352 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1883, 



m«»uv« fur imliso, but, iu tl\o absoiico of this, farmyar<l 

 mamuv m;iy bo used with a tup dressiiif,' of hnio. 



(I'/VK'f/i and Citttini^ of the Crvp. — As stated above, tho 

 iudigy on its tirst ai>pt\'iKvueo is a vtry dcUoato pltvut, but 

 oui'O thivujjh this sta^ it is as hardy as ever. The crop 

 will bo ready for cutting about the beginuiiii; of Mareh; 

 after tho erop is cut the lasd should be buUock-hoedono 

 or t\viit> bt'foxv the 2i\d euttiui: which is iu May, followe<l 

 by a tbirvl iu ,Iuue. On average soil those cuttings would 

 pr»>bably yield (H-r acre 2(.K> bundles nieasuri'd with a i ft. 

 chaiu : this wouUl bo worth nearly K30 iu Madras. Two 

 maiuids of dye could bo prepartnl from this, which would 

 l>oius,' aKuit W rupot-s iuto the hands of the manufacturv'd 

 at a vory small charge for manufacture ^l!:; ovdy per luauuo) 



Hoiiiug that " luquirtr" will give iudigo a fair trial and 

 publish the result in your columns, — I am, dear sir, vours 

 faithfully. A. W. JAYAAV^VRDBasK. 



{\\x tho tirst place, we aro scepticalas to indigo, any more 

 than toWcco, chillies or pine-apples, being indigenous here. Iu 

 the ne.\t place, theiv s<emslittle encouragement to try a civp 

 which, rcviuiring rich loam or maum-iug, yields a crop Wi.uth 

 in its green state only KoO per acre, or KS'O when manufac- 

 tured. Wo scarcely understand the threefold value it" tho 

 manufacture is so simple as representevl. What we do know 

 is that iJl previous trials in Coylou have been failures. 

 Mr. l.emarcliaud, au old Bengal indigo-planter, made a triiU 

 iu .raltna, and the plant was eaten by " poochies." In 

 Northern India, suitable soil and tho oest apijliauces are 

 abundant, and the supply could easily be doubled it there were 

 a rv-munerative market. But aniline dyes and other sub- 

 stances now compete with indigo, and the consumption is not 

 like tlvit of t<'a, rapidly progressive. There can lie no harm 

 iu trials however. There are extensive fields of indigo m>i»r 

 Siugapore, grown by Chinamen to supply dyo for tho dark 

 blue cloth which "Johu" so greatly aU'ects. Our peoplo 

 here like gayer colours. — Ei>.] 



SHllIMP SUSLLS AS A I'KA MANURE AND 

 INSEOTICIUE. 



Colombo, 27th September 18i?3. 



pK.vu SiK,— Now that tea is growiug to be.i consider- 

 able iuJustry iu Oeylou, and, like coffee, is perhaps 

 obnoxious to tho ravages of insect pests, it may bo 

 inteiestiug to cultivators of the product to hear of 

 somethiuji which is eminently fav,irable, not only as a 

 manure to promote tho growtn of the plant, but for the 

 purtioses of purging grub pests. Tins consists of the 

 shells of the »hrimp. Large quantities of these are 

 shipped to China from tho Coast of Caiitoi'uia, where 

 sbrunps are caught in vast numbers. The Chinese i 

 employ the shells as a manure, and as a poison lo the 

 worm which works such destruction to th' plant. The I 

 Chinamen state that this is tho only remedy at preseot i 

 known for tho tea pest. 



Tho shrimp is not an uncommon commodity iu Ceylon, 

 and it might repay agricultural economists to devise [ 

 some method of conserving and ntilziug the shells in 

 the eitermiuation of insect pests. — Vours truly, 



GOIYA [ 



BOKER ATTACKIiXG TEA. I 



Eakwana, 2Sth September 1SS3. 



DtlAB SiB, — Under separate cover I am sending you 

 two pieces ot a b auch from a t-'» tree th.'it I pruned 

 yesterviay. Is this some new te.a pest that is going to 

 visit u« t or has it ever been seen in Ceylou before ? 



Siratigc to say, it app;irently neither eHects the 

 growth nor tho look of the bush at all, but perhaps 1 

 was lucky enough to discover it btlore any real harm 

 was done.— Vours anxiously, J. P. T. 



i\ 6\ — 1 fancy you'll dud the insect that has done all 

 the damage iu the centre of the large&t piece, the ends 

 of which 1 've corked up. 



