i38 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. |A"gust i, 1889. 
Experience in Florida, in destroying an allied 
scale insect with kerosene emulsion, has shown 
that by far the most effective method of applying 
the emulsion is by spraying it in a cloud of fine 
spray, by means of force pumps which obviously 
must immensely reduce the labour : the object of 
the application being completely attained when 
the insects are killed, even though the dead scales 
remain upon the plant. Out of a total cost of 
about ten rupees per acre, over the 287 acres 
of coffee treated by Mr. Jackson, he estimates 
the actual cost of the emulsion at only about 
eight annas per acre, the cost of labour is there- 
fore by far the heaviest item, and this will ob- 
viously be reduced by the use of force pumps ; 
which have the further advantage of greatly 
facilitating the intimate mixture of the soap solu- 
tion with the kerosene, a most difficult operation 
to perform completely by hand, and one that iB 
absolutely essential for the efficacy of the applica- 
tion. It should be observed, in spraying the in- 
secticide, that the nozzle must be such as to give 
a cloud of fine spray : this being most important, 
not only because the same amount of emulsion 
goes much further when sprayed in a cloud, than 
when sprinkled in drops, but also because a cloud 
of fine spray is found to be far more effective, than 
even a heavy drenching, in destroying the pest ; 
the supposed reason being that the particles of fine 
spray adhere, and the whole of the mixture is thus 
utilized, while the large drops rapidly run off 
carrying most of the kerosene with them and leav- 
ing little but water behind upon the plant. The 
eggs of the scale insects offer much more resist- 
ance to the wash, than do the larval and adult 
forms. It has been found therefore that two light 
sprayings, with a short interval of time between 
them, are far more effective than a single though 
much heavier treatment, for the first application kills 
the adult scale insects and larvae and the second ap- 
plication kills any larvoa that subsequently emerge 
from eggs which have survived the first applica- 
tion. In this connection it is important to ascertain, 
both the time that the eggs take to hatch, and 
also the time required by the young larva; to arrive 
at that stage in their growth when they are able 
themselves to lay eggs ; for the interval of time 
between the first and second sprayings should be 
sufficient to allow all the eggs to hatch out, 
without being long enough to permit any larvae, 
that emerged after the first application, to lay 
eggs which might survive the second application. 
I have written to Mr. Green to ask if he will 
consent to experiment with and report upon a force 
pump and cyclone nozzles, which have been sent 
to the Indian Museum for experiment, by one- of 
the American firms that manufacture the insecti- 
cide apparatus recommended by the United States 
Entomologists ; and in the event of his finding 
himself unable to undertake the experiments I 
shall be happy to hear of any other gentleman 
who takes an interest in the subject and who 
would consent to help ; for I believe it is only by 
careful experiments with approved apparatus that 
reliable conclusions can be formed. — Yours faith- 
fully, E. C. COTES, 
Indian Museum, Calcutta. 
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS IN TEA CULTUEE 
AND PREPARATION. 
July 9th, 1889. 
Dear Snt, — As there are so many answers to 
the questions on " tea culture and preparation," 
it will be a very good thing if answers are 
given to some other questions on pruning, plucking, 
withering and firing :— 
This is what Mr. Armstrong in his paper on 
the manufacture of tea read before the Maskeliya 
Planters' Association, Saturday, 29th August 1885, 
says : — " A strong healthy flush, resulting in heavy 
pluckings, will give the best tea." 
(1) When is it best to prune and how ? 
(2) How should tea be plucked from the first 
picking after pruning till the end of the season ? 
(3) About what percentage should be lost in 
withering to get what is called a " good wither ?" 
(4) Should tea be fired tili quite crisp or not ; 
and should the teas be sifted while firing, so as to 
get all leaf equally fired ? 
I was led to put the first question, as Mr. 
Armstrong in his letter dated 8th May 1889 
says : — ■" Pruning, ivhen and how done, affects liquor 
more, perhaps, than some people imagine." The 
second is the most important, as by bad picking 
at the commencement, the teas cease flush 
ing soon. These are notes I have on plucking ; — 
(1) After severe pruning, when six leaves have 
formed take the bud only for 2 flushes, then for 
two more 1\ leaves (bud counted as one leaf), 
after this pluck as usual. — (Money.) 
(2) The first shoots should be allowed to 
grow 6 to 8 inches with 7 to 10 leaves each, pick 
bud and 2 leaves only. — (Neilglitrry tea planter.) 
(3) After plucking for 3 rounds, 5 to 0 inches 
of primary shoots above pruning level, should be 
left, or 3 full leaves ; perhaps more after a heavy 
pruning ; after 3rd round all primary shoots may 
be plucked — on secondary shoots, it is at first well 
to leave 2 J leaves, including the bud leaf. — Taylor. 
(4) In former years the rule observed as close 
as practicable was to commence upon a six-leaf 
flush, taking 3 leaves and leaving 3, from the axils 
of which hitherto the 2nd flush come ; when the 
2nd flush attained 5 leaves to take 3 and leave 
2 ; the 3rd flush proceeding from these in turn 
was often taken in the same way in the 4th flush. 
As soon as it attained 4 leaves it was usual to 
leave only one leaf on the bush. After the 5th 
and 6th flushes it was generally a clean sweep 
of everything that came out. The wood thus 
attained would probably at an average of 
2 inches give a height for 6 flushes of 
12 inches, which was considered sufficient 
to prune upon or rather to prune off ; for 
it was as a rule cut off 3 inches above the 
former year's pruning, so that so much was wasted 
that might have been made into tea. — Indian Plan- 
ters' Gazette. 
(5) At the beginning of the season instead of 
plucking upon a six-leaf flush, the flush is al- 
lowed to grow out to 8 or 9 leaves, when 3 leaves 
are taken off and the other 5 or 6 leaves left on 
the bush are allowed to remain and ripen into mate- 
rial for next season's pruning. After this first 
flush is thoroughly established, the garden is re- 
gularly visited by the women once a week and the 
bush is completely stripped of all new leaf which 
has shown during that time. At the beginning of 
the season if the growth is vigorous, leaving 6 
leaves on a bush means at le.st 9 inches in height 
from the place where the shoot strikes out to the 
top of it, so that if we allow 3 to 4 inches above 
the former year's pruning, there still remains 6 
inches of wood to be cut away. Another contention 
in favour of this system is that, allowing the flush 
to run this way in the beginning of the season, 
gives much cleaner wood, and that although on 
the very surface; there is before the end of the 
season a lot of brushwood, towards the- end of the 
season the harder the bushes are plucked the 
harder they throw out ? (Indian Planter's Gazette). 
Withering everyone allows is a very important 
matter, but what amount of moisture should be 
