Edible Products, 



32 



[July, 1910. 



Exchequer that 3s. per lb. represented 

 the maximum if the consumption were 

 not to be discouraged. Nevertheless the 

 " combine," as the Imperial Tobacco 

 Company is frequently described in the 

 trade, was able to report the increase 

 in profits already mentioned, although 

 Lord Winterstoke at the annual meeting 

 of the shareholders was careful to point 

 out that the effect of the higher duty 

 was only felt in the second six months 

 of the year, and that profits must be 

 adversely affected unless the duty were 

 reduced. The almost immediate effect 

 of the additional 8c2. per lb. of duty was 

 a reduction in quantity consumed, but 

 the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 

 reintroducing the 1909-10 Budget was 

 able to report that the revenue had 

 suffered a loss of only £53,000 in tobacco 

 when the sum of £106,000 deposited in 

 security of additional duty not paid was 

 taken into account. The net consump- 

 tion, after all drawbacks have been taken 

 into account, shows a decrease of over 

 5,000,000 lbs., clearances latterly having 

 been kept down to the lowest point 

 possible, in anticipation of, or rather as 

 a precautionary measure against, the 

 reduction of the duty. The disturbance 

 caused in the trade by the advance of 



the duty has been very great, and it is 

 only now that prices may be said to 

 have reached anything appioaching 

 finality. The first impulse of all manu- 

 facturers was to advance prices as nearly 

 as possible to the extent of the increase 

 in the duty, but in certain of the pro- 

 prietary packet tobaccos and cigarettes 

 the stress of competition ultimately 

 forced the reduction of prices to the old 

 level, so that the trade in this case was 

 left to shoulder the additional burden. 

 In view of the disturbance to the trade, 

 felt as it is to the extremities of all its 

 ramifications, it is scarcely surprising 

 that an agitation has sprung up to 

 secure more stability by obviating these 

 frequently recurring changes in the 

 duty. It is proposed that when the 

 duty has been fixed it should not be 

 altered for a period of at least three 

 years. The House of Commona would 

 no doubt be very loth to do anything 

 which would have the effect of tying the 

 hands of future Chancellors of the 

 Exchequer, but there is a good deal to 

 be said for the proposal, if only to 

 prevent those fluctuations in duty pay- 

 ments which are apt to upset the most 

 careful estimates of the Government's 

 financial advisers. 



PLANT SANITATION. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES. 



By E. Ernest Green, 

 Government Entomologist. 



Helopeltis. 



Mr. C. B. Antram (Entomologist to 

 the Indian Tea Association^ has rounded 

 off his previous two pamphlets on the 

 ' Mosquito Blight of Tea' (reviewed in 

 the January number of this Journal) by 

 a third useful circular completing the 

 life history of the insect for the whole 

 year, the previous pamphlets having 

 dealt with its history during the cold 

 weather months only (Nov. to March). 



There is an introductory note by Dr. 



H. H. Mann who analyses the several 

 papers and lays stress upon the more 

 important points recommended for the 

 combating of the pest. He considers 

 these to be :— 



I. "The removal of jungle and aban- 

 doned tea from the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of existing tea," 



2. "The clean pruning of the plants, 

 and complete removal of all jungle 

 at the time of pruning and during 

 the hot weather." 



3. " The systematic and regular hand- 

 catching of the insects throughout 

 the season." 



4. " The spraying of affected bushes as 

 frequently as possible from the first 

 moment in the season that punc- 

 tures are seen, with soap solution." 



Dr. Mann further remarks : — " It may, 

 I think, certainly be said that where 

 Mr. Antram's scheme has been followed 

 in its entirety, the blight has not done 

 serious damage in the present year." 



Experiments on a much larger and 

 more comprehensive scale were under- 

 taken during the past year, with more 

 conclusive results which bear out those 

 of the previous work in 1908. 



Mr. Antram repeats his dictum that 

 no treatment will destroy the eggs of 

 the insect. I do not think that this has 

 been proved conclusively. Though kero- 

 sene emulsions and soap solutious have 

 been ineffective, it is probable that 

 something of the nature of rosin solu- 

 tion would seal up the cap of the egg and 

 so prevent the emergence of the young 

 insects. This treatment would be prac- 

 ticable only immediately after the prun- 

 ing of the bushes. 



