394 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1889. 
our best to maintain them in their place in the market, 
for if they fail us we shall be in a much worse pre- 
dicament than at present. 
When the Indian and China arrivals come in, and 
it is found this year, as it was last, that the market 
is full, then quality all round, inclusive of OhiDa and 
Indian, will get its share of abuse, and the buyer will 
say, as he has said ever since the time of Solomon, 
" it is nought." We must all be prepared for a fair 
run of depreciation from the market. It is, however, 
satisfactory also to find, as was the case last year, 
when put side by side with the new arrivals from 
India and China, that our teas gradually went up. China 
last year was declared in no way equal to past year's 
arrivals, and I presume, it will be the same this season. 
I think we are beginning to know the meaning of all 
these continual assertions of falling-off. Most certain- 
ly, there are times, do what we will, when tea is in- 
ferior and it is so difficult to get both strength and 
flavor if a good flavory tea be sent into the market, 
strength is the desideratum of the buyers, and vice versa. 
During the last six months "dusty tea " has been the 
complaint, and many planters have told me they never 
took out so-called dust as they are doiug now, much to 
the detriment of "strength" and to the improvements 
of infeiior grades. 
If fine qualities are to fall two annas when common 
only fall one, what does it advantage us in the market 
being firm for fine qualities, even although common may 
be neglected P It savouts much more as though there 
Were a greater advantage to the buyers in the fine 
qualities ; for there may be some hope for the producer 
of a well-proportioned break, but I see no advantage 
in sending forward 150 to 200 lb. of high-priced tea per 
acre of land cultivated, when the further expenditure 
of 10 cent3 per lb. would add to it one-third more 
Souchong realizing, say, 35 cents a lb. That is, as 
the estate has to be plucked over, whether the extra 
Souchong comes in or not, it does not actually cost 
the same to pluck, and as the other tea has also to 
be made, the making is cheapened also. — W. F. L. — 
" Local Times." 
♦ 
THE DESTRUCTION OP INSECT PESTS. 
[All the writing about the life history of insects, is as 
nothing to means of destroying pests. — Ed. T.A.j 
Interview with the Inventoe of the 
" Stbawsoniseb." 
At the Royal Show at Windsor this week one of the 
chief objects of interest is an implement which has been 
invented for the purpose of destroying insect pests and 
checking their ravages. After having seen the imple- 
ment at practical work we obtained an interview with 
the inventor, Mr. G. F. StrawsoD, of Newbury, Berks, 
who is by business a chemical manure manufacturer. 
His invention has been christened " TheStrawsoniser." 
The fan, which works at the rate of three thousand 
revolutions a minute, ia a leading feature of the 
machine. The liquid or solid to be distributed is 
placed in a hopper or tank, as the case may be, and 
by the strong current of air it is driven out in a finely 
divided condition, covering the plants or land with a 
fine film which destroys the dreaded fly. 
" Will you explain, Mr. Strawson, how your inven- 
tion has come about ?" "I have worked for several 
years with the object in view of checking the ravages 
of the turnip fly. I began by seeking for remedies for 
the insect pest.- I first of all found it necessary to 
have substances extremely fine, or otherwise it would 
take tons to cover the aore, which would be both costly 
and less effective. Then I thought of a liquid, which 
is, of course, capable of infinite subdivision. Next I 
began to devise a machine which would distribute thes6 
substances or liquids in a thorough fashion, I regarded 
these as the essential conditions to work upon, 
and I have persevered until the implement you have 
seen has been produced ; and for the destruction of the 
(turnip fly it is a complete success. This is the first 
time that effective means have been devised for deal- 
ing with this pest, although it is a hundred years 
ince it was first noticed," " Were you helped at all 
in your efforts by agriculturists?" " I received prac- 
tically no outside assistance." " And yet their losses 
from the fly are serious ? " " Enormous. From the 
turnip fly alone the loss in a year in the United King- 
dom must amount to a million sterling, and from 
other pests it will run up to several millions. All 
the papers say that this is going to be au ' insecty ' 
year, and from many quarters I have been receiving 
telegrams asking if I can send out machines immedi- 
ately. The hop growers are anxious at the present 
moment. Fruit trees are constantly being damaged 
by caterpillars and other insects. In short, every 
department of agriculture suffers more cr less, and 
there is nothing more desired than an effective imple- 
ment to check the attacks of pests." 
An Authoritative Opinion. — " Have you had any 
official pronouncement.upon the capabilities of the mach- 
ine ? " — " la an official report just issued by the Agri- 
cultural Department dealing with the mangel wurzel 
fly, the use of the ' Strawsoniser ' is recommended. Miss 
Ormerod, the consulting entomologist of the Royal 
Agricultural Society, has also reported very favour, 
ably upon it. She includes in her report two notes of 
successful work on badly infested fields, one by Mr. 
W. Geo. Mount, M.P., of Wasing Place, near Reading 
and the other by Mr. Geo. Budd, of Mousefield Farm, 
near Newbury. Both found that the distribution of 
paraffin and lime were efficacious in destroying the fly. 
Miss Ormerod herself writes as follows, and in doing 
so explains the principle of the machine : — ' The 
great point in method of distribution of dressing which 
makes the apparatus (as far as is at present shown) 
appear likely to meet many insecticide needs is, that, 
by means of a tremendous blast of air obtained by a 
gearing from one of the driving-wheels of the machine, 
the dressing, whether dry or wet, can be sent up in a 
cloud-like smoke or mist, of such fineness tbat when 
it settles on the leaves it covers the surface completely 
and delicately, like a fiue hoar frost or fine spray. 
Thus all the exposed surfaces can be lightly and 
thoroughly covered, and the insects also struck much 
more effectually than in hand-dressing; and, further, 
I am informed that the underside also of the leaves 
may be reached by the powerful current of air (and 
whatever the air ia made to carry with it) which can 
be thrown from the distributor." 
The Existing Means Unsatisfactory. — " There are 
of course various kinds of machines at present in 
use ? " — " Yes, but in the case of the turnip fly farmers 
have almost given up attempting to cope with it. 
They have been accustomed to drag tarred cloths over 
the ground, and to roll and harrow it, but they rarely 
saved their crops except when drenching rain came. 
As the attacks are in hot, dry weather the crop only 
lasts a few hours. What was a splendid promising crop 
in the morning is ruiued at night. It is a question of 
speed when you have these attacks, and the great 
merit of these machines is tbe sweeping rate at 
which they cover the ground. Under favourable cir- 
cumstances twenty to twenty-five acres can be covered 
with lime in an hour, while with paraffin one gallon 
to the acre has been perfectly effectual, the distri- 
bution being at the rate of six to eight acres per hour. 
In dry weather the lime being so finely distributed is 
apt to be blown away, but paraffin has been successful 
in every case I have tried." 
" Do the vine and hop growers look to your machine 
for a remedy against their special pests ? " — " They 
tell me in France that it will be of ten times more value 
there than in England- The French Government, in 
view of the value that it promises to be to viniculture, 
have arranged for trials near Paris." 
Distributing Artificial Manures and Sowing 
Seed, — " To utilize the machine as a distributor of artifi- 
cial manures was a development of your original idea ?" 
— " Yes. Having adapted it to dressings obnoxious to in- 
sect life, I saw that it would be equally useful as a distri- 
butor of dry artificial manures. Guanos, phosphates, 
superphosphates and basic slag can all be distributed with 
a regularity and economy which cannot be attained by 
hand which has practically been the method hitherto. As 
small a quantity of nitrates as 231b can be distributed to 
the acre. Hitherto the loss on nitrate owing to unequal 
