112 On the Coffee-borer 



warm weather in February and March. The larva is 

 full-grown by July, when it enters the pupa state, and is 

 transformed into the beetle after the monsoon. I am, 

 however, not so very positive about these data, but 

 I hope to ascertain the facts after further investigation. 



The symptoms of a tree with the Borer in it are 

 these : cessation of vigorous growth, peculiar twisting 

 or curling of the terminal leaflets of the primaries and 

 secondaries, foliage in general languid and drooping, 

 and, in advanced state of burrowing, yellow. 



From all the foregoing statements we may draw the 

 following conclusions : — 



1. The white Borer penetrates the coffee-trees, and, 

 especially when young, generally at or close to the root, 

 originating from eggs which are deposited by the coffee- 

 beetle (Ctimtjus co/fcopJiagus) , not cumulative but dis- 

 persed under the bark. 



2. The larvae ascend and descend the tree without 

 interfering with each other^s burrows, and prefer the 

 hardest wood, themselves closing their passage behind 

 as they proceed ; they cannot be reached by any external 

 means. 



3. When mature, they approach the bark for their 

 transformation, and it is probable that, though they 

 burrow up to the bark, they do not penetrate it for 

 the egress of the future beetle. 



4. Any appliance of means to destroy the insects m 

 the tree would only affect them after the tree has received 

 irreparable injury. Remedies do not save the affected 

 tree, but by killing the insects a further spread of the 

 Borer pest is prevented. 



5. It is therefore essential to know the time of the 

 impending exit of the beetle, and should the orifices be 

 open before the larva enters the pupa state, the closing 

 up of these orifices by any insect-destroying drug would 

 prove a safe remedy, not, however, for the preservation 

 of the young and suffering tree. 



6. The shortest way to effect the same result is the 

 up-rooting and smashing of the tree at the first sign of 

 the Borer. 



A word regarding ' planting under shade.' Six 

 miles from Mercara on the Virajpet road, in dense forest 

 land, is the plantation of the Naib Sheristadar B. Bopie, 

 adjoining to it that of a European planter. The latter 

 estate has the Borer, whilst the former has it not. This 

 is under shade, the other on an open clearance. The 



