The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-09-27

. Paris green and water and will then
cut it and drop it in little punches here
and there throughout the tobacco field,
he viii find that the cutworms in the
soil. in the absence of other food will
eat this poisoned vegetation and will
be destroyed. so that the tobacco plants
can be set out without fear of damage.
Since the cutworms work at night,
the vegetation thus treated should not
be cut until toward evening. so that
it may be as fresh as possible
Another poisoned bait is prepared by
mixing Paris green or some other
arsenical poison with bran. Regard
ing it's use against cutworms in tobac-
co fields Quaintance says:
This bait should be prepared by thor
oughly mixing Paris green with bran
at the rate Of 1 pound of Paris green
to so or IS pounds of bran. Just be-
fore q quantity is to be used it should
be moistened slightly with water
sweetened with nolasses. A small ring
of the poison should be strewn around
each newly set plant, or a teaspoonful
placed at two or three places. The
cutworms seem to prefer this even to
tobacco, of which they are inordinate-
ly fond. Where seed beds are badly
infested with cutworms this poisoned
bran should be drilled along in various
parts of the bed where it will be readi-
~ accessible to them. This poisoned
mixture should be renewed around the
plants about every third day to keep
it most appetizing for the larvae. Care
must be taken that it is not accessi-
BILE to fowls or stock.
Since the cutworms are so generally
abundant in the islands and the to-
bacco-feeding species, Agrotis epsilon
in particular, SO destructive, it would
be well to apply, as Howard recon-
mends in the case of the poisoned vege-
tation, the Paris green bran mash mix
ture to the prepared land several days
before setting out the young plants. 1t
can be strewn broadcast over the en-
tire field.
The tobacco hornworm has much
light thrown on its habits. According
to the bulletin, while the great size
of these larvae makes it possible for
a comparatively few individuals to
work considerable damage. on the 9TH
er hand, they are easily observed and
can be kept below the danger line"
by hand picking them from the plants.
Should the hornworm prove too
numerous and the practice of hand
picking too expensive, the plants must
be sprayed with an arsenical poison,
either Paris green or arsenate of lead
The Japanese rose beetle receives
considerable attention.
This destructive beetle, first known
locally as the rose bug and the
Japan bug made its appearance in
ano about Honolulu in the autumn of
1891. The pest attracted widespread
attention throughout the islands be-
cause of its vicious attack on the
roses, which up to that time since the
early days of their introduction had
been luxuriant in growth and profuse
in flowers.
In regard to the life history of the
japanese rose beetle, Professor Koebele
says:
In Japan, where the temperature will
probably allow the larvae but six
months active life, it may be that |
there it has but a single annual brood |
and with the many enemies present it |
is no wonder that the beetle in con- /
sequence can be called rare. I have |
had the larvae barely out of the eggs |
in Honolulu, and yet in three weeks !
later they were full-grown upon the !
decayed manure-not in general use in |
Japan-where they doubtless fed upon !
decayed vegetable matter, as they also !
do on the islands. The elongate small |
white eggs hatch in about seven to ten |
days, and the pupae give forth the ma
ture insects in from ten to fourteen
days. Thus it will be seen that the !
whole transformation takes from six
to seven weeks in summer at Homo
lulu.
While the Japanese rose beetle from
the first showed a decided preference
for the rose, it has, however, gradually
extended its range of feeding, which |
now includes great variety of food
plants. Following the almost complete
of the rose, the grape
was severely attacked. So general did
the feeding habits of this pest become
that practically all dooryard and
garden plants were to greater or less
extent injured The food plants record
ed by Professor Koebe1e are roses,
orange, coffee, peach, guava, alligator
pear, pomegranate, Java plum, grape,
tree, various palms, sunffow- {
er, violets, Mexican vine, taro, and
cane leaves, {
Handpicking in the seed beds will
Tree the seedlings from this pest in one s
Or two nights If thereafter the seed
beds are protected by a covering after {
shutdown, relief from other injury ]
nay be secured. I
---e% J