4'iO 



fflE tkOPiCAL AGklCaiWRIgt'. 



[Dec. !, 1886. 



■BS-W^SHSWI" 



Ihe subject than yourself, or the columns of whose 

 newspaper are more freely placed at the service of 

 the public. The (juestion is this : — Does tea improve 

 or deteriorate by keeping ? Some tea planters say that 

 it improves, and others say that it begins at once to 

 deteriorate, unless put in bottles and hermetically 

 sealed. I am a believer in the former theory, and 

 will give my reasons, and shall be glad to hear any 

 arguments in favour of the deterioration theory. In 

 Australia, where tea is move universally drunk 

 than in any other country, we no more doubted that 

 age improved tea than we doubted the fact that port 

 wine required maturing. In Ihitain everyone that 

 I have made enquiries of, who has tried Ceylon 

 tea, declares that it requires age, and I am, at 

 the present time, using tea which has been stand- 

 ing in the open chest for over two years, and it 

 is now very much better than at tirst. Many of 

 my friends drink Ceylon tea only, and they in- 

 variably complain of the falling-off in quality, when 

 they begin a new chest, but, as each new chest 

 has the same fault, a fault which m a week or 

 two disappears, I conclude that it is merely the 

 want of age that is complained about. I am not 

 asking you to convince me that my taste is wrong, 

 and that the taste of my many friends here, who 

 use Ceylon tea, is also deficient : that you will 

 hardly be able to do ; but I would be very pleased 

 if you would give some practical reasons why some 

 planters are so dogmatic on the deterioration 

 theory, and others are just as inconvincible with 

 regard to the opposite view of the case. What 

 would those advocates for drinking new tea think 

 of people always having an unopened chest in 

 stock, and, as soon as it is opened, a new chest 

 is purchased, to lie ripening in their store-room 

 to be ready for use wlien the other chest is fin- 

 ished ■? I am not ur^^uing in favour of old tea : I 

 am only making a statement that I. and all the 

 friends I have in Britain who drink Ceylon tea, 

 are convinced that age improves the flavour and 

 the strength of your staple. I will be much 

 interested in your reply to this, and as I am 

 asking you the question for the information of 

 many others besides myself, I trust you will ex- 

 cuse my trespassing on your space to such an 

 extent as I have done. — Yours truly, 



Scotland. Oct. Ex-K.C.B. 



^The experience related is ccrUinly contrary to 

 the commonly-received opinion. The general idea 

 is th^.t tea is at its finest three months after 

 preparation, and surely this is borne out by the 

 rush every year for the new China teas — the race 

 home, and the prize offered to the first steamer 

 in, as also by the higher prices paid for these new 

 teas. On one thing we are clear that like port- 

 wine, " Ex-K.C.B. "s "' tea must be kept hermeti- 

 cally closed, to improYe by age : if the chest is 

 left'open, the tea loses bouquet, thou^^h if the 

 surrounding atmosphere wtre rijh in germs 

 might gain a nev,- flavox^r ?— Kit. 



iKDi.A.x TE.i.i. '-There Jiat. been a good demand for 

 Indian Tia, and prices remain stealy, as the coutiuuous 

 heavy oiipplie.s have proved amply sntScieut to meet 

 the iargef reqni'pmeuts. It has been frequently re- 

 J)Orted that the bulk of this season's imports would be 

 Jn icb inferior in quality to these of recent years, but 

 this has Certainly not bre" confirmed by tbe late aup- 

 plies. Of the tiiiest sorts tliere lia*, it is true, been 

 a diniinihed supply, but the niediiim and lower grades, 

 for which liie principal demand existn, are now not 

 only more plentiful, but quite equal in quality and con- 

 dition to the Teas of former seasons. There seems no 

 good rea.son to suppose th:it tbe .shipments yet to arrive 

 will lie inferior to those now being offered, and the 

 latest advices infer that the total crop will be a large 

 pnc. Ibert) in th«icf«r« every probability of a steady 



and increasing development in the consumption of all 

 Indian Teas. The large Indian crop is further supplc- 

 mentei by the steadily-growing supplies of excellent; 

 Teas from Ceylon, which are not only freely used by 

 the grocers for blending purposes, but are now being 

 sold unmixed to the public for consumption. "Witli 

 an estimated import of "2,000,000 lb. of Indian and 

 about 5,000,000* lb. of Ceylon Tea, the consumption of 

 these kinds at current cheap rates bids fair to increase 

 rapidly — I'ntdace Muriels' llecitir, Oct. 23rd. 



The So-called "Buo" on Tea Near Gaj.le. 

