February t, 1888.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
549 
of the heart. When once thorn, it gou. m further 
but nets to work eating its fill utitil the time comes 
for departure. The trees may stand several attacks 
of this kind, but in the end fall off, ami die slowly. 
Evidence of beetles having been at work soon becomes 
manifest by tha disfigurement of the heads of the 
stricken trees, in consequence of the insects oating 
through the young folded leaves in their progress to 
the oe itre of the tree. The centre shoot of the tree 
falls off when ouce cut through. L -aves that have 
suffered in tho same way grow short of the full length 
and prosent a deformed appoarauco. When fruit 
stalks happen to bo cut through, the tree becomes 
impaired in its bearing powers. These beetles are 
said to begin boring operations at night. In boring 
their way into the tree, they cist out behind them 
a moist brown fibre, which betrays their presence 
by accumulating in a lump at the entrance of the 
hole in which they are burrowing. These signs, easily 
visible in sh irt, or young trees, are not readily de- 
tected in tall ones. Should the beetles be carefully 
destroyed at once on the discovery of these tell-tale 
lumps, the trees will be but little the worse for 
the mishap. When the signs have been unnoticed, 
the mischief wrought by the insects only becomes 
evident by the centre shoot of the alfected tree 
dropping off. This particular kin 1 of beetle displays 
most activity in October and November, and oven 
somewhat earlier in the year. Its eggs are laid aud 
hatched chiefly in decaying stumps of coconut trees. 
The precise hatching time seems to be somewhat 
uncertain. 
The Oalundra pedmarum is a different sort of bootle 
altogether, and belongs to the weevil species. It is 
further distinguished by being of a black colour, 
with an orange- hued spot on its back. Sometimes 
its colour is wholly dark orange. It does uot bore 
into the treos, but lays its eggs on them. Ou the 
eggs hatching, the grubs, by boring, mako their way 
iu to the tree, and subsist there. Growing iu sine, 
they bore away iu the wood through and through. 
Should they happen to run tunnels through a vital 
part of the tree, the death of the latter follows. 
Ou reaching full bize, the grub stops boring some- 
where near the outer surface at the h-ad of the 
tree. When the transformation is complete, the 
grub now become a beetle, readily makes its way 
out into the world. The grubs can only be detected 
in trees by hearing them at their boring operations, 
The death of the trees without any assignable cause 
may safely be puc to their account. Information as 
to the ways and habits of both kinds of beetles 
are dill deficient, as regards tho seasons of activity 
aud breeding of the one, and the egg-laying 
peculiarities of the other. Dr. Simon consi lers that 
for the prevention of toe destruc ion of coconut 
trees by these inseots, care should in the first place 
be taken to destroy all the beetles as soon as they 
are found. Were tho Government to offer a reward 
for their destruction, it would Stimulate search for 
these pests. Dead oocouut trees or stumps should 
bo cleared away at onca on or near estates where 
these palms are cultivated, and trees damage I by 
beetles beyond recovery should be felled an I burned 
Dr. Simon goes further and deems that it should be 
made penal to sllow rott-n coconut trees or dead 
stumps to rwnain near living trees. The only way 
to ensure the detection an I dstruoion of the 
Oryrtes beetle he> in tlv dul\ iospctiou of 'In' 
trees. Prohibition against allowing in the neighbour- 
hood of cocoanut plantations, of any materials favouring 
the propagation of the Orrotes, will doubtless prove 
01 av dl 01 remedying tin- evil, as well an the i nmedia'o 
destruction of trees infested by the < 'a! tndra so a« 
to kdi the grubs. It is to be hoped that aooraut 
cultivators in the Colony will profit by Dr. Simou's 
suggestive ft"port. — Straits Tintn 
NOTES ON GAMUIEU. 
