October i, 1884.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



265 



purpose, appears to be the most approved method of 

 counteractiug the ravages of Phylloxera by chemical 

 agents. Hut, as before stated, the oonditious of Phyllo- 

 xera and "grub" are by no means parallel. In the 

 case of tl»' former, when the insects are. once thoroughly 

 destroyed, the necessity for continuing the application 

 of the remedy is almost at an end. In the case of 

 "grub" the application must be continuous month 

 after month, or year after year and in the long 

 run the soil itself might be rendered poisonous to the plants. 

 I am utterly unable to suggest any poisou " to which beetles 

 might be partial." 



Above nil things, encourage insectivorous birds to the 

 fullest possible extent. In Europe, starlings, crows, and 

 gulls hold the first place asdestroyers of chafers' grubs. A 

 flock of crows probably destroy more grubs in an hour 

 than would be. possible by any "artificial" means in a 

 week. 



I am asked to state that systematic catching of the 

 perfect insect or larva would be beneficial. The benefit of 

 such a proceeding must be self-evident. Anything that 

 lessens the numbers of a destructive insect must of necess- 

 ity be beneficial, and where the labour is cheap hand- 

 picking should be resorted to extensively. 



I may bo permitted to conclude with a suggestion that 

 appears to me of great importance. It appears to be ad- 

 mitted by all but a certain class of planters that " grub " 

 is causing great damage to the coffee plantations, and the 

 evidence before me appears to amply confirm this. There- 

 fore it is highly desirable that the Planters' Association 

 or the Ceylon Government should establish an experimf ntal 

 plantation of a few acres in which the natural history of 

 the various kinds of grub, and the effect of various sup- 

 posed or real remedies, could be carefully watched. — I beg 

 to remain, &c. s 



K. McLachlan, I.R.S., K.L.S. 



Enclosure No. 3. 

 Sir W. H. Gregory to Mr. Thiseltou Dyer. 



3, St. George's Place, Hyde Park Corner, June 18th, 1S84. 



My dear Sir, — You are welcome to my opinion as to the 

 cause of the prevalence of the cockchafer grub which is 

 ravaging Ceylon, but which might be greatly reduced. It 

 is pitiable to see the widespread ruin it has caused. In no 

 case does the coffee tree recover in less than two or three 

 years ; in many cases, unless the plant is very healthy, it 

 never recover?. 



The chief ravages are on estates close to '• patanas" that 

 is rolling upland prairies. Formerly these were grazed by 

 the cattle of natives and of settlers, and in order to obtain 

 sweet grass these patanas were burnt annually in the dry 

 weather at tie.' time the cockchafer lays her eggs ; of course 

 the eggs were burnt and the spread of the insect was kept 

 down. Now, the planters will not burn the 'patanas' 

 themselves or allow the natives to burn them. They cut 

 the long coarse grass and put it as litter under their cattle, 

 which are kept in sheds. Some planters say in excuse that 

 estates are ravaged which are at a distance from pa anas, 

 but the fact is that the cockchafer has so increased that it 

 has spread far and wide. — I remain, &c, 



W. H. Gregory. 



INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY EXHIBITION AT 

 EDINBURGH. 



In a building over two hundred yards long, with 

 three transepts, each one hundred yards iu length, 

 and in the surrounding grounds of eight acres, the 

 Scottish Aboiieultural Society and its other promoters 

 have collected an exhibition of unrivalled iuterest to 

 all classes of the community. Timbtr-, fibres, gums, 

 irdiarubber and paper which may be made fn m wood, 

 not to speak of charcoal lor guLpowder and inoumer- 

 able small wooden articles, are in use by us all, and 

 we should a 1 take au intelligent interest in their sup- 

 ply and manufacture, England, though net rich in 

 forests at hi uie, owns in her colonies far more forest- 

 land than any state iu the world, aud is j et the only 

 34 



country in Europe, of even second-rate importance , 

 that has no sehool for the teaching of forestry. A 

 school for native forest officers exists at Dehra Dun, 

 in the North-West Provinces of India ; but their 

 English superiors, trained till recently at Nancy, are 

 now educated at the Engineering College at Cooper's 

 Hill. It is to be hoped that part of the highly in- 

 structive collections now at Edinburgh may be per- 

 manently kept together so as to form a museum and 

 the piece de resistance of a school of forestry for 

 Britain. 



