March i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



615 



• JS'SKI - J ^WC-tm 



BLACK ANTS AND OTHEll PESTS. 



(To tlif Editor of tlte " Pioufer." ) 



Sir, — In the I'ioneer of the 11th Jammry is a 

 graphic account of ii hou^^eholdcv's sufferings from 

 black ants, so I may suggest a remedy wliich 

 I have always found successful ? The crude, dirty, 

 commereiiil castor oil, as sold in the ba/.aars, 

 is so disliked by black ants and they will not 

 come near it. Meatsafes and almirahs may bo 

 protected by letting the feet stand in little tin 

 troughs of water, on the surface of which the 

 oil floats. The oil may also be squirted down 

 any openings from which black ants appear, 

 either outside or inside the house. A lady 

 whose store-room was infested with black ants 

 to such a decree that the trampling swarms could 

 be heard as well as seen expelled them with castor- 

 oil of this sort. She steeped strips of flannel in 

 the oil and nailed them on the edges of shelves, 

 brushing them well once a week with the oil. The 

 effect was marvellous. Kerosine, which your cor- 

 respondent tried, has mil been found eft'ectual against 

 blacU ants, hut it is most efficacious against 

 irhite nnti, blips atnl ticks in chicken-houses or 

 pigeon -houses, if used penixteiithf. Booms or 

 furniture infested with these pests should be 

 emptied, and at first treated freely with keros- 

 ine every day for a week, applj4ng the mineral 

 oil everywliere to the roof, the floor, the wais, 

 and the flxtures, like whitewash. Then it can 

 be apiilied to the room in its j ordinary state 

 twice a week for three months at the edges of the 

 room where the walls meet the floor. After that, 

 if the edges are lightly brushed with the oil once 

 a week, these pests will not return, fo protect 

 fowls from ticks not only must the fowl-house be 

 painted with kerosine, but the pnrvhes also, and 

 every fowl should have its feet lightly brushed 

 with kerosine evei-y night before it retires to rest 

 until all ticks have disappeared, which will be in 

 about a month. The floor of fowl-houses should 

 be dug up occasionally and fresh dry earth put 

 down instead of the old dirty soil. The ground 

 near the fowl-house should be similarly treated, 

 and clean, dry, sifted earth should be provided, 

 in which the birds can take their " dust bath," 

 which they seem to enjoy so thoroughly that it 

 must be conducive to health. 



It. Temple Wbigut, m.h., 



Surgeon Major. 



}}ngpore, 0. P. 



P.S. — Kerosine is equally useful to protest trees 

 from lichen. First scrape all the lichen off the 

 bark with coarse gunny of li'it. Then paint the 

 parts thus exposed with kerosine. * At places 

 where branches are cut or broken, or there is a 

 serious crack in the bark or the wood, paint with 

 kerosine, and then cover the part with tar, as a 

 protection from the air. Can any one mention a 

 good protective against mosquitoes other than 

 mosquito curtains? 



♦ 



Prodict TEH Acre or Strawbekkies in AVestebk 

 New Yohk. — Mr. C. M. Hooker .says that in 1884 

 Btrawberries produced a wonderfiil crop. Never before 

 was .so heavy a crop grown here — (i.DOO to S.O'X) (piarts 

 per acre not being uncommon. The u.sual average in 

 previou.s seasons not Ijting over L',0<TO quarts per acre. 

 This great pro<Iuction arose doubtless from a very 

 favourahle growth of the plants in the fall of l.s,s:;, 

 the plants coming through the past winter in good 

 condition, and frequent rains during the growth and 

 ripening of the fruit. Vricf-s were very low, — (royt- 

 eiiers' Montltly Ilorticalturitt, 



* Might be tried, cautiously, on lichen-iniMted tea 

 trees.— -Ed. 



REPORT OF THK CALCUTTA TEA SYNDICATE. 

 The Tea Syndicate held a meeting on Wednes- 

 day, the nth instant, to receive a linal report of 

 its operations, which may now be said to have 

 practically closed, though it is hoped that .some 

 fruit will yet be gathered from its labours, Mr, 

 Cruickshank, the Chairman, gave an account of 

 the operations of the Syndicate, recapitulating the 

 steps that have been taken in the interests of Ind- 

 ian tea. The Syndicate was formed in 1880, with 

 the object of extending the trade in Indian tea 

 with .Vnstralia, K'20,000 were raised by merchants, 

 agents, and brokers in the city, and this was sup- 

 plemented by grants from trovernnient and con- 

 tributions from others, and by shipments of tea, 

 the commission on which helped to pay the 

 cost of the operations, Mr. D. A. Sibthorp 

 was sent to Australia, and by all likely methods 

 sought to introduce Indian tea to the colonial 

 market. His eti'orts were not very successful at 

 tirst, but by degrees the tea got a footing 

 and what we have noticed elsewhere seems to 

 take place in Australia, The taste for Indian 

 tea, thought not at first always appreciated as it 

 deserves, gradually grows upon the consumer, with 

 the inevitable demand in course of time. Agents 

 in Australia were employed to push the sale of the 

 tea, without any very encouraging success in some 

 parts of the country. The returns of total shipments 

 for five years have shown periods of activity and 

 stagnation alternately, during which probably both 

 the Syndicate and the consumers of tea were being 

 "educated" as to the requirements of the market 

 and the power of the growers to meet them. Though 

 the extension of the trade with Australia has not 

 been so great or rapid as might be desired, the 

 Committee conclude that " Indian Tea has now 

 acquired a secure footing in the Colonial markets, 

 and it is not unreasonable to hope that as its merits 

 become more widely known, the demand for it will 

 steadily increase," In 1.S81, the Syndicate sought 

 to place tea in the American market. But Cousin 

 •Tonathan does not appear to be a tea-drinker. 

 Whether he prefer.s such nectar as "cock-tails" 

 and "eye-openers," wc are not prepared to say. * 

 The American experiment was not even a mod- 

 ified success. The consumption of tea there in 

 any case is small and the preference seems to be 

 for he highly flavoured teas of China and Japan. 

 We tshould have thought our American cousins 

 had been more 'cute in their generation, but it 

 seems not, as fho total shipments to America, 

 through all soui'ces of Indian tea have scarcely ex- 

 ceeded one and-a-ipiarter million pounds, not much 

 more than a teaspoonful per head per annum of 

 the population. The Amsterdam Exhibition seemed 

 to afford an opportunity of introducing Indian Tea 

 on the Continent. Mr. T. Caritt visited several 

 towns, and obtained some interesting information 

 about the tea trade in those countries, but no 

 practical result followed. The Committee had not 

 the means to continue their efforts as had been 

 done in Australia, and though some tea is now 

 taken for mixing purposes, the business done is 

 of a limited character. 



The statement of account shows that the sub- 

 \ scriptions amounted to Rll,12.') ; the disbursements 

 I on account of travelling, iVc, to K48, (17 1-11-3, in 

 addition to which salaries, office expenses, Ac, 

 came to R25,720-12-(i, and Rl'.l,.5y7-12-8 were spent 

 on other accounts. This extra expenditure has 

 been met out of connnissions realised on the 

 sale of Teas, which has enabled the Syndicate 



* Coffee is the favourite beverage in the t'nitcd 

 States, the relative positions of coffee and tea being 

 there the reverse of what obtains in Britain, — Ed. 



