704 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April t, 1886. 



of the nnder surface proceeds a long slender suckiug- 

 bristlc: even this can only be discerned under a 

 microscope. 



" The insect is divide<l intn the usual number of 

 segments (of the coccus), which are rather indistinct 

 at the anterior, but deeply divided at the poiteriur 

 extremity, and fringed at the sides with short tufts 

 of hair. The eggs, which are laid within tlie cell, 

 are oval, pale-red, and trau.spareuf ; before the; young 

 insect emerges, its limbs and eyes are plainly visilili- 

 through the thin covering. It is hatched within the 

 parent cell, aud is then almost identical in appear- 

 ance to the young larva of the brown-bug (/ectmiitm 

 coft'eir), being pale liesh-coloured with two short pointeil 

 aiitennse, si.'C legs, two minute black eyes, and a pair of 

 anal filaments which are almost as long as the entire 

 insect. It soon wanders away in search of n(^vv past- 

 ures. When once it has fixed itself under the thin 

 outer skin of the bark, it decides to stay there for 

 the rest of its life, and accordingly dispenses with 

 its legs, eyes, aud antenna- as being of uo further 

 use, developing instead a suckiug-bristle. It is in this 

 first stage, and iu the adult form of the male, that 

 the insect proves its close relatiouship to the scale- 



" When the female insect dies, the covering of the 

 cell falls off, leaving a small white scar. On many 

 trees the bark is doited all over mth these white 

 6pots: iu nearly every such case the tree has a hidc- 

 bouud appearance and looks ' shuck iu general.' In 

 some districts it is diflicult to find a single cinchona 

 tree that is uot more or less attacked. 



" The male insects conmience life in much the same 

 way, but they congregato in larger colonies, though 

 not so widely distributed. In the larval stage they 

 keep quite apart from the females. I have seldom 

 found the two sexes upon the same tree. To ac- 

 count lor this, it would seem probable that periodic- 

 ally a complete batch of eggs develop into male 

 iusects alone. The male colonies are few and far 

 between, but, where they do occur, they often cover 

 the bark so thickly as entirely to alter its appearance. 

 The male larva is very much smaller than the female, 

 similar in shape, but of a pale-orange or yellow colour. 



" But it is in the pvpa stage that the male colonies 

 are most apparent; for then each insect exudes a 

 fibrous cottony substance from one extremity of its 

 cells, which i'es in oblong tlakes uearly parallel to 

 each other. I have seen a small cinchona (otlicinalis) 

 tree so thickly covered with these white tlakes that 

 the bark was completely hidden. ^Vithiu this white 

 substance lies the small red pii/m which produces 

 after a time the perfect male insect, a minute red 

 fly, only just visible to the nakeil eye. 



" \'iewed under a miscrosrope, it is sr. en to be pro- 

 vided with a single pair of dehcate, faintly-hyaline 

 wiugE, which, when the insect is at rest, are laid aloug 

 the back overlapping each other. From the head pro- 

 ceed a pair of long, jointed antenuie, fringed with 

 gliort hairs. It has no anal filaments like the males 

 of the black and mealy-bugs, but the tail ends in a 

 long point, about a third of the length of the body 

 of the insect. Bu^- the most curious fact concerning 

 it is, that it possesses four large, black eyes, one pair 

 situated on the top of the head and another pair on 

 the under side. They are all true eyes, rot the small 

 ' ocelli ' that are frei|Uently present iu other insects. 

 This wovdd seem as if it nished to make up for 

 lost time, having been condemned to pass the greater 

 part of its existence in complete blindness. 



"The /(oiff aud 2»'l'"' "f *^^ '""''' "'sects are 

 more destructive to Iho trees they attack than 

 those of the female, though fortunately their colonies 

 are linuted. The female iusects appear to live for 

 a considerable time, as their cells are frequently cov. 

 ered with lichen; and during that time tliey have 

 no doubt jiroduced many broods of yovuig ones, 

 though they seem to lay ouly a few eggSMt a time. 