Though Japan has characteristically bespoken a whole 

 transept, and a magnificent Indian collection arranged 

 by Col. Michael already overflows from the half of 

 another, ti= e Home Government is by no means in- 

 efficienily represen'ed. On entering the building, the 

 eve is caught by a stand of lances of a«h and bamboo, 

 wi'h pennons flying, sent by the Secretary for War, 

 who also exhibits specimens, polished and unpolished, 

 of tbe various woods used in the royal arsenals, in- 

 cluding Italian walnut in the stalks of Sniders and 

 Martiui-Henrys, and willow, alder, and "dogwood," 

 for gunpowder charcoal. It is 10 be regretted that 

 these woods are not scientifically named, as the ordin- 

 ary visitor will not know what to make of " pedouk" 

 or "8iibiga," may be misled by the name "cedar" 

 attached to woods from Mexico and Cuba, aud may not 

 recognize British Guiana in the description, " America," 

 given as the locality for greeuheart. 



Close at hand the Commissioners of Woods aud 

 Forests make a fioe display from Dean, Windsor, and 

 the New Forests of timber of various ages, grown on 

 different soils, aud the tools used in felling, bark- 

 stripping, &c. Among this collection are sections of 

 Spanish chesnut, 170 years old, from Bagshot Park, 

 about 3J ft in diameter at 5 it. from the ground ; 

 Cedar of Lebanon, from the same pla"e, 120 years old, 

 76 ft, high, represented by a plauk 56 ft. by 3 ft. ; 

 oak from Windsor, 60 years old, yielding a 30 ft. plank 

 over a foot wide ; and larch grown nearly 200 ft. 

 above the Severn, in Dean Forest, aud in seventy years 

 becoming nearly 3 ft. across, at five feet from the 

 ground. 



Whilst this shows what maybe gi own in England, 

 the Scotch foresters and members of the Aboricultural 

 Society are nol behindhand in exhibiting what tan 

 be done further north. Their larch, though Blower in 

 growth, is remarkable for its large proportion of heart 

 to sap wood, a characteristic still more true ot the 

 Scotch fir as grown on her Majesty's estate at Bal- 

 moral. From the Munches estate, Dalbeattie' is sent 

 a young Diuglns fir, three years old, 11 ft. high, and 

 3 in. through ; whilst other specimens of the same 

 species from Tullibardine are more than a foot through 

 when sixteen years old, having made rings more than 

 half an inch across for several years. Some posts aud 

 railway sleepers, perfectly Found aft r seven years' 

 use, sent from Skibo Castle, Sutherlnndshire, testify 

 to tbe durability of this species aud of the silver fir. 

 Fcpially practical are the numen us wood sections in 

 the western transepts, showing the effects of bad and 

 good pruning ; whilst one of the most beautiful ob- 

 jects in the exhibition is a library table inlaid with 

 10,000 pi< c<s, including 117 specimens of woods grown 

 on the Morton Hall estate, Liberton, and made by 

 the forester, Mr. i">. F. Mackenzie. 



Science, as well as practice, is represented by the 

 exhibits of the Arboricultuial Soc'ety, including meteoro- 

 logical it struments and a variety of simple forms of 

 dendromtt' rs, of which the beBt seem to be thrse of 

 Messrs. James Kay and D. F. Mackeczie. Near at 

 hand, Messrs. J. Davis & Co. exhibit varirus forms 

 of their Royal Polytechnic barometers, including Ad- 

 ! miral Fitzroy's weather forecasts and a eepante indic- 

 ator for winter and summer, making altogether a 

 J very ornamental and complete weather-glass. 



