ENEMIES AND REMEDIES. 87 



axils of the leaves, and among the stalks of the crop- 

 clusters, which it cuts off wholesale, either during the 

 blossoms' stage or just after the young berries have 

 formed. In the latter case, its operations may be easily 

 recognized by the large quantities of young, green berries 

 with which the ground beneath the trees will be strewn, 

 and is also discerned by a white, flour-like excretion, 

 which it deposits around the axil-works where it has 

 made its abode. The prescription alike recommended 

 for black-bug will be here found equally efficacious, but 

 in either case probably a decoction of common tobacco 

 might be sufficient when much more evenly prepared. 



The Coffee-bug. — The Coffee tree is attacked by 

 various species of coccida in most countries, where they 

 are known by different names, but careful cultivation has 

 greatly reduced the evil. There are two distinct species 

 of bug found in the Coffee-growing countries, called 

 respectively the " black " or " scaling," and the " white " 

 or " mealy." The former, Lccuminmm Coffca, is a minute 

 insect which attaches itself to the tenderest shoots of the 

 plant, the females having the appearance of small scallop- 

 shells, of a brown color, and adhering to the leaf or twig 

 in the same manner as the scallop-shell to a rock ; at 

 first horizontal, soon takes an upward, spiral direction, 

 and proceeds until a safe shoot is found in which the 

 larvae may be deposited. The tree soon droops and 

 dies down to the point at which the entry has been 

 effected, and where it can be easily broken off by a sharp 

 pull at the upper part. The only course in this case 

 is to break off the tree in this manner, and then burn the 

 stem with the larvse secreted in its centre. Young shoots 

 will proceed from the stump, and one of these may be 

 trained to succeed the original stem. The insect is very 



