October i, i888/| THF. TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
285 
ties of the Siak tobacco turn out to be particularly 
good. It burns away steadily, and leaves clean 
white ashes. The rainfall, an important factor in 
that kind cultivation, is all that can be desired. 
The nearness of Siak to Singapore is another point 
in its favour. 
DRUG TRADE REPORT. 
London, Sept. Oth. 
Annatto.— Some Para Itoll annatto which has been 
repeatedly offered for sale is now obtainable at lid 
per lb. for fair red. Goylon Seeds and Pasto very neg- 
lected, and offering in large qnautitieB. In Liverpool 
thero ha9 been a better demand for Guadeloupe an- 
natto, and '2"> casks TQ brand are reported to have sold 
at 2d to 2}d per lb. 
Oalumba in good demand and selling at much better 
rates than were recently obtainable in public sale. 
Of 210 bags about one half was disposed nf, realising 
1 Is lid to 15a 6d for yellowish mixed, dusty uud woi my 
root, 12s for a di»rk mixed and dusty lot, and 5s for 
common dark and mouldy. 
Cinchona. — The assortment offered at to day's 
auctions was rather small, and very little of it found 
buyers. Some good bold silvory Bolivian Oalisaya 
qui 1, said to contain over 5 pel sent, of quinine sul- 
phate, was bought in at la 2d per lb Ifld being so- 
licited, and one case very fine mossy red Madras 
quill at3s per lb. nominally. Up to the present 2,696 
packages are announced for sale at Tuesday's auctions, 
including 1,132 Ceylon, 442 Indian, 15S Javn, and 964 
South American hark. The exports from Ceylon bet- 
ween October 1st and August 2nd have been as follows : 
—1887-88,19,978,480 lbs; 1886-7, 12,380.891 lbs ; 1885-6, 
13,717.867 lb ; 1884-5, 9,642,291 lb. The following are 
the official figures relating to t,ho exports of cinchona 
bark from .lava during the last five years : — 
Private 
Govern- 
Total 
From 
up to 
ment 
lst.July 
30th June 
lb. 
lb. 
lb. 
1887 
1888 
.3,124,924 
617,101 
3,742,025 
86 
87 
.1,569,842 
660,433 
2,230,275 
85 
8C... . 
.1,073,889 
457,267 
1,681,156 
81 
85., . 
. 776,510 
419,460 
1,195.970 
83 
8-1... . 
. 663,623 
4 10,911 
1,104,534 
Coca Leaves. — There is very little doing on onr 
market, and only one hals broken but good pale 
I'niKillo leaves was otTored at the auctions, Is 3d per 
lb. bt,ing mentioned as the price. 
Oils (Essential).— The shipments of cinnamon 
bark and leaf oils from Ueylou have assumed very 
largo proportioiiH indeed lately, and are now given 
as follows: — October lnt, 1887, to August 2nd, 1888, 
182,505 oz. ; 18*6-87. 54,501 nz, ; 1885-86, 89,248 oz. At 
the auctions only H cases of ordinary quality were 
offered, and for theso 9Jd. per oz was refused. The 
following are the shipments of citronella oil from 
Ceylon in tho periods between Ootober lsl and August 
2nd :— 1887-88, 8.833,177 oz. ; 1886-87, 7,749,026 oz. ; 
1885-88 , 5,165,430 oz. On our market the article 
reniaius in an extremely neglected state at }d to Jd 
por oz. for native brands on tho spot. 
QOXRMB. — A much better feeling has set in siuce 
last week, and a large business has been transacted 
at gradually hardening prices. Tho English makers 
Ii»vm made no niter ii ions in their official quotations, 
but we hear (but ►ome of Whiffcn's quinine sold in 
bulli Udnv at Is 5,1. on the sp«.f, and the linkers 
ask • higher price. The German manufacturers have 
■old, it ia Haul, up to Is 5d. per oz. and now quote 
at Is 5.1. to Is Bid., the Auerbach factory not nam- 
ing a price at all. At tho ond of last week it was 
reported that one of Hie German manufacturers 
i .Vnerhurh i hail made a contract with the Itmsian 
llovernm. i,t for 100,0(10 oz. at Is HI. per o/ which 
is n«id to lie the lowest priei' over accepted for so 
large | .puinMy of first-haud quinine.— Chmnitl and 
l>IHMI*t, Sep*. Hth. 