 They are preyed upon by several species of minute 

 wasps, Bud a horny black mite helps to thin their 

 numbers. A thick grey fungus generally follows 

 the attacks of the male iMect, cuveloping the 



trunk branches of the tree in a complete air- 

 tight suit. I have found several allied species of 

 this curious insect, Uviug under the cuticle of the 

 leaves of differeut jungle trees, and p.articularly in 

 the leaves of the Australian ' Bottlcbrush' tree ( CcU- 

 listeMoii linenri^.y 



If this pest is known in India on the tea, aud 

 any remedies have been suggested, I shall be glad 

 to hear about it, as well as to any damage done to 

 the trees themjselves. 



Oil from tea seed forms the subject of auuther 

 communication, aud runs thus: — 



"Very good oil to burn and for other uses is made 

 from tea-seed in Ohiua (I believe it is a better oil 

 to burn than coconut oil.) Coolies aud others are now 

 making it for their own use ou estates. If it would 

 pay the expense of gathering, making, &c., and give 

 a profit, surely it would be worth while to make 

 iucjuiries about. There is no doubt about it the trees 

 would be relieved if the seed was gathered, as it 

 would be taken off loug before it would drop natur- 

 ally; besides there would not be so large an amount 

 of seedlings, which it is almost impossible for the 

 weeders t[uite to clear out. No doubt about it: trees 

 seeding so early as they do iu Oeylou is no hght 

 matter; aud, it a way could be found to turn' it to 

 a profitable account, we should uot be altogether 

 losers. If it pays to make iu China, why uot iu Ceylon i*"* 



This is something new to me, and whatever the 

 quality may be of oil expressed from ripe seed, I 

 caiinot think the product of unripe seed can be of 

 much value. — Indiun Plunttrs' GatctU. 



Dr. Bon.\vi.\, of the Lucknow Horticultural 

 Gardens, has but little faith in the statements as 

 to the suitability and value of the Eiionlyphis 

 ghibiilus in swampy and marshy districts. The 

 results of his experience with the tree confirm the 

 unfavourable results that have also been obtained 

 with it in Italy, and he is surprised that it should 

 ever have been deemed fitted to discharge the 

 efficacious and salutary (unctions that have been 

 so universally claimed on its behalf. — Aiimricaii 

 Cullivator, Dec. 1885. 



Indian Tea ksb Coffee.— The coffee idautations 

 through(rat India (says the Grocer) are now threatened 

 by external competition, chiefly from Brazil. In lS.s:i- 

 84, lSn,.'!<:>0 acres were returned as being under colfeo 

 for all India. Their total yield was ^n,7.')0,00() lbs., or a 

 slight advance on that of lSfl2-S3 (.an exceptionally bad 

 year), but considerably below the average formerly 

 attained. The cultivation of tea, on tlie contrary, re- 

 ceived a decided impetus. There were 2ti(),.'i7I acres 

 actually plant<nl, or 12,0110 more thin iu 18S2-S3 and 

 considerably more than 1(10. OIK) additional acres were 

 takeu up for pl.intation. But perhaps the following 

 comparison will give the best idea of the growth of tea- 

 plantiug. -During the last nine years the acreage under 

 tea has increased by uearly 10!l per cent, aud the 

 total outturn ((i5,i)U0,(i!)9 lbs. ) has increased If 11 per cent 

 during the same period. Assam still remains the most 

 important province of India for tea, and alone produced 

 more than .i2,li00,00n lbs. of the whole outturn. The 

 area of the gardi'us increased from ITS.N.il acres to 

 li>9, l.)3, aud the approximate average yield of mature 

 plants per acrii is estimated at ,')2;i lbs., iigaiust 2!)0 lbs. 

 iuthe previous soflsou. In Bengal the number of plant- 

 ations diminished, but the area under tea, especially iu 

 Darjeeling and Julpigoree, was nevertheless larger. In 

 the Pun jaub the cultivation of the plaut has been aban- 

 doned in Simla, aud has now been restricted to some 

 8000 acres in Kangra. In Madras aud Travaueoro tho 

 plaut:di'ins reuriin much the same as before. In BurnuiJi 

 tea was grown expcriuieuLally for the first time, with 

 fair success. 



* A small quantity of tea-seed-oil was made as an 

 experiment some 20 years ago by the Superintenilent 

 of the Central Assam Tea Go. at Diftloo. It burned 

 very well, and the experiments would no doubt have 

 been carried out on a larger scale, but for the death 

 of the gentlemsm,— Ed. /. P. G, 



