124 On the Cofee-horer 



from dry and scorching winds, and give tlio Borer a less 

 expensive food than the coffee-tree, seems deserving 

 of a trial. Farmers and gardeners at home are quite 

 familiar with expedients of this kind for getting rid of 

 the larvfB of insects destructive of fruit-trees or crops. 

 I examined the Borer found in the charcoal-tree, and it 

 seemed identical with the coffee one. As I have hinted 

 already, it seems perfectly futile to attempt to stop the 

 increase of, or to extirpate, the Borer by doctoring indi- 

 vidual trees, and the truth of this will become apparent 

 when we consider for a moment that every acre on an 

 estate contains an average from 1800 to 2000 plants, and 

 that the larvas live in the interior of the stem. On the 

 other hand, there cannot be a doubt that the complete 

 destruction by fire of every coffee-shrub infested with 

 Borer is a most essential preventive measure, as every 

 Borer permitted to live may produce a beetle, and every 

 female beetle may deposit at least 200 eggs. For stanip- 

 iuQ-out measures of this nature, some combination 

 amongst planters is highly desirable, as a bored estate, 

 in which such means are neglected, will prove a source 

 of danger to others in its neighbourhood. I think, how- 

 ever, that the efforts of the planter should chiefly be 

 directed towards the introduction of a superior mode of 

 cultivation, so as to get the plants into better condition.^-' 



Dr. Bidie has since been appointed by the Madras 

 Government a Special Commissioner for investigating 

 the ravages of the Borer in Mysore and Madras. I am 

 indebted to Mr. Daniel Hanbui-y for the following ex- 

 tracts. 



{Extracts from a letter of Br. George Bidie, dated Y'K'ERks- 

 PETTAH, [Goorg) , 21 Dec. 1867.) 



" In the little kingdom of Coorg two or three coffee 

 estates have been almost entirely cleared of their trees 

 by the Borer ; some have lost from 8 to 50 per cent., and 

 none on which the plants are upwards of three years old, 

 have escaped entirely. Plants less than three years old 

 are rarely attacked, and the older the tree the more 

 liable is it to suffer. The eggs of the insect are depo- 

 sited in cracks of the bark on the stem, from 3 to 18 

 inches above the surface of the ground. When hatched, 

 the little larva works in the cambium until it has strength 



