6$o 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



J i' iiKUARY 2, 1885. 



of the planting community, chiefly of proprietors ; and 

 let him thank God he is only a swell of a super- 

 intendent (if such be the case), and not a mortgage-rid- 

 den, helpless, hopeless " proprietor." Many, 1 dare 

 say, envy him his coigne of vantage. But perhaps 

 Mr. Talbot (who seems to have more humanity iu 

 him than some of his neighbours) was wrong, and 

 things are not so bad ; and that " Old Hand " of your 

 iseue of the 15th is another lucky and successful man, 

 and perhaps he is not. Overdoing it lias ruiued more 

 men than those of less "energizing "principles. Many 

 an estate has been ruined by over- manuring : for in- 

 stance, the finest coffee estate I know at this time, 

 300 ajres of one unbroken sheet of luxuriance, gives 

 in these times steady paying crops without a particle 

 of manure ; but if the proprietor insisted upon (i cwt. 

 an acre, instead of the steady 3 cwt. he now gets, he 

 doubiless would get it at a cost, but to the injury 

 of his estate and future expensive upkeep. I am 

 stating a special case and not spe iking generally, only 

 that it is not always wise to be a high cultivator, 

 through which many a man has lest his estate. 



I hope I have answered " S. " ? As regards insane 

 idvice, there are not many men in the country who 

 tare attempt experiments ; and those who might do 

 so, need not. 



But there ia still a point left about the uncovered 

 :.ea plants. The truth is simply a« stated by me. Dur- 

 ing some few fine days in September I burnt offa patch 

 "f patana, planted it up with the tea in question, and 

 .'eft it till middle of January. For the last three months 

 or eo I have not been able to see these plants buried 

 in weeds and grass. When uncovered they were bet- 

 ter grown, and were better preserved than their fel- 

 lows which had received better treatment. That's the 

 small fact as stated by me, having been led to do 

 so by the statement made in your letters " From the 

 Hills " of tea holding its own even in wholly aban- 

 doned land, " S. " 's scepticism does not trouble me. 

 I am only amused at his surprise, as he evidently 

 does not know half what tea plants can stand. " S." 

 oannot trace any advice here, or even the slightest 

 inference that I intend to practice the operation. His 

 remarks about the coolies is another evidence of his 

 want of observation. It is not Ramaeamy's mammoty, 

 or scraper, but insects that attack young p'ants which 

 is about the worst treatment they can stand. You, 

 sir, put the question, " Does tea require as careful weed- 

 ing as coffee ? " My answer, as an "Old Hand" (but with 

 only 18 months' experience of tea), is : "Certainly not," 

 by a very long day. Coffee was always sensitive to 

 old weeds, but nowa-days one season's neglect kills 

 it. But bearing in mind the differences in lands : that 

 in the first vigor of virginity in the lowcountry 

 would, I should imagine, quickly encourage euch a 

 growth of vegetation, if neglected, as would astonish 

 even tea. If " S. " really wants " advice " here it is. 

 Motto : Reduce the area of cultivatiin to within your 

 means, and kfep that clean at all coats. Do what 

 you like wilb. t's rest, but if you spy an opening 

 for "experiment," which may outrage your neighbour 

 good Mrs. Grundy) do Dot be frightened by that old 

 woman from doing yourself and '■ the State " that 

 " service." OLD HAND. 



AN ENEMY OF 

 Deis Sik,- 



THE CACAO PLANT. 

 Matalc, 20th Jan. 1889. 

 -In the enclosed match-box you will find 

 a beetle. 1 should be much obliged if you 

 could tell me its name, &c. It was found on the J 

 branches of a young cacao tree which it (?) had just | 

 succeeded in cutting down. The stem where it was cut 

 was about 1 J iuch in diameter. I have seen a &0& many 

 trees out down in the same way, but us the stump 



ilways sonde op a good Backer they will not do rety 

 muehharm, -Yuan truly, CtttWDERKS ^'OMlCOsUS, j 



[Our entomological referee writes:— "A longicorn 

 beetle. In Packard's Guide to the Study 6f Inst cts, page 

 498, will be found a description of an American species, 

 On- Uteres cingulatus, commonly called the girdler. Its 

 habits are thus described :- ' This insect may be seeu 

 in Pennsylvania during the two last weeks in August 

 and the first week in September, feeding upon the 

 bark of the tender branches of the young hickories. 

 Both sexes arc rather rare, particularly the male, 

 which is rather smaller than the female, but with 

 longer antenna. The female makes perforations in the 

 branches of the tree upon which she lives (which 

 are from half-an-inch to less than a quarter-of-au-inch 

 thick), in which she deposits her eggs ; she then 

 proceeds to gnow a groove of about a tenth-of-an inch 

 wide and deep around the branch aud below the 

 place where the eggs are deposited, so that the ex- 

 terior portion dies and the larva feeds on the dead 

 wood and food which is essential to many insects, 

 although but few have the means of providing it for 

 themselves or their progeny by an instinct so remark- 

 able. — Ed.] 



TEA-CURING; THE CHALLENGE ROLLER. 

 Blackstone, 22nd Jan. 1885. 

 Dear Sir, — I have frequently been asked what I 

 could say for the " Challenge ' roller, regarding the 

 merits of which I refrained from committing myself 

 to an opinion, without previously obtaining a report 

 from the " Laue," on not merely a sample but an 

 ordinary break. The tea having now passed what 

 may well be termed the crucial test, I send you the 

 report for public information, and shall be glad to 

 send you samples male with this machine. It makes, 

 you will find, a bold wiry well-twisted tea. Its 

 principal feature is that \U work is done without 

 much breaking, and it brirg* out the hgher grades 

 without damage to the leaf. It can be worked with 

 six coolies, and, if there is not much lea making, even 

 four coolies may, iu au emergency, command the 

 machine for a roll or two. It wanes no great speed 

 for efficient work, and will roll the tea as I have 

 described, above up to SO lb., withered leaf, in 30 or 35 

 minutes, according to speed. Where there is not 

 water enough to work a wheel at full power for|a 

 " Jack*on," the " Challenge " will cause no embar' 

 rassment, 



It has also this advantage, having handles on, that 

 during a drought, where the water-power is reduced, 

 manual power can be always added, to supply the 

 deficiency. Its one great fault at first was that it 

 either broke or flattened the leaf. It was brought to 

 public notice somewhat prematurely by its sauguine 

 inventor, and the knowledge of this tact was sufficient 

 to discourage men so fastidious about manufacture as 

 the (. eylon planters are from investing in this machine. 

 The buiden of perfecting the roller was transferred 

 to the purchaser, who paid about K900 for the privilege. 

 In my own ease, experiments With various sized and 

 •hapi tl battens was a matter of almost daily occur, 

 rence for some months, tiil at last I found alter' 

 ations to suit me. The battens in the One used at 

 Mariawatte were also altered or added to, I under- 

 stand. The iuveutor has himself, I see, condemned these 

 first adopted battens. I obtained lately two do»in 

 studs or little cones to replace all but four battens 

 on lach coue. But these I do not prefer to the bat- 

 tens at present in use here, as the studs I lind only 

 help to ttar the leaf up, and are, besides, too many. I 

 m. an however to experiment with them and slightly 

 round eft' the offendiug points and arrange them in a 

 manner i»0t merely calculated to give satisfactory re- 

 mits but in 11 maimer thai careful trials and experi- 

 ments may ju-sti y, or off with them In the mean- 

 while, having so tar iuceccded with the battens which 



