“THE COFFEE PLANTER OF CEYLON.” 69 
the plants were destroyed in the first year by grubs, 
which ringed off the bark close to the ground. But 
our information went to shew that, as the trees in- 
ereased in age and vigour, the attacks of the grubs 
became of less importance, and that the planters on 
the whole made light of the prospect of permanent 
danger from these pests. Like bug-blight and buffalo 
trespass, they would have their day, but would cease 
to attract attention as g-od markets for coffee en- 
abled planters to cultivate highly and to build fences, 
eut ditches, or station watchers. But this alarm from 
one of our older districts demands, and doubtless 
will receive, serious attention. Happily Ceylon is 
not much troubled with the ‘‘borer” so frightfully 
destructive in Southern India, but, so long ago as 
1861, Mr. Nietner characterized the lirve of the moth, 
known to naturalists by the title of AGRoris segetum, 
as ‘‘the well-known and very destructive black bug ;” 
while in regard to white bug ‘‘ ANCYLONYCHA Spec.” 
he wrote :—‘‘ Under the name of ‘white grub,’ the 
larve of various melolonthide de much harm to coffee 
plantations, young and old, by eating the roots of 
the trees.” Lime put into the holes with the young 
trees was mentioned as a remedy, and My. Nietner 
expressed surprise that the ashes of the recently 
burned forest had not a deterrent effect. Wuth the 
light of all further experience, here is Mr. Sabona- 
diere’s deliverance on the subject :— 
““ With coffee-planters, as with English farmers, 
there is seldom a season when everything goes right. 
Thus, if the crop is a good one, there are not suffi- 
cient coolies to pick it; or, when there is a short 
crop, there are so many hands that one is puzzled 
how to employ them. At other times, scarcity and 
dearness of rice, exorbitant cart hire, excess of rain 
or drought :—all more or less tend to make the planter 
anything but a contented man. 
‘‘ In addition to the drawbacks enumerated above, 
the coffee-tree suffers from the attacks of various 
‘creatures of the animal and insect kingdoms. In its 
youth coffee is attacked by large grubs, which eat 
round the bark of the plants just above the ground, 
so that the stems break and the plants generally die 
off. Ashes and limes are sometimes spread round the 
tree in hopes of averting this evil, but with no very 
great success. I am inclined to think that coal tar 
applied to the stem would be more efficaciovs in 
stopping the ravages of these insects, which are par- 
ticularly destructive at the lower elevations, where _ 
the soil is light, dry, and quartzy.” 
We fancy that even in such elevated districts as 
Dimbula, grub, like bug, chiefly affects low, swampy 
