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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 18^4. 



THE ENEMIES OF TEA AND CACAO. 



In a recent issue of the local " Times " appeared 

 a letter signed P. F. L. upon " Helopeltis Anlonii and 

 Cocoa." to the personal tone of which even the editor 

 of that paper took objection. Everyone who has 

 ventured to give his opinion upon the cause nf the 

 disease now affecting the cacao is abused and sneered 

 at, except Mr. T. N. Christie, and the reason why this 

 gentleman is spared, is summed up in the following 

 sentence: — "I am glad to observe that Mr. T. N. 

 Christie has again shown himself to be a man of 

 great parts and deep penetration : / fully endorse his 

 sentiments." The italics are ours. 



There is neither proof nor argument in the letter, 

 but it abounds in such wild statements as thiB : 

 •' From what I can learn the Helopeltis is no other 

 than the same identical fly that killed out most of 

 the Cinchona in Java." Now we saw the effects of 

 the scourge in Java, and though it no doubt threw 

 back the cinchonas a good deal by depriving 

 them of their leaves it never, that we saw or heard 

 or read of, killed out a single tree. The case of tea 

 is different, though here too we have never heard of 

 ts actually killing out the plants. But as the leaf 

 is the part of the tea for which it is cultivated any 

 injury to it means certain and irreparable loss, and 

 it waB pitiable to see in Java a fine tea-garden as bare 

 as though swept by a blast of fire, the bushes having 

 been pruned to within a few inches of the grouud to 

 get rid of the pests. 



The would-be Daniel of the "Times," who says 

 that " those who do believe in the fly will have a 

 long laugh at Mr. Vollar and his colleagues," pro- 

 ceeds to ask him (Mr. V.) the following sapient 

 question : " As regards drought, if that be one of the 

 causes of this fell curse, perhaps Mr. Vollar will ex- 

 plain how it is that the tops of the trees die while 

 the bottoms remain alive and keep sending out branches 

 which are also attacked by the flips, &c." We sus- 

 pect the laugh will be long and loud against P. F. L., 

 who, living in the nineteenth century and professing 

 to understand something of agriculture, evidently believes 

 that a tree can die at the bottom and live at the top ! 

 The very first indication of root-dieease is and naturally 

 must be the withering of the topmost shoot of the tree, 

 and the sending out of young shoots from the stem 

 is the desperate effort of nature to recuperate itself. 

 Another assertion by this writer which we are in- 

 clined to receive cum grano sails is that "notwith- 

 standing their (the flies') antipathy to Mr. Jardine's 

 Caracas trees, I know of one estate where their 

 partiality ; for that species was so great they actually 

 killed out the whole place." He follows this up with 

 the gratuitous observation that "after reading his 

 (Mr. Jardine's) conflicting harangue,* I came to the 

 conclusion that he knew nothing about the blight," 

 Mr. Jardine being one of the most experienced^ in- 

 telligent and observant of Ceylon planters. 



But we have already wasted too much time and space 

 over this self-sufficient scribbler. To turn towriteis 

 worthy of more serious regard we find that Mr. 

 Moens in his "Cinchona Cultivation in A^ia" mentions 

 that "in 1868 Van Gorkom first discovered amongst 

 the cinchona a disease, the cause of which could not 

 be traced, but it was ascribed to the puncture 

 of an insect. From that time the leaves were yearly 

 attacked by this disease. It was sought to destroy 

 it by sprinkling the leaves with all sorts of liquids, 

 lime water, tobacco water, &c, but without avail. 

 The cause also was sought for, but for a long time 

 was not found. Now one thought it was an insect, 

 then something else, till I, in 1875, discovered the 

 worker of the mischief in the Helopeltis Antonii, 

 up'on whose habits of life more light was being 

 thrown. The insect was first described as being 

 harmful to tea by S. E. Peal, and shortly after. 



wards by Meyboom in Java. In Peal's work ' The 

 Tea Bug of Assam ' is found a very correct 

 description of the formation of the insect and of 

 the effects of its sting upon the tea-leaves. The appear- 

 ances upon cinchona are perfectly analogous to them. 

 The Helopeltis Antonii is in its full-grown state 

 11 millimeters ["43 of an inch] long. It is to be 

 identified by the spine on the thorax which is formed 

 like a knob. The fema'e has a reddish brown, the 

 male a black, thorax. The female lays from 12 to 14 

 eggs, which are transparent and white, 1 J millimeters 

 [0(5 of an inch] long, and with two threads attached 

 to one ^de. Those are ' laid in the bark of the 

 young branches, in the petiole, or in the mid-rib of the 

 leaf, after the female has made a puncture in it with its 

 ovipositor. The threads project outwards. The young 

 insect is very small, yellow-brown and without wings. 

 It undergoes various metamorphoses before it finally 

 assumes wings. These animals mostly reside on the 

 underside of the leaves and occupy themselves most in- 

 dustriously. Young as well as old feed upon the sap of 

 the leaves and young branches, which they assimilate 

 through their proboscis, with which they penetrate 

 the sap- vessels. The wounded part speedily turns 

 brown and the growth is arrested ; the unharmed 

 portions grow on, but the end of the leaf assumes 

 a curled or crumpled appearance. If the leaf is 

 wounded in many places then it curls up into itself 

 and at last turns black. A plantation that has been 

 attacked is easily recognised by the dull, sickly look 

 of the plants." 



As will be seen from the letter of our correspond- 

 ent " W. B. L." which we publish elsewhere, he looks 

 upon the insect as the consequence, not the cause, of 

 the diseass. The facts stated by Mr. Moens must, 

 however, be taken into consideration, that in Java 

 seven years elapsed before the cause of the cinchona 

 disease could be conclusively brought home to the 

 Helopeltis. The fact seems to be that in certain 

 countries, or on certain estates, or at certain seasons, 

 according to the condition of the weather, we suspect, 

 it carries on its destructive worK silently and secretly, 

 while on others, or at other times, its performances 

 are plainly evident to eye and ear. 



We conclude with an extract from the Indian Tea 

 Gazette regarding the unusually severe ravages of a 

 caterpillar- upon tea in Assam : — 



We have to acknowledge the receipt of a box con- 

 taining specimens of a species of a caterpillar of a dark 

 brownish color which has done a considerable amount of 

 damage to a garden in the District of Muugledye, Assam. 

 This pest has devoured every leaf, both young and 

 old, on all the bushes of about 75 acres, and off one 

 bush alone 2 lb, of caterpillars were taken. The trees 

 visited by this insect although bare as regards leaf, have 

 not received any injury to their wood, and it is further 

 noticed that as soon as the caterpillar turns into the 

 chrysalis stage the bushes begin again to " flush." The 

 Manager says that all hands are employed "picking" 

 them off the bushes. 



This blight is not unknown, having been referred to 

 by Mr. S. E. Peal of Sapakati, Assam, in one of the 

 many valuable Papers on the subject of Tea Blight con- 

 tributed by him to the columns of this Journal. 



SATISFACTORY TEA RESULTS IN CEYLON. 



The Superintendent of Abbotsford, Lindula, Mr. 

 A. M. Ferguson, jr., has handed us a tabulated state- 

 meut of his experience in tea-making for the half- 

 year ending June 30th ; and as the figures are per- 

 fectly reliable and will be, we hope, exceedingly 

 interesting and encouraging to all growers of this 

 new product, we gladly publish them for the benefit 

 of all those whom it may concern. He accompauies 

 his information with the following remarks: — "You 

 will see that I have made all my weeks end on a 



