60 THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF COFFEE. 



the leaf, consequent on the irritation produced by the 

 coccus, since it never visits the upper surface of the 

 leaf until it has fully established itself on the lower. 

 At this period the young shoots have an exceedingly 

 disgusting look from the dense mass of yellow pustular 

 bodies forming on them, the leaves get shrivelled, and 

 the tree becomes conspicuous in the row; the black 

 ants are assiduous in their visits to them ; two-thirds 

 of the crop is lost, and on many trees not a single 

 berry forms. 



As far as it is possible to ascertain, the coffee 

 bushes were not affected before 1843, when Captain 

 Robertson first observed the pest on his estate, Lapalla 

 Galla, whence it spread eastward through other estates, 

 and finally reached all the other estates in the island. 

 It or a very closely allied species has been observed in 

 the botanic garden at Peradonia, on the citrus acida, 

 psidium pomiferum, myrtas zeylanica, rosa indica, 

 cureya arborea, vitex negundo, and other plants. The 

 coffee coccus has generally been first observed in moist 

 hollow places, sheltered from the wind, and thence it 

 has spread itself even over the driest and most exposed 

 parts of the islands, and in some estates after attaining 

 a maximum, it has gradually declined, but has shown 

 a liability to reappear, especially in low sheltered 

 situations, and it is believed to prevail most extensively 

 in wet seasons. It is easily transmitted from one 

 estate to another, while in its earlier stages, on the 

 clothes of human beings, and in various other ways 

 which will readily suggest themselves. Dr. Gardner, 

 after careful consideration and minute examination of 

 estates, arrived at the conclusion that all remedies 



