June i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



1005 



^■ixxtesp(xnd$no$, 



To the Editor of the "-Ceylon Observer P 



EFKEGTS OF HEMILEIA VASTATRIX 



ON COFFEE. 



Coppah, 3rd May 1883. 



Dear Sir, — lu your paper of the 14th ultimo, I 

 notice a letter from " D. B.C." in reference to mine 

 on the above subject. I agree with him about the 

 eflfecta on old trees, but not on the young. On the 

 young, the leaves drop as they do on all trees at- 

 tacked with the disease, but the branches do not 

 necessarily die back, and why ? Because, being young, 

 there is more nourishment in the soil to enable the 

 plants to survive easier than is the case with the 

 old coffee, ir I mistake not, it is the wind that 

 spreads the 11. V. by driving the seed of the fun- 

 gus from one tree to another, and there it germinates 

 and increases. 



I am no b^itanist, but I presume that, to a great 

 extent, the peel of the lierry is of the same siib- 

 staDce as the leaves, and, therefore, if the seed of 

 the fungus germinates on the leaves why not on the 

 peel, and if it does so germinate then the attacked 

 pael has tlie same effect on the berry as the infected 

 leaves have on the tree: that is to say, it feeds 

 on the nourishment that would otherwise go to mature 

 and ripen the berry and consequently weakens it. 



The printer made an error in the signature of my 

 last by mistaking the " E " for a " C." — Yours truly, 



J. R. E. 



COURECl'ION IN DR. TRIMEN'S REPORT. 



Ootacamund, 9th May 1883. 



Sir,— I regret to find on p. 10 of my report for 

 1882, (see page 92.5 of T. A.) in the analysis of "hard 

 Carthagena" bark, that a Ime has been omitted. The 

 amount of cinchonine should be SO and there should 

 follow it : — 



Amorphous... 'Tl 

 This makes the total 4'7.5, ^s printed. This analy- 

 sis, with tho.se of other varieties of Columbian bark 

 will be found printed in the report by Robert Cross 

 of his mission to South America in 1877-78, p. 53. 



I am sorry that, in the hurry of leaving Colombo, 

 I should have let this error escape me. — X am, yours 

 faithfully, HENRY TRIM EN. 



TEA-GROWING BY THE SEASIDE. 



16th May 1883. 

 Sir, — Can you please inform me in your next issue 

 whether tea will grow on estates lying close to the 

 sea (say about one-eighth of a mile), and at no 

 greater elevations than about twenty or thirty feet 

 from the level of the sea ? If indeed your answer 

 is in tlie affirmative, then it may be well for coconut 

 estate owners, who seldom receive a greater return 

 than twenty rupees per acre a year, to become ex- 

 clusively tea planters, when they will get a return 

 of six times the amount they now get. I sav, ex- 

 clusively, because I think (under your correction) that 

 tea will not grow with coconuts, under the shade of 

 its palm. This, however, is not my object in seeking 

 the present information from you. My object is to 

 clear up a jungle lying close to the sea and to plant 

 it with tea, if you recommend it. I shall also thank 

 you to refer me in this your invaluable paper to some 

 publication, whence I can obtain information respect- 

 ing te.i pl.cuting : especially of pruning, plucking and 

 preparing tea. — I remain, yours truly, 



LOWCOUNTRY. 

 [Tea is being successfully cultivated in the Kalutara 



Sbtrict within the influence of the sea-air, though 

 some miles distant and at an elevation of perh:ipa two 

 or three hundred feet above it. An experiment even 

 nearer and more on a level, would probably be suc- 

 cessful provided the soil were good ; but where is there 

 good jungle and soil contiguous to the sea 7 The 

 pamphlet published at this office "Tea-planting in 

 Southern India and Ceylon " will give the information 

 required by " Low-counir." — Ed.] 



SILK CULTURE IN CEYLON. 



Hope Estate, Deltota, 20ih May 188:}. 



Dear Sik, — Of the cocoons I brought from England 

 a gre.it m.-vny hatched out on board the steamer and 

 the moths paired freely. I have eggs of the follow- 

 ing species now ready for distribution gratis to all 

 who take an interest in sericulture : — Cecropia, Poly- 

 phemus and Peruyi. The worms of the first mentioned 

 feed on pear, apple, plum and other fruit trees, and 

 the other two species are oak-feeders, and can doubt- 

 less be reared on loquat. Avocado pear and indige- 

 nous trees whose foliage is of simihir character. 



The moths of Cynthia, Ailacii.i ricini and of the 

 Himalayan utlas have not yet emerged. — Y'ours faith- 

 fiJ'.v. P. N. B. 



Tea-plantino. — .Some time ago a Ceylon planter 

 wrote to us :— While conversing this morning with a 

 proprietor of tea estates in Cachai, I learned a 

 practice in tea-planting there, which I have not seen 

 brought forward in any of your articles on the sub- 

 ject, and which may be interesting, if you do not 

 already know it. In planting it has become usual, 

 in order to secure a liret-elass tea, to plant the 



following varieties and proportions in the same field: 



First-class hybrid 75 per cent, pure indigenous 15 

 per cent, and China tea 10 per cent. On older fields, 

 where this has not already been done, the planters 

 are supplying with a view to arrive at it. [Has this 

 ever been confirmed?— Ed. C. 0.] The China growth 

 should be central and surrounded by the hybrid 

 while the indigenous is planted promi.scuously through- 

 out the field. I have also been told that all teas 

 should be properly cured and packed on the es/alcs, 

 as any subsequent break of bulk causes deterioration. 



Canker. —A planter who has recently returned from 

 a tour through the Dimbula and Dikoya districts writes 

 us as follows : — Few people have any conception 

 of the enormous number of cinchonas that have died 

 during the last 12 months from canker ?nd the large 

 number that will very likely go during this present year. 

 Even planters themselves object to discuss the ques- 

 tion. There is no doubt in my mind that canker is 

 spreading and that, rapidly. It is much more difficult 

 now to grow jilants than it used to be and it is well 

 nigh impossible to get any large percentage to strike 

 after planting out, whilst some say that pricking out 

 beds that have once been used are unable to raise a 

 plant. I confess I mjself have not found this to be 

 the case if the soil of the beds is loose and free. 

 It used once to be thought that IS months to two 

 years old was the most critical time for a cinchona 

 tree, but I think now all times and ages are critical, 

 and nciue more so than another. 1 suppose a smaller 

 percentage of trees of six year old have been raised 

 Irom cinchona seed than from seed of any other tree 

 in existence? How many seeds are there as an average 

 in a 11). of succirubra seed — I suppose about 400,000. 

 How many pounds weight of seed does each six year 

 old tree represent ! — Local " Times." 



MOTHER SWAN'S WORtVI SYRUP. 

 Infallible, tasteless, harmles.s, e:ilhartic; for feverishness, 

 restlessness, worms, con.stipation. Js. at druggists B. S. 

 Madon & Co., Bombay, General Agerita. 