[This is an unmistakable and apparently serioas ease 

 of borer, the insect having been e»idently hard at work 

 by frt ivttW post. Allowed tocarry cu its opeiavipus to j 



their cl'>se, we suspect the tea would not only bo atlected 

 but killed. We h^po the post is not prevalent aud that 

 it will not spread. Our eutomologioal adviser stiites 

 that tho boring insect is tho red borer ;lescribed by 

 Kietuer in his " Enemies of the Coffee-tree" (page 14)— 

 second edition. — Ed.] 



CINCHONA AND OTHER SKED. 



4th OctoU-r ISS3. 



SiB, — Kinlly permit mc to correct a few mistakes that 

 occur iu the footnote to my letter appearing on page 314. 



1. I lUkl not say, or, as far as I am aware, imply, that 

 " soeil merchants " could not procure genuine calisjiya seed 

 of tho better kinds from Bolivia, or any want of good faith on 

 their part. The only mention I can find made iu my letter of 

 any of tho frateruity was with regard to au otter th.%t had 

 boeu shown me, from one of them, of seeil from the itime esfnl* 

 that Ledgcriana came from. I did so imder the impression 

 it was to eidl attention to a point of no little imiwrtanco 

 to growers, and. as what he says it is manifest should be 

 reliable, I don't see how I could have done tho man a kinder 

 act. What, though, I did sjiy and quotevl evidence in support 

 \vas " I cannot alter my beUef in the impossibility of pro- 

 curing other th.an spurious seed through the medium ot 

 auy professional seed cvilictcr, or commissioned agent, and 

 as solely a business transaction ; thoui/h not hire at all ittt-an- 

 iag to impli/ that those, fry whom I notice it stated to hace 

 been thus procuresi, at all doubt the merit of the sitpi'lies thei/ 

 hale received. However, it is a point open to discussion, 

 and it will be iuterxsting to receive evidence of how 

 far I am right or wrong. ".\ny one pt>ssessiug tho op- 

 portunities 1 named — whether a seeil meivhant or other- 

 wise — unquestionably stands au eqiially good chance of pro- 

 curiug genuine seed : — but I hold it to be a desideratum 

 that he does possess them. 



2. You reraiuk that •' the proof of the superiority of my 

 seed can only bo attorvled by the resultiug plants." The 

 thing I especially desire — and it was the main object of my 

 letter — is that the plants from all calisaya setxl now bt-iug 

 obtained from Bolivia, be it by whom it may, should be 

 carefully w;\tchevl aud criticizeil by oar best authorities 

 that their merit may as far as possible be> determiueil. If it 

 be that the enterprise here and iu India is to be sustainnl 

 in the futiu^- by largo importations from thence, I think 

 everyoue will be with me in s;vying — aud I thiuk, sir, you will 

 yourself agree iu doiug so — that, with the earlier ex. 

 periences of Java iu memory, this is essential. 



3 In quoting Markham, it was in regard to a question 

 which 1 am uuawaro has been before broiiched (and, 

 as I bcliere him, a reliable authority) as to whether 

 " Zamlxv Morada" was not iu reality the name of a 

 variety of euii,!— suid not, therefore, a Calis'»ya at 

 all — or whether the name ^vas used in connection 

 with Mh species. The whole group of ovatas being 

 practicalli/ noithless, it seenuxl to me a poiut of sutfi- 

 cieut imjiortance to call attention to. 



■4. \'ou mistake mc in s;iyiug that "I was esjiecially 

 iuixious to ihsavow anv desire to advertise seeil importe^l 

 by myself." That could not be though as sjiid already it 

 was liot the motive that prompteil me to write the letter 

 pubUsh«l. 



5. I did certainly s;iy that I had no seed for s.ale (or 

 have I yetl but added "it is perfectly true that I expect 

 some soon" and " though invbivbly a very Umitetl quantity 

 as before." I am especially anxious to" poiut this out to 

 avoid a false impressiou that will naturally be caused should 

 I soon wish to make a pubhc offer of auy. 



ti. Mv remarks iu ivfereuce to sloe leaves aud coffee 

 rubbish-^ud I am anxious as they have been alluded to 

 that they should be given iu fidl — were, " Wliether it clash 

 wth my own interests or not, I wish equal success to any 

 one who cau or does intro<.luce geuuie seed ; but I have 

 as good » right to object to having the m.arket swamjxxl 

 with spiuious supplies as you yoiuself, or auy one here, 

 to know your coffee or tea driven out by paper ixista 

 beaus (.as "the last iuveutiou !) or mimufacturtxl sloe leaves, 

 resanUug it equally as a fmud ou myself aud the public." 



These remarks »"ere general oues ; I sitnply waut to enjoin 

 caution as regards imi>orted seed, let it be by whom it 

 msT, aud I think have adduced sufficient evidence to ptOT9 



