272 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October r, 1887. 
near the gate of the Bengal Club), and doubtless many 
other plants of use and ornament. As the species 
has an economic importance, perhaps the following 
account from my note-book, of the mannpr in which 
the cases inhabited by the larvw and pup;e are built 
may prove of interest to the members, aud possibly 
even some day be turnable to account in reducing the 
members of a pest, which often bares whole patches 
of tea bushes of the all important leaves before the 
planter becomes aware of its presence. The eggs are 
laid inside the 'faggot,' and the young caterpillars, as 
soon as they have cut out, leave the case and com- 
mence to walk about over its outer surface of their 
naked ' tails ' borne erect as they go on their 3 pairs 
of thoracic legs, but after a short time they are seen 
to be covered as to their 'tails' by snow-white caps 
built up in the following manner of tiny particles of 
the whitish external covering of the dead and weathered 
babul spines of the parental dwelling. First, a half 
circle is formed of particles gnawed off for the purpose 
from the bark of the spines and arranged in a single 
row; by a turn of the front part of the body, the half 
circle is jerked on to the back of the tiny animal, 
which is at first but a mere animated speck, and the 
circle is completed ; then a second circle is added in a 
similar manner to the first; then a third, and so on, 
till the whole body is covered. The particles are 
literally glued on one by one by a sticky secretion 
from the mouth, no doubt from the openings of the 
silk-glands, the joints being afterward strengthened by 
being smeared or spun over with more of the secretion. 
The case is at first a very loose and open affair, vacu- 
ities appearing here and there between the component, 
particles of its walls, and allowing a fine silky matter 
to be seen ; it is, in fact, a loosely and rather irregul- 
arly constructed net with minute particles of the bark 
of the dead babul spines interwoven in it. Having 
the constuction of its case carried, thus far the insect 
actively turns in it backwards and forwards for some 
time, for the purpose of consolidating it by drawing 
the particles closer and giving it a delicate silken lining; 
finally, it imperfectly closes the hinder end of the case, 
by tucking the edges in. The babul spines are attached 
as a defence to the outside at a later stage, and they 
form a truly efficient fortification." 
Mr. Cleghorn mentioned that the natives of the 
district in cases of fever remove a caterpillar from its 
sack, and hang it in a muslin-bag round a patient's 
neck, "profuse perspiration is guaranteed." 
OSTRICH FARMING IN SOUTH 
AFRICA. 
The following letter has been addressed to the editor 
of the Melbourne Argus : — 
Sir, — Seeing a paragraph in your valuable paper of 
the 10th inst, relating to the ostrich farming industry 
in the Cape taken from the Cape Argus, I should like 
to enlighten your readers a little more on the subject, 
if you will give this space in your useful paper. It 
is erroneous to suppose that good ostriches were sold 
for 5s. each, as good birds, even now with the depres- 
sion, realise from £10 to £12 per pair. No doubt, if 
a competent judge had seen those ten ostriches that 
were sold in the Western Province for the small sum 
mentioned at per head, he would have announced them 
inferior and not worth keeping on a farm, owing to 
the worthless feathers they gave in return for their 
keep. There are some ostriches that grow such low- 
class feathers that the plucking is almost valueless, 
while on the other hand others grow superior quality, 
which always commands a high price. The wing fea- 
thers from an inferior bird yields say from 4 oz. to 5 oz. 
in weight, and worth at the rate of £1 per lb.; while 
a superior bird will give as much asGoz. from the wings, 
and worth from £12 to £14 per lb., at the market rates 
they are selling now in the Cape. These prices apply 
to feathers taken from the cock bird, and are called 
" white primes." The wing feathers of the hen bird 
are named feminas, and are worth about half the value 
of the " primes " and so on in proportion to the quality. 
The weight of feathers obtained from a good cock bird 
would be about 2 lb., divided into five different classes, 
as follows: — From the wings are taken three sorts, 
weighing 6 oz. primes, 2i oz. fancy and mottled (usually 
termed byocks), and %\ oz. long and medium blacks ; 
in all, 11 oz. The tail generally yields 5 oz., and the 
short black feathers and floss taken from the breast 
and under the wings about 1 lb. Ostrich farming 
remains the most lucrative branch of farming at the 
present time in the Cape, and transactions in feathers 
have been large aud important. The returns below, 
taken from the Port Elizabeth Telegraph of last mail, 
give some idea of the magnitude of business done at 
Algoa Bay alone. The sales at the ordinary auctionslast 
March represented a value of £45,144, as compared with 
£25,868 for the same month last year, being an increase 
of £19,276. The total realised at the ordinary market 
for the first quarter of the current year was ;L".0 ; 1,858 
as compared with £96,800 for the same period last year, 
the increase being £4.058. Some have an idea that 
feathers are going out of fashion, but if they were 
to see the large quantities shipped every week from 
Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Mossell Bay, East London, 
and other ports, their ideas would be altered. The large 
parcels that are shipped to Paris, America, and other 
parts of the world show that feathers still hold their 
own against any ornament that is worn on the hat 
to make the fair sex luok charming. I have had seven 
years' experience with ostriches and their feathers in 
Africa, and would like to return immediately. If I 
only could buy the birds I would choose to go farming 
with at 5s. each — the price of a goose — I should 
reckon in a few years to make a fortune, and instead 
of sleeping on goose feathers would have my pillows 
stuffed with " white primes." Apologising for taking 
up so much of your valuable space, — I am, &c, 
Melville Edenboroubh. 
Gordon-chambers. 
♦■ 
The Growths of Corn and Potatoes of the United 
Kingdom are worth on an ave age over one hundred 
millions sterling per annum. — Indian Gardener. 
The Nilambur Teak Forest in the Madras 
Presidency is likely to be of enormous value, and 
we hope the planting of teak will be earnestly 
taken in hand in Ceylon, in view of the facts 
thus stated in the Indian Agriculturist : — 
The position of Burmau teak in the timber 
market, will, it is confidently predicted by experts, 
be greatly changed during the next decade. Already, 
in fact one may say for a long time past, the superi- 
ority of Madras teak over that obtained) from the 
Burman forests has been so fully recognised, that it 
has been preferred by the Madras gun-carriage factory 
for the manufacture of their gun-carriages, to the 
Burman teak, even though the latter could be obtained 
and delivered at a much cheaper rate. This com- 
parative cheapness is apparently its only recommend- 
ation, as the Anuamullai teak was found to have a 
splendid " breaking strain" as it is technically termed, 
and could resist shocks from discharges of gunpowder 
against which the Burman teak is powerless. A new 
rival has now, however come into the field in the 
shape of the Government teak plantations at Nilambur, 
and it is calculated that in ten years' time these 
plantations will be able to undersell Burmau timber 
in the Madras market. Tlie qualification of quality 
will in no way be below that of its Burman rival, in 
faot it has been found that there are natural teak 
trees growing in various parts of these plantations 
which have not yet come to maturity, although the 
roots are said to be one hundred and fifty years old. 
On examining the stumps of felled trees it has been 
found that in most cases these had been felled once 
before, and judging from the size of the old stem 
three feet from the grdnnd, where the marks of fell- 
ing can be seen, it appears probable that the tree had 
been eighty or 100 years old when first felled, while 
in one case where the annular rings of a felled tree 
were counted, it was found that they were sixty in 
number, this representing sixty years, this tree and 
others would be about one hundred and fifty years 
old. In this case there is a good prospect of the Bur- 
man teak being ousted from its position in the market. 