 — Our informant of the other day on this 

 matter, writes : — " I send you a sample of 

 the tea leaves and the insects which were called 

 bugs, but which appear to me a sort of lly, but 

 ask your ' entomological referee' to look at 

 them and report." We are pleased to receive the 

 following report from the gentleman referred to : — 

 " No. 5 (Aphis coffea- or coffee louse) of Nietner's 

 ' Enemies of the Coffee Tree,' with the larvie of 

 Syrphus si^lendens preying upon them ; also a few 

 wood-bearing caterpillars." This is a very different 

 matter to blackbug, and ought to relieve the minds 

 of our tea-growers in the South and elsewhere. 

 Nietuer says of the coffee louse : — 



b. Ap/iis coffeae. {Coffee I.ouse.) 



Both sexes :naketl, shiny pitch-blaek with whitish rostrum, 

 aiiteuii;.! and legs and frreenish abdomen. The rostrum 

 reat-lies to beyond the base of the second pair of legs. The 

 antenna? are seven-jointed the first, second and sixth being 

 short, the rest lon^r, the two basal joints are black, the rest 

 wliitish, black towards apex. Legs With femora and tarsi 

 nearly black, tibi;e nearly white, hind-legs with base o£ tibia; 

 slightly curved. Male four-winged, with black stigma in 

 the upper ones. Female apterous. Abdomen in both sexes 

 two-(.oriiiculate and with an anal tube. Size middling. Young 

 individuals light coloured. 



The insect just described is found in larger or smaller com- 

 munities upon the young shoots and on the underside of the 

 leaves of the coffee tree. Its presence in larire numbers pro- 

 duces honey-dew and Syncladinm, as in the case of the bug. 

 The procreative powers of this family of insects (Aphiilcp) is 

 well-known, and unequalled in nature: from one iiiiprc(;natino 

 nine fruitful generations of females have been prod\iced in 

 throe months : in another instance eleven generations in 

 seven months ; in a third instance they continued to propagate 

 for four years! (Westwoop.) The eggs being hatched in the 

 body of the mother-insect, the young come forth alive. Such 

 productiveness, however, does not appear to exist among the 

 Ap/i. cnffrac -■ at all events the communities are generally 

 small, and their injuries of no consequence. But a species 

 which feeds npo)i the orange and citron-tree is much more 

 productive, From the anal tubercles a saccharine fluid is 

 discharged of ■which ?nts are very fond, as in the instance 

 o^ the Coccida^. 



The Aph. mffaec is subject to the attacks of various parasites 

 — Syrp/tiis- Xietneri ; Syrphus splendent. These are two large 

 flies belonging to the family, the member of which from their 

 resemblance to bees and wasps, might be called " bee-flies." 

 They rallier resemble each other, are of dingy colours, black 

 abdomen variegated with whitish-yellow bands ; the forme 

 is pubes.ent. tlie latter smooth ; they are both 3-8" long an 

 Li-$" across the expamled wings. TJieir larviv devour the 

 Aphides: these are soft, unsightly, eyeless and footles 

 worms, narrowed on one end :j'; long when full-growd 

 That of the Si/rpltm Xirtncri is brown with a lighter doru 

 mark, the segments are drawn out into scale-likeknobs which 

 torui a ridge" along <he centre of the back. That of the 

 Si/rphii>: sj/leiidcns is nxnen v,\{\i a whitish dorsal mark. They 

 nirtlie inuneirjc havoc amongst the .Aphides, being so vora- 

 ciaus '.hat ill t>¥enty-{our hoi'rs they increase double their 

 volume. The pupa is pfar-shrtped, resting within tlie larva 

 skill for e.ght days AVheii the perfect insect comes forth. 

 Another enemy is '.—JJiCronii'! Avdraliii. This is a pretty 

 little insect allied to the tribe of the ant-lious. Feeding 

 upon pluiithce the larvip have been called, " Aphis lions," 

 bot from their s' ape they might more appropriately be 

 styled " Aphis crocodiles." This larva is about 5-16" long, 

 narrow, dejressel, tapering towards botli ends, lightly 

 covered with white hair. It is of brownish colour ; sides, 

 dorsal line and under-sicklc-shaped jaws, and long, slender 

 palpi and feelers. The former are distinctly three-jointed, 

 the last joint being very loi!g, and the whole palpi a.* long 

 as the inanOildes. Between head and throat there ia a dis- 

 tinct neck. The larva encloses itself in a light cocoon in 

 which the pupa rests for two weeks, when the perfect insect 

 makes its appearance. The latter is very delicate, brownish, 

 «ilh green eyes. The egg-* of these insects are deposited 

 upon leaves, each egg being furnished with a long, thin 

 peduncle, thus resembling pins or certain fungi. There are 

 several minute Hymenoptera parasUic nyo\ii\ie Aphis cojfcac, 

 but I ani unable to give, their names. ^ 



' • IJioyojUOO surely luuaut.'-jjDi " 



