. riiOCEEDINGS OF THE Fa1i\MLKS'' ClUB. (iQ,') 



insects, wliich must result if the l)raiiclie5 be allowed to trail on the 

 ground, and dirt to accumulate round the stem. 



In the third year the pruning should be performed by iruinning 

 with the knife in preference to the shears, which, unless used by 

 those who thoroughly understand them, only break and jag the plant so 

 as to give the lateral branches an upward tendency. All straggling 

 branches should be closely trimmed and a conical form given to the 

 plant. 



In the fourth year the bl'anches should be neatly trimmed round 

 the sides or the plant, and cut down to from twenty-four to twenty -six 

 inches in a flat, table-like shape, the secondary laterals being thinned 

 out from the center, if the plant be not sufiiciently ventilated ; as too 

 dense a growth in the heart is highly injurious, care being at the 

 same time taken to remove all the cuttings from oft' the plant. 



In the Ji/th year much the same system may be pursued, with the 

 exception of the pruning being made more concave toward the cen- 

 ter, allowing three inches below the margin of the bush. 



In the sixth, and succeeding years, the planter must be guided by 

 the re<|uirements of the tea tree, and must exercise his own discre- 

 tion, bearing in mind that, by cutting all old wood, lie promotes the 

 growth and development of new shoots, which are essentially required 

 for manutacturing purposes, 



IxsECTS Injurious to the Tea Plant, and best Preventive Mea- 

 sures AGAINST them. 



The most destructive of all insects to the tea plant, and particularly 

 to the seedlings, is \.\\q paddle-cricket, which burrows itself to a great 

 depth during the day and makes its raids on the plant at night, nip- 

 ping them oft" close to the ground, and destroying in this manner 

 thousands of seedlings in one night. There are only two methods of 

 destroying these insects, namely, by either digging them out of their 

 holes, or by inserting poison (cyanide of potassium) tlierein and clos- 

 ing up the orifice with a stake firmly driven down it. 



Caterpillars, bugs, ants, and various descriptions of the l:)eetle tribe 

 are also somewhat injurious, especially the white ant, but not to such 

 a degree as the paddle-cricket; and the only mode of guarding against 

 them is by keeping the plantation perfectly clean and the plants free 

 from dead wood. 



There i.s also a loeevil called the lorer, which has been found to 

 destroy the tea plant, by piercing the stem and boring a complete 



