Dec. 1, x886.] 



THE TkOPlCAL AGRICULTURIST. 



460 



♦- — 



To the Editor of the " Cexjlon Observer." 

 PADDY AND CATERPILLARS. 

 School of Agriculture, Colombo, 22iid Oct. 1886. 



Dear Sib,— I am sending you two kinds of cater- 

 pillars found in a crop of paddy growing in the Agri- 

 cultural School compound: please ask your Entomo- 

 logical referee to what kind of moth or butterfly we 

 are indebted to for this pest. The green-coloured cater- 

 pillar feeds upon the leaves of the paddy plant, but 

 the other feeds in the culm, a little above the root and 

 is by far the more destructive of the two. These 

 insects cause serious damage to paddy crops, but U 

 there is an abundant supply of irrigation water avail- 

 able, they need not give any cause for anxiety, for by 

 flooding the field these depredators could be drowned 

 and washed off the crop. In a season like this when 

 Ko rain falls, the destruction of these caterpillars would 

 be a serious difliculty.— Yours faithfully, ,^^^^^^ 



A. W. JAYKVVARDENE. 



[The specimens sent have turned into chrysales 

 before they were fully recognized by our entomolo- 

 gical referee; but they are probably only common 

 visitors. Now-a-days every " poochie " seems to be 

 pitched on as a new and formidable pest. If Mr. 

 .Tayewardene will send further specimens they will be 

 fully identified.— Ed.1 



PINE-APPLE PLANTS FOR FIBRE 

 AND FRUIT. 



Kirimetia, lOtli Nov. 1886. 



Dear Sie,— I enclose a sample of pine-apple, 

 fibre and will thank you for your opinion of it. It 

 could be made much longer if required. In one 

 acre of land there are ten thousand plants the 

 first year, twenty thousand the second and thirty thou- 

 sand the third year. Each plant has twenty leaves and 

 each leaf gives thirty grains of fibre and with 

 steam or water-power with proper machinery 

 could be made in (niy quantity according to the 

 force employed. 



The plant will also give ten thousand pine-apples 

 the first year, twenty thousand the second, and 

 thirty thousand the third, which could bG made 

 into wine or brandy. Three full-sized pines will 

 give a bottle of juice.— Yours truly, 



J. HAWKE. 



[The specimen of fibre looks very nice. There 

 is no question as to the value of pine-apple fibre, 

 but in this and in all other cases of the kind the 

 question is will it pay to grow the plant largely 

 and to use the requisite machinery. Pine-apples 

 grown in the shade yield abundance of long 

 leaves, but if regularly cropped, we suppose the 

 application of manure would be necessary. Of all 

 the fibre plants in Ceylon we have alwaysregarded 

 the pine-apple as the most likely to give good 

 results. But an extensive experiment can alone 

 settle the question of profitable returns. There is 

 such a large and increasing demand for the 

 fruit, — what with hotels and steamers, — that conver- 

 sion into alcoholic drinks need not be contemplated. 

 — El>.] 



FRUIT FROM CEYLON FOR ENGLAND. , 



Catton, 12th November 1886. 

 Dear Sir, — For the information of " Enquirer," 

 in yours of Gth inst., I have sent oranges home on 

 two occasions, through Mr. E. B. Creasy's Agency 

 oliice, and they reached home in good order, and 

 I must say were very promptly delivered, a great 

 point with fruit of course. I may add that in my 

 last package I sent home one of the largest sized 

 fragile chutties used by natives ior carrying and 



storing water in, just as a curiosity for my friends 

 to see. I filled it with oranges, wrapping each 

 fruit in paper, and put a straw envelope in 

 centre for ventilation ; the corners of the case I 

 filled up with oranges in bottle-envelopes, the 

 chatty also arrived in good order. S. B. 



N. B. — The oranges were carefully gathered, and 

 about a week er so before I expected them to get 

 quite yellow. 



"UNASSORTED" Vs. "ASSORTED" TEAS ;— 



PER CONTRA— FOR THE BENEFIT OF 



MESSRS. RUCKER & BENCRAFT. 



St. Leys, Dikoya, Nov. 15th 1886. 

 Dear Sir, — Regarding Messrs. Rucker and Ben- 

 craft's Tea Circulars and their advice to us to ship 

 "unassorted," I will give you my experience. In 

 August last, I had two lots sold in Mincing Lane: 

 one "assorted" 1,.500 lb. and the other " unassort- 

 ed, " 1,000 lb. They were sent as a test, one against 

 the other, and the teas were from the same bulk. 

 The " assorted " was ii-. live grades : Orange Pekoe, 

 Broken Pekoe, Pekoe, Pekoe Souchong and Dust, 

 and fetched an average of 1/5J — the " unassorted " 

 fetching 1/1. Messrs, Rucker's figures reversed. A 

 leading Mincing Lane Broker expressed the opinioa 

 that, "it was a pity the latter had not been 

 assorted, as there was a large proportion of fine 

 tea in it." 



" Who shall decide, when Dactors disagree" ? * 

 Yours truly, JAS. W. HOLT. 



CEYLON CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE 

 OF TEA : CHANGE OF SYSTEM PROPOSED 



AS A REMEDY FOR OVER-PRODUCTION. 



Dear Sir, — The "Tea Planter's Manual" contains 

 much information, which will be extremely useful 

 to the young, and inexperienced planter, but there 

 is almost a certainty that the progress of invention, 

 and knowledge will at no distant date render ralue- 

 less more than half, of the contents of the volume 

 you were good enough to present to me.f 



The present ideas regarding manuring, plucking, 

 withering, fermenting, and the necessity for large 

 tea-houses, will ; I think, undergo a change, and 

 new systems will not only be forced upon us, but 

 accelerated by the rapidity of our progress in 

 cultivation. 



In a few years hence, when Ceylon produces 

 sixty millions of pounds, India eighty or more, 

 .Java thirty, on the top of two hundred 

 millions from China, and fifty from Japan ; we 

 may find too much tea is produced, even for the 

 increased consumption, which may naturally be 

 calculated upon in every consuming country ; and 

 the inevitable result of producing a commodity, 

 which at present can be successfully, and profit- 

 ably grown over so large an area as tea will follow, 

 namely, over-production and a decline in prices 

 thereupon, to a killing point. 



If this should happen, the important question 

 will be : whether anything can be done to avert 

 the consequences which a forced curtailment of 

 production entails? 



I think it is possible by changing the present 

 system of cropping, not only to largely diminish 

 production without reduction, or abandonment of 

 cultivation, which, in ths case of nearly every other 



* Hear, hear ! — It is evidently ridiculous to lay down 

 any hard and fast rule.— Ed. 



t In which case a new and revised edition will be 

 published, with all information brought up to date. But 

 we don't think present systems will be so entirely and 

 so rapidly superseded as our correspondent antjoipatea, 

 —Ed. 



