172 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



Under Yield we read that the tree begins to 

 produce as early as the end of the 4th year, 

 but usually in the 6th or 8th, while a good crop 

 should not be looked for till the 9th or 12th 

 year— the period depending largely on the soil, 

 rainfall and treatment. 



The chapt* rs on Insect Pests are from the 

 pen of the Entomologist (Mr. H. A. Ballou) 

 while tha section dealing with fungoid diseases 

 is by Mr. F. W. South, the Mycologist. The 

 sucking insect pests mentioned (to refer to 

 them by their popular names) are Bourbon 

 Asdidiotus, Coconut Snow Scale, Coconut 

 Mealy Bug, Glassy Star Scale, Black Line 

 Scale, and White if'ly ; the biting insects, Bas- 

 solis sopkorce and B. istnmia ; boring insects, the 

 Palm Weevil and Giant Moth Borer. 



'ihe fungoid diseases include budrot, root 

 disease, Btem bleeding disease and leaf disease. 



DISTANCE APART FOK COCONUTS. 



February 10th. 

 Sik, — I see from Exchange that as the result 

 of enquiries instituted by Sir Wm. MacGregor, 

 who had actual measurements taken, it was 

 found that rools stretch as much us 50 feet from 

 the base of the tree under exceptional circum- 

 stan;tts : 30 feet was found to be a common dis- 

 tance. According to many South Sea planters, 

 th<n distance between trees should not be less 

 than 40 fett. This is pretty wide, but there is 

 no doubt fchpt for the best development 30 feet 

 is the minimum. W hat have our local authorities 

 to say on the point ? Auother crop that has 

 suffered by close planting is cacao. Both are 

 fruit crops and should be cultivated orchard- 

 fashion ior the best results. — Yours truly, 



oocos. 



SILK CULTURE. 



Our Correspondent in Manila sends us some 

 interesting extia'jts from au article he has 

 written on the siik exhibits at the Carnival, as 

 he started the industry there, by importing 

 egs and live cocoons from Mr. Braine, 

 oi Ceylon. On coming to the oxhibit of 

 the bureau of science one appears to be enter- 

 ing into a gold mine of silk, tor every where are 

 to be seen hundreds of yards of yellow cloth 

 very much like the beautiful golden yellow 

 Philippine silk. At one place there are racks 

 for trays which will carry the silkworms 

 in all stages of growth, irom the egg to the adult 

 moth. Visitors are able to see silkworms, feed- 

 ing and spinning cocoons, moths, laying eggs, 

 and the eggs as they at e hatching on the little 

 circles of niter paper where they are kept. 



Several girls are engaged in the reeling, throw- 

 ing and spinning of this native grown silk. An 

 improved loom is on exhibition, being used for 

 weaving this silk into jusi and other native silks. 

 This loom has been presented by Messrs. 

 Aguinaldo and Sampidro, who are importers and 

 have iheir offices at 215, Calle Misericordia. 

 Although simple in construction it is speedy and 

 capable of weaving complicated figures, 



The bureau of science desires to impress 

 upon the visitors to the exposition the im- 

 portance pf silk culture to the islands and 



the opportunities there are in it for large 

 returns on a very small investment. The 

 capital needed lor silk culture is very 

 small and profits large. 



At the present time the most important work 

 in silk culture is being done at the Batac in- 

 dustrial school under the direction of W A V 

 Wirem who is the farm superintendent in that 

 school. Silk is being produced on a commer- 

 cial scale in Batac and the outlook there is very 

 bright. Mr Wiren reports that the " whole town 

 will be raising silk next year" and that all those 

 who have done so during ihe last year have had 

 " very fine success." 



Silkworms spend about 3 or 4 days in each of 

 the first four stages after hatching and about 

 seven in the last stage before showing signs 

 of being ready to spin their cocoons. The total 

 life of the Philippine silkworm is about 38 days 

 from egg to egg. This particular breed of silk- 

 worms has been evolved by the bureau of science 

 by crossing the " Bengal-Ceylon type" with the 

 Japanese, which has produced a race of silk- 

 worms that passes through " nine generations a 

 year,'' thus enabling the silk grower in the Phi- 

 lippine islands to get that many crops a year as 

 against one to three in Japan and five to seven in 

 Ceylon. Silkworms feed continuously, except 

 during molting and jutt before spinning, and 

 consume 30,000 times their weight of food from 

 hatching to cocoon. Their food is the leaf of 

 the mulberry tree which grows rapidy here in 

 the two years after the cuttings are put out, to 

 produce silk. 



THE AVOCADO PEAR 



or what is commonly known as the " Alligator " 

 pear, because of its dead colour and prickly 

 spiues, is rapidly gaining favour at home and in 

 America. It is most successfully grown in 

 Hawaii, while in Formosa, the Philippines, and 

 other tropical countries expeiiments are prov- 

 ing very successful with this fruit, and should 

 also here. The Field has an excellent descrip- 

 tion of the pear ( Persia grdlissima ). The tree 

 is related to the bay, and grows to about 30 feet 

 in height, with a spreading head, ovate entire 

 bright green, deciduous leaves about 6in. long, 

 and small, whitish fi vvers, borne in the exils of 

 the upper leaves, ihe fruits, which are neely 

 produced, are usually similar in size and shape 

 to a William pear, and they are smooth, green, 

 tinged more or less with purple, very pulpy when 

 ripe, and inclosing a large egg shaped seed. 

 The pulp is firm and buttery, greenish y-.llow 

 in colour, with a flavour that suggests wa;nuts. 

 — The tree is common in many tropical coun- 

 tries, being cultivated for its fruits, which are 

 highly esteemed though at first they are not 

 alwaj s relished. It is eaten raw with salt and 

 pepper, and considered to be very nutritious. 

 Untortuuately, the nature at the fruit when it 

 is ripe is such that it bruises easily, which 

 makes its transportation difficult It is gathered 

 a few days before it is ripe.- Special attention 

 is being given to the Avocado pear in Florida 

 and California, where it is looked upon as a 

 tree of considerable commercial importance, 



