120 On tha Coffee-borer 



life. Throughout the whole of 1866, then, the coffee in 

 Coorg was generally in a sickly condition, partly from 

 the effect of cavises already referred to, and partly from 

 those of the droughts. At the beginning of the present 

 year, too, the amount ef blossom put forth by the coffee 

 was such as had never before been seen by the oldest 

 planter, and, although looked upon by many as a pro- 

 pitious sign, it was doubtless but a symptom of the 

 feeble condition of the plant ; as it is a well-known fact 

 that plants in a sickly condition often produce an unusual 

 number of flowers. No doubt, this efibrt on the part of 

 the coffee still further reduced its powers, as no phenome- 

 non of plant life is more exhaustive in its efi'ects. Alto- 

 gether, therefore, the coffee-plant in Coorg has for some 

 time been in such a weakly state as would render it 

 peculiarly liable to disease, and during the past twelve 

 months, the White Borer has found in it a highly con- 

 genial field, in which to live and multiply. I shall say 

 nothing of the Red Borer, as, confining itself chiefly to 

 tender branches, it is not nearly so destructive in its 

 operations as the other one, and, besides, it has never 

 appeared in great numbers. For the last few years, 

 occasional specimens of the White Borer have been 

 observed by planters, but it is only of late that they have 

 appeared in such numbers as to cause alarm. At the 

 present moment, I do not believe that there is an estate in 

 Coorg free from the pest, while one at least has been ren- 

 dered worthless, and many more will be in nearly the same 

 condition before the advent of the rains in 1868. In fact, 

 this branch of industry is threatened with complete extinc- 

 tion, and it is very humiliating to think that the cause 

 is a tiny insect, of which a man could crush a thousand 

 between his palms. To enter into the natural history of 

 the insect, were the facts at my disposal svifficient to 

 enable me to do so satisfactorily, which they are not, 

 would, in my opinion, be of little avail, as remedial 

 measures, to be successful, must be directed against the 

 causes that have favoured the production and increase 

 of the insect, rather than against the creature itself. 

 Indeed, at first, the operations of the enemy are so in- 

 sidious, that it is generally impossible to say whether a 

 tree has been attacked or not, and it is only when the 

 work of destruction has gone beyond all remedy that 

 symptoms of what has happened become manifest. The 

 signs of Borers being in a tree are drooping of the 

 younger leaves, and, ultimately, a yellow colour in the 