The shrub Uncarin Gambier wis first described by 
Kumpbiu", but attention to its praetieil ipphoitiin 
originated with Dr. Campbell, one of the earliest 
medical officers stationed at Bencoolen. This gen- 
tleman ma le a stu ly of the useful plants of his 
district, and was very anxious that a tri il of the 
tanning powers of gambiec should be mx le. After 
mentioning that gambier was chewod by the M i ays 
with pinana and siren, Dr. Campbell thus describes 
the method of prepiring it for consumption. "The 
young shoots and leaves are shred and bruised in 
water for some hours until a feculum is deposited, 
this is inspissated in the sun to the consistence of 
a paste, is thrown into moulds of a circular form, 
and, it is in this state that, the gambier is brought 
to market." S ibstituto boiling in an iron pan for 
inspissatioa in the sun, and there is not any really 
great difference between the primitive principle de- 
scribed by Dr. Campbell and that of today, by 
means of which, gambier has turned out thousands 
tons for shipment to Europe aud America. 
Before going into the question of manufacture, 
however, a few liuos should be devote I to the growth 
aud cultivation of gambier. The main points iu gam- 
bier planting which are so attractive to Chinamen, 
are the great rapidity with which they get a crop 
out of the ground, aud the small original outlay 
which is required, The history of the majority of 
these plantations will show that pepper has been 
planted out of gambier profits; of course pepper is a 
great hit when all gjes well, but it wants a con- 
siderable capital to start with, and it takes some 
years before it gets into anything like full bearing. 
It is altogether a plant of slower growth and longer 
life than gambier as it is now cropped. The leaf of 
the young gambier plant is thick and fleshy, and yields 
a large quantity of extract, but as the shrub ages, 
the leaves become thinner aud more fibrous in texture 
and lose their characteristic fleshiuess. In a little 
over ten years, a plantation is almost valueless, and, 
as a general rule, is abaudoned within fifteen years. 
This result is certainly due to the savage treatment 
to which tho shrub is subjected; the Chinaman com- 
mences cropping his gambier about eighteen months 
after he has put it into tho ground, after which he 
will go ou cropping it two, three, or even four times 
a year, being guided more by financial considerations 
or market rates than by the fitness of his plantation 
for the croppiug. The shrubs are cut down with no 
sparing hand : leaves, shoots, and twigs are all lopped 
off by the (Jhinaman's knife, an I the plant is well 
nigh rodueed to the condition of a mopstick and left 
with barely sufficient leafage to euable it to carry on 
its existence: no attempt is made to manure the 
plantation. The soil, deprived of its natural shade, is 
left either to be bur ued into the consistency of a 
brick, or else the while place is overrun with lofting. 
The only wonder is, < liat a gambier p ant, itiou is uot 
used up sooner. It is q lite au error to .-.uppose that 
the plaut exhausts the soil like indigo: with similar 
treatment gambier would last as long as pepper. 
The spent leaves from the gambier puis are said ti 
be very good for pepper, these leives are quite ex- 
hausted by the timo they le ive the bangsal, and 
cannot possibly stimulate or nourish tho vines, but 
they form a useful shtde for the roots, and ihey are 
very serviceable in keeping off both white aud re I 
auts, the bitter principle of the spent leaves rep -Is 
these destructive insects which are otherwise attracted 
to the vines wheu t'ley bl >ssora. 
The manuf siciure of girabier is as barbarous as its 
cultivitioi. Tin gr.<eu leaves and shoots are roughly 
chopped with a Parang and thrown iuto a mullet 
whicu is tb«n fillo I up with vater, the furuac • b ila r 
the iron pm is of tne r mgh >st possible co i <t nation, 
and oo-i < imes an immense quantity >f fl - >■ • I 
While 'he I • »ves are boding, t lev iruiooeast. p- d 
ded with a - <r' of woo le i tri lent in Of bit to iea< 
thorn Up an 1 as bit t'w price<s ot in.ee ,• ttfon. V io i 
the amomu of "gutta" which hasexuiol froui tha 
leaves ctusus the liquor ti be thick anil nirupv, tho 
lavs r«j t ik out an I p'.aio 1 in « woo len trougb 
which overhangs the pan at BUoh an angle thit tho 
liq lor drain* Ire ly bick tut > she pm from tho 
•taArnUlg m»s.s iii the trough. T n liq ur in tb • 
qualli is then laile.l iuto small aud shallow woodoa 
