February 2, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



641 



FLY-MAGGOTS FEEDING ON CATERPILLARS. 

 A few months ago I had a caterpillar of Papilio ery- 

 thronius, which I found ou a lemou-tree. I put it into 

 a card-box, and fed it daily ou lemon-leaves. The box was 

 covered with cloth tied tightlu all round the opemng. Alter 

 some days, the caterpillar fixed itself to the side of the 

 box, ami turned into a chrysalis in the usual way. One 

 day on opening the box, instead of finding the chrysalis 

 changing into its usual colours and markings, it was dark 

 all over. A few days more, on re-opening the box, 1 

 found six fully-developed cream-coloured maggots at the 

 bottom of the box. I was rather puzzled to conjecture how 

 these maggots got into a box three inches high, witb a 

 bit of cloth tied all round the opening. I put the mag- 

 gots into a little box with some earth under a tumbler. 

 They immediately buried themselves in the earth. In a 

 few days I found six chrysalides, and some days later there 

 were six ordinary house-flies buzzing within the tumbler. 

 I then examined the dark chrysalis of the P. erythromus, 

 which was evidently dead, and found it only a shell. All 

 its interior had been consumed by the six maggots It is 

 evident that these maggots in their infant stage had already 

 been in the body of the caterpillar when I boxed it. lue 

 latter had gone through its transformation as if nothing 

 was the matter with it, although, if one could have in- 

 terrogated it, probably it would have complained ot mys- 

 terious gnawiugs and creepings in its interior. A time, 

 of course, came when, for want of nerve-centres and other 

 organs, the chrysalis could not go on with its develop- 

 ment into the perfect Papilio. The six maggots having 

 had a full meal, found their way out of the Papilio s 

 chrysalis in order to undergo their transformation. 



I knew that the larvaj of the Ichneimonida- fed on the 

 live bodies of caterpillars, but I did not know that the 

 larval of the house-fly did so also— E. .Bonavia — Nature. 



OINOHONA LEDGERIANA A3 A SPECIES. 



At the last meeting of the Linnean Society, a paper 

 was read by Mr. E. M. Holmes on "Cinchona Ledgenana 

 as a Species." The author stated that, judging from the 

 variable character of the bark met with in commerce under 

 this name, some of which, like that from Darjeelmg, was 

 cluarly a pure calisaya bark, while others presented the 

 characters of hybrids of that species with C. officinalis, 

 he had come to the conclusion that a number of varieties 

 and forms and probably some hybrids of C. Calisaya are 

 now in cultivation under the name of Ledgenana. A com- 

 parison of herbarium specimens from different localities 

 pointed to the same conclusion. The history of Ledger s 

 seed was traced to prove that this must have been the 

 case ; the original seed having consisted of the product ot 

 about fifty trees and having been at first considered as 

 calisaya, and placed under circumstances by which thoy 

 were almost certain to have been subjected to the influence 

 of hybridization. The author claimed that sufficient atten- 

 tion has not been paid to the characters presented by the 

 bark, and expressed his belief, that if these were studied 

 iu conjunction with those afforded by the flowers mid fruit, 

 the various forms now cultivated under the name ot Lodger- 

 iana would be more easily defined and recognized, Ou 



lariug the essential characters mentioned by Dr, Xrimen 



as distinguishing the 0, Ledgeriana, Moons, he found that 

 they were to bo met with in other forms of caubaya, the 

 small flowers being found in the var. palttda of weddcJl, 

 and Leavee of exactly similar shape In the var. mterecorpa, 

 Wedd., while tho drooping flowerbude did not occur m a 

 jpi cimen received from M, Moeus, by Mr, J. E, Howard, 

 a flowering twig of which WaB placed upon the table at 

 the meeting, He, therefore, concluded that if there was 

 anything characteristic in the habit oS the tree to enable 

 it to be easily recognized by sight it should be regarded 

 only as horticultural form, referable to Cinchona Calisaya, 

 var. pallida, as a form "Trimeniana.'' Judgmg from a 

 specimen of the bark received from Mr. T. N. Ohnstie, of 

 Ceylon, for the Museums of the Pharmaceutical Society, 

 half of which had been analysed by Dr. Paul, he considered 

 that the analysis bore out the opinion he had previously 

 (armed of this particular bark, and in which Mr. G, L. 

 Howard and agreed, viz., that it was a hybrid Between 

 t, (9Hm]iH and. Q, yjkiimfa I'lmiMWM'M </rW" 



THE NUTMEG. 

