April i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



739 



nerves than fermented or black tea. Therefore Congou 

 tea is preferable to Oolong, and that iu turn to green. 



Upon the islanrl of Formo.sa is grown the Oolong var- 

 iety bearing the island's name. It is extremely jjopular in 

 this section of the United States. 



Scented teas are known as Foochows or Cantons, the 

 former divided into scented orange jjekoe, scented capers, 

 the latter the same. 



Formosa Oolong tea was introduced into the United 

 States in 1869 by Mr. John Dodd, an Euglishman, who 

 was the pioneer in the introduction of the plant in the 

 i^l:ind of Formosa, which, in 1862, was a pirate-infested 

 -land, where the tea plant grew in a wild state; the trees 

 i^:;ht to ten feet high and the leaves about four inches 

 long. The virgin soil produced a leaf which, when cured, 

 was entirely different in flavor from that grown upon old 

 soil on the mainland. 



In Japan the first picking of tea is the finest, while in 

 Formosa it is the poorest, being deficient in strength and 

 flavor. The second crop is better, but the finest tea is 

 gathered iu August. This is due to climatic influences. 

 In the late summer heavy rains occur, after which warm 

 weather causes the ]>lant to grow luxuriantly. The leaf 

 is fidl of sap, and the moisture in the atmosphere causes 

 the plant to ferment quickly. 



AMERICAN 0OTTO>r IX INDIA AND CCTTON 

 INSECTS. 



From the report of the Oawnpore Experimental Farm 

 for ISS3, we take the following extract : — 



Oomparin? th» value of the exotic cottons with the pro- 

 duce oi country cotton grown at the Farm, we find a follows: — 



Kind of 

 cotton. 



Produce per Value per 



Class .0? acre of clean- acreofcleau- 



land. ed cotton. ed cotton. 



lb. 

 Country cotton Light loam. 17S'6 



Exotic NewOrleansand 



Upland Georgian Ditto ... 92'0 



Do. do. do. Heavy loam, . . . 167"6 



H. a 



:i.5 2 



25 4 



45 15 



showing, as was done last year, that in heavy loam the 

 exotic cotton is a more paying crop than country cotton, 

 even though the latter were to yield up to 200 lb. per 

 acre; while in light loam it is country cotton wliich is 

 most profitable. The cotton hand-books of Bombay, Madras, 

 and Bengal, together with that for all India, compiled 

 by Dr. Royle, have left little to discover in the way of 

 experiments with exotic cottons, so far as the English 

 home market is concerned ; and it was established clearly 

 that India could never hope to compete successfully at 

 Manchester with America in American cottons : but since 

 then times have changed, and the question now is whether 

 the exotic cotton cannot be grown for local mills with 

 success and with great profit to the ryot and to the 

 spinning companies. The Farm experience is so far favour- 

 able to an affirmative. At the Bawatpvir estate, which is 

 but a short distance from the Farm, the success of 

 American cotton has been very marked : the cultivators 

 are, I undorstaml. beginning to appreciate the high price 

 obtainable, ami the cidtivation is likely to extend. Last 

 year and .again this year the American cotton plants at 

 Rawatpur were stripped of their leaves by sw.arms of 

 caterpillars, wliich left the adjoining fields of country cotton 

 absolutely untouched, nor did they visit the fields on the 

 Experimental Farm. It seemed at first as if the crops 

 would be damaged, but I under.stand the yield has been 

 fiirly good. As the caterpillar was a stranger to the cul- 

 tivators of the district, I kept some of the chrysalises 

 until a moth emerged and then tried to get the latter 

 identified. The Agri-Horticultural Society of Bengal re- 

 turneil a caterpillar first sent without being able to recog- 

 nize it, their only authority having left for England. 

 Thea th(^ moth travelled to the I'anjab and to Simla, 

 and at last found a resting place at Poora, where it 

 was kindly iileutlfied by Lieutenant-Colonel Swinhoe. 4s- 

 sistant f'omniiss.ary-Oeneral, Bombay Army, who writes 

 as follows to confirm a first opinion:' — Date'J 21.s* FehruKri/ — 

 ,'■ I have to-day received from Mr. Arthur Butler, of 

 the ]5ritl.sh Museum, the specific name of the little moth 



you sent me : it is Gb/pliodes Multilhualii: of Gitenee. Mr. 

