, 1913-03-05

Tor this material is often swarming with the
young grubs. Fallow ploughing of land will
do much to kill the grubs IN the soil, partly
by crushing them and partly by exposing
them so that they may be eaten by birds
and fowls.
When land is being ploughed the fire.
quency with which grubs are being
turned up should be noticed. Subsoiling
will also be of great benefit, for the grubs
are FREQUENTLY met with in the subsoil, they
having gone there for moisture or to pupate.
The subsoiler will kill many of the grubs
and pnpae.
Should soil be found much infested with
the grubs of this beetle they may be poison
ed and the field rid of them by the following
means, "a method which was adopted at the
Experiment Station with great success.
Mix as uniformly as possible 1O0lbs. of
megass with 3 tbS. of Paris green aud apply
the mixture to the field in holes in the fol
lowing way: Let a labourer make holes
about SIT. X Aft. apart with lin iron drill like
that used for cane planting, and place in
each hole n handful of the poisoned mate
rial. One hundred pounds Of the mixture
will poison three quarters of an acre of land.
The other insects damaging cane are id
sects which bore into the stem above ground.
There are thee insects which do this dam
age here, namely:
/. The Moth Borer,
2. The Weevil Borer,
3. A Beetle B0rer, which | discovered only
ateW weeks ago and which [ have never seen
recorded as q pest of sugar cane. / pass
round specimens of these different insects.
All OF them damage the cane both directly
and indirectly, directly by eating out The
heart Of the cane and by boring into the
joints and thus killing the cane or iniuring
its growth, and indirectly by opening the
cane to the attack of a severe disease called
red rot. When canes get the red rot dis
ease it is almost certainly due to the boring
insects having made openings in the cane
through which the disease las entered. Be-
sides ina uring the cane in the way [ bave
stated there ls another loss caused by these
boring insects, namely, Il loss in the sucrose
content and the purity Of the Juice. This is
a factory loss, but indirectly it is also a loss
to the Planter, as the welfare Of Factory and
Planter is reciprocal.
The methods recommended for fighting
these pests are as follows:
l. When canes are reaped send a cart
round the field to collect all rotten canes.
These rotten canes ale full Of the larvae and
pupae OF these boring insects, and if the canes
are left in The field these will hatch into the
mature insects which will fly away and lay
their eggs in the fields of young canes. The
rotten canes must be burnt.
| cannot too strongly urge planters to
adopt this simple expedieut. It should be
regarded as an essential part OF estate prac
tice. 1t requires little labour TO perform
and there should be no excuse for its not be-
ing done.
2. No canes having borer holes in them
should be used for planting.
In a few years time you will meet togeth-
Ell to decide whether you wish to continue
this Department of Agriculture which has
now been working nearly two years among
you. How can you then pass Judgment up
on its work unless you have tried the re-
COMMUNICATIONS which it makes yod.
The Department is costing you m6ney-
take full advantage OF it and get all You can
out of it.
The Department is doing all it can by in
vestigatiou of diseases, and by devising re- :.
needles for them, by raising new varieties os
sugar cane which it is hoped will prove more
resistant to drought and disease aud give
larger returns than any existing varieties,
aud in many other ways, but the work of the
Department can never bear full fruit unless
you cooperate by trying the means which it