. in time, they will spread |
over all the islands and the destruction |
Of the lantana, already begun by the |
busy little black fly, will go on so SWIM i,
mlngly that the STOCK men VIII begin to
see the faces of their pastures again,
the cattle will fatten upon a thousand
hills and the small farmer will be GER
tain that the land he clears with so
much toll will not again be overrun
with the pestferous plant that covers
It now. OF course there will be ship
nents of bugs to all the islands. With
The habits of the insects known from
close study this will be a comparatively
easy matter. And the busy little black
ly will spread on his own account, once
le gets within sight Of land
Then, with an efficient quarantine
aw against the importation of fruit
md plant pests, the redemption Of the
stands will be easy. OF course all
his will cost money. But it will be
worth money when the value of the
and to be redeemed is taken into con-
alteration, and when the cost of clear
ng 1t from the lantana growth by pres
mt agencies is computed. AS to keep
ng it clear without the bugs, that has
,een shown, in the past. to be almost
IN impossibility.
All hail the bug-house! 1t marks n
ong step forward in the development
# the material resources of these ISL
.nds.
CHAMBERLAIN COUGH RENE