 Butler says it is common and it appears widely distributed. 

 The cotton you sent me with your letter, ISth December 

 last, I put carefully though a process of drying and heat- 

 ing, and have succeeded in hatching out three moths, all 

 of one .species, and each of them came out of the heai't 

 of a separate injured cotton pod ; and I can't help think- 

 ing that this is the real insect that has been damaging 

 the cotton, I took it myself out of a cotton-field near 

 Karachi four years ago, and sent specimens of it to the 

 British Museum. It was pronounced to be a new species 

 of the tribe Tortricex, family Xi/ctcoliilie, and was named 

 by Mr. Butler Kriiis tristrigosa. I don't mean to say that 

 Gli/pliocUs Jfiiltilhiadis has not been injuring your cotton. 

 Probably both insects have been at your cotton, one in 

 its leaves atid the other in the pod." It may be interest- 

 ing to others who may come across rare specimens to 

 know that Lieutenant-Colonel Swinhoe has a collection 

 of over eleven hundreel .species of moths. 



CAYENNE PEPPER. 



TO THK EDITOR OF THE " AMEEICAN GROCER." 



Your remarks in last week's .4 >Hem-an Groc«' about breed- 



1 ing canaries and the use of cayenne pepper which change 



the color of their feathers and improve the song of the 



birds, I can confirm having seen the birds which had 



been so treated. I am a native of the country of Nor- 



' folk, of which Norwich is the capital. Messrs.' Mackley 



I Brothers have for years made the breeding of canaries a 



studj% you will gain some idea of the success they, with 



other breeders in Norwich, have obtained by the following, 



( which I clip from the Norwich Wetkhf Fre^.-: of November 



1 17, 18t*;<: — We have received a telegram stating that 



Messrs. Mackley Bros, have won twenty-four prizes with 



twenty-seven entries. Mr. Howard has taken three-thirds 



and three-fourths, Mr. Spelman one-second, Mr.- Andrews 



two-firsts and one-second. At Southampton Mr. Fred. 



Bnllard won nineteen prizes on Tuesday. In conclusion 



would say I have known as much as el 50 jier pound 



to have been paid for cayenne for feeding canaries. — 



Respectfully, CaWsi'oha. 



) 



BIRD PEPPER. 



Capsicum Baccatura, or bird pepper, is a product of 

 the West Indies. It is obtained from a shrubby bu.sh 

 ' growing four oi' five feet high, producing berries whicli 

 are foun<l at the division of the branches. These are 

 i small, oval shaped and of bright red color, from which 

 I the finest Cayenne is made. Birds and fowls are vei'y fond 

 of the berries, hence the name bird pejiper. It is im- 

 ported ready for use, in air-tight cans and bottles, anil 

 is prepared by the natives as follows : — When the berries 

 I are ripe they are gathered and spread out upon mats so 

 as to get the fidl rays of the sun; when throughly dried, 

 the berries are most carefully sorted by taking up a 

 [ handful at a time, and tlvnwing every defective berry 

 aside. This done, the soiind selected berry, or capsicun, 

 ; is ground between two circular stones (as corn was iu 

 I Egyi)t 2,000 years ago). After being so ground, or pow- 

 ; dered, it is known as cayenne pepper of commerce, and 

 ' is of a dark red color, and commands a high price througli 

 i its most acrid and stimulating properties. It is frequently 

 limitated in colour through mixing red lead with inferior 

 I growth of capsicum. That birds are fond of cayenne is 

 I well-known to those who reside where it grows. I had 

 the pleasure of an introduction to Mr. Reid 'Trott, of Ber- 

 1 muda, who was on a visit to New York, .and in speaking 

 of the various productions of the Islands and in answer 

 ! to my inquiry said capsicum shrubs' grew there and pro- 

 duce(l a small pod, which, as soou as it was ri})e, the 

 birds tpiickl.v devoured; that no one cared to take the 

 troidile to secure any for domestic use. AV. D. Benn'ktt. 



Adulteeateb Pepper. — A new adulterant of ground 

 pepi»er is a finely ground preparation of the kernels of 

 olive berries. If a sample of the suspected niLxtui-e is 

 scattered upon a mixture of equal volumes of glycerine 

 and water, the jiepper floats upon the surface, while the 

 ground olive kernels sink. — /)riii/(/i<W Cirruhn' ami Chem- 

 ical Gazette. 