To the Editor. 
ENEMIES OF THE COCONUT. 
Hauwella, 20th Sept. 1888. 
Dear Si it, — Herewith I soud you in a sealed bottle 
^ a do/., insects found on my estate, feeding on coco- 
nut plants. They gradually consume all the leaves 
of the plant, leaving only the stalk and the enkles ; 
eventually the plant dies or else its growth ia retarded 
for some years. May 1 tborefore beg you to let me 
know what the insects are and the best means of 
destroying them and preventing their atta k — I am, 
yours faithfully, G. E. AMBRE8EEERE, 
["Zocttst, ' Phymatvus punclatits' (?) For description 
and details see ' The Coffee Tree and its Enemies, ' 
Niotner, also Kirby and Spencc, 1 Introduction to 
Entomology.' 1 know of no other method of destroy- 
iug them than to put a force of coolies oil to collect 
them in sacks." — A. P. G.] 
ENEMY TO THE CINNAMON HUSH. 
Dear Sir, — Have you ever witnessed tin ii sect of 
the accompanying sample ? They have b'jen a cause 
of great, destruction to my cinnamon plantation. They 
oat up the leaves as per sample and the tender tops 
and buds of the plants, owing to which the bark 
cannot be peeled. The insect you will find of a lark 
colour within the whitish case hanging by the leaves. 
Will jou or one of your many subscribers kindly le- 
me know through the medium of your columns some 
remedy for the destruction nf these insects? 
A YOUNG PLANTER. 
[Mr. A. P. Green isgood enough to tell us that tin offen- 
der is "Metisor plana, Walkei ; fain.: Psychidee. — '•This is 
the larva of a little moth, found on most trees and 
shrubs in the neighbourhood of cultivat-d districts. 
It constructs a portable silken case, which is more or 
less covered with pieces of stems or leaves of the 
food plant, in which the larva lives and undergoes 
its transformation. The female is wingless, an! passes 
its existence in the larval case. There are several 
species of this family, most of them larger than the 
one sent by your correspondent. Tenneut, in his 
Natural History, says: — 'The Sinhalese call these 
larval cases Darakatiea?, cr " billets of firewood" aud 
regards the inmates as human beings, who, as a 
punishment lor Stealing wood in some former state of 
existence, have been condemned to undergo a metem- 
psychosis under the form of those insects.' I really 
cannot suggest any remedy for tlioir destruction, never 
having before heard of their being so numerous as to 
cause serious damage. Washing the trees with lime 
water or syringing with soft soap and tub icco water 
might induce them to depart, but I caunot give any 
authority."] 
Cotton-Growing among Tea. — One slip has 
to be oorrected in our remarks on Mr. Dlackett's 
experiment: the soil was not forked all over (a 
work that could scarcely be done for R2 an acre !) 
but merely stirred with a fork at the point where 
the cotton seed was placed ; forking in this way 
taking the placo of holing. 
Cotton Growing ought really to bo tried 
very freely by planters in our lowcountry in view 
of the cheapness of thi cxptriment. Mr. Blackett 
found that a hundred weight of seed sufficed for 
100 acres, and that altogether the i xpense of the 
seed in the ground — or rather above, for three days 
saw it up, — was only 112 an acre. An advertisement 
elsewhore shows that there are three varieties of 
seed now available in Colombo, and it won d ho in- 
teresting to try all these on one place to see 
which was roost suitable and profitable. Messrs. 
Parley, LSutler ,t Co- have already distributed a gOftA 
doal of seed; but all ought to bo out bcfuiu the 
mousoon. 