 Of immense commercial importance is the Nutmeg tret , 

 Myristiea moscbata, or M. aromatica. It is also ornamental 

 by its clusters of berries or fruit. The plant is not com- 

 monly met with in this country, and it is seldom grown 

 except in botanical or oflicinal collections. Its cultivation, 

 however, is not difficult. It thrives in a sandy loam ami 

 brisk heat, and cuttings strike freely inserted iu sand and 

 placed in heat under a bell-glass. 



Of the Nutmeg tree Dr. Hogg has written as follows 

 in his " Vegetable Kingdom : " — " It is a native of the 

 Moluccas and neighbouring islands, but is now cultivated 

 iu Java, Sumatra, Fenang, the Isle of Bourbon, Mauritius, 

 and other parts of the East, and in Cayenne, Martinique, 

 and some of the West India islands. It attains the height 

 of 30 feet, with a straight stein and a branching head. 

 The leaves are oblong-oval, glossy on the upper surface 

 and whitish beneath, and with an aromatic taste. The 

 flowers are male and female on different trees, insigni- 

 ficant, and of a yellowish colour. The fruit is round or 

 oval, ^ibout the size of a small Peacli, with a smooth sur- 

 face, green at first, but becoming yellow wheu ripe. The 

 external covering, which may be called a husk, is thick 

 and fleshy, containing an austere astringent juice ; becom- 

 ing dry by maturity, it opens in two valves, and discovers 

 the nut covered with its aril, or mace, which is of a beau- 

 tiful blood-red colour; beneath the mace is a brown shin- 

 ing shell containing the kernel or Nutmeg. 



" A plantation of Nutmeg trees is always made from 

 seed, and it is not till the eighth or ninth year that the 

 trees produce flowers. The sexes being on different trees, 

 after the plants are two years old they are all headed 

 down and grafted with scions taken from the female tree, 

 reserving only one male stock for fecundation. The natives 

 of the Moluccass gather the fruit by hand, strip off and 

 reject the pulpy husk, detach the mace carefully, and ex- 

 pose it to the sun, which soon changes its beautiful blood- 

 red colour to a light brown ; it is then sprinkled with 

 sea water to render it flexible and preserve it. The nuts 

 are first sun-dried and then smoked, until the kernels rattle 

 against the shell. This shell being removed, the kernels 

 are dipped twice or thrice in lime water, laid in heaps 

 for two or three days, wiped, and packed in bales or bar- 

 rels. The unripe fruit of the Nutmeg is frequently pre- 

 served in sugar iu the East; and before doing so it is 

 necessary to deprive it of its acrid properties by soaking 

 it iu spirits." — Journal of Horticulture, 



SINGELL TEA COMPANY (LIMITED), 

 The following is the report by the Managing Agents 

 to the shareholders of the Singell* Tea Company (Limited i: — 

 The Managing Agents beg to submit herewith the State- 

 ment of Accounts for the half-year enning BOtb June 

 last, with a corresponding statement of the similiar period 

 1883. 

 Season 1884,— The District has suffered from a severe 



drought, extending from the end of the rainy Bee 



of 1883, until late in the spring, which has seriously 

 affected the garden during the early portion oftheseasou 

 in respect of outturn, During May an improvement took 

 place iu the weather, but a scanty rainfall has charac- 

 terized the Whole season, Even under the convparatlvcly 

 adverse circumstance of weather tin' outturn Is equal to 

 that of last year, and tho Company's tajferty is in a sound 

 condition, 

 The following is a statement of Tea made from tho 

 1 commencement of,, the season to 31st .Tuly, for the present 

 and two previous seasons: 



1884, 1883. 1882. 



Slngeillb, ... 105.H1 100,711 124,920 



lM.,,1, in ,. .,. 30,808 35,133 35,011 



Total lb, ... 142,039 141,847 150,031 



The quantity of Tea received in Calcutta to date is 

 ' 128,1001b, of which 122,211 lb. have been sold here at a 

 nett average of annas 0-8-2 perlb; 

 Garden,— Under date 0th August, the Manager reports 

 I as follows : — 



Cultivation, — The Gardens are in nice cultivation, and 



♦Singell Is ■■' steep featured estate at Kurseong, about 

 half-way f StUgurl toDwjlllng,altitudi nl„>nt :'./,ui| i, , : 



