November i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
343 
no longer have the " free town " privilege. Mr. 
Gordon Frazer's Boport on the China tea samples 
got out by Mr. Marin itsch, is as follows : — 
J. D. Robinson, Esq.— Dear Sir,— Herewith I beg 
to hand you report on two musters, lapsong souchong, 
as comparer! with Coylon tea : 
No. 3 is a fine tea with true souchong' flavor. Tea 
of similar quality could Ire bought horo occasionally at 
from the equivalent of la Id to that of Is 5d according 
to the leaf, whether pekoe or pekoe souchong, but 
the identical flavor could not be actually matohed in 
Ceylon tea. 
No. 4 is very common, and the lowest prico whole 
leaf tea offering on this market would almost at any 
time be of much greater intrinsic value. Just now 
this class of tr>a is very clear in this market, and it 
would not bo safe to mention under 50 to 55 cents, 
or the equivalent in London of lOd to lid per lb. 
This tea has no flavor, and is bought on the Con- 
tinent on account of its bold style of leaf. — I am, 
dear sir, yours faithfully, Gordon Frazrr. 
Of course the retail prices of the abovo China teas 
in Vienna and elsewhere may be as high as stated 
by our travelling correspondent a little while ago. 
CATERFILLARS ON TEA. 
Mr. Sholto Skrine of Dikoya lately sont us some cater- 
pillars caught on his tea, to get information as to 
their Identity and habits. Mr. A. P. Green, to whom 
bhey were referred, writes very much to the point, 
as follows: — 
"Larva of Sephisa cinyala, Moore, fam. Chalcosiida. 
A blackish green moth with a yellow band of large 
spots across both wings. The larva feeds on Lager- 
ttvanvia and other plants. The pupa enclosed it- 
self in a palo ochroons cocoon. — Where numerous, 
and causing much injury to the trees, tho cater- 
pillars may bo collcctod by hand and destroyed. 
For caterpillar attacks on fruit trees in England, 
Miss Ormorod ('Manual of Injurious Insects and 
Methods of Prevention ') advises good drenches of 
soft soap and fish-oil, or soft soap and sulphur 
thrown powerfully at tho foliage. Although re- 
medies of tho abovo nature might be found to 
havo an unpleasant effect on the tea leaves, cater- 
pillars are vory susceptible to injury from wet 
and cold in thoir young state and when changing 
thoir skins ; and strong syringing with cold water 
whoro nt hand might bo tried with good effect if 
dono in the early morning. Caterpillars being 
gonorally night-feeders, soft soap could bo used in 
tho evening, to be washed off by a good drenching 
with pnro wator tho following morning. Except 
where tho houghs touch, the caterpillars can only 
travel to another treo by crawling up the trunk, 
and wboro the attack is severe, the surrounding trees 
might be protected by placing rings of somo de- 
terrent at tho lowost part of tho trunk, or on tho 
ground round about it. A thick bind of hay or straw, 
soaked in a mixture of tar and oil, that would keop 
wot and sticky for somo timo, would effectually 
prevent tho caterpillars crossing it. If the attack 
is confined to a limited area, surrounding tho whole 
with sand or ashes well sprinkled with paraffin and 
water would chock their further progress. (See 
Ormerod, ' Injurious Insects.' &o. " 
PEPPKII, I'OFFEK VND TEA. 
In my Inst nrtirlo I dwelt upon the cultivation of 
pepper. 1 shall, in this, attempt to show tho great 
advantage resulting from the cultivation of this im- 
portant commodity of commerce to tho agricultural 
community in general, and to the rico cultivntor in 
pnrtieular, who. from the precarious nature of the 
cultivation oivinir to the interference of tho middle- 
man, may bo said to he in a Htate of pauperism. I 
might hero state lint popper is no now commodity 
to tho siuhnlcso cultivator. Ceylon, iu former times, 
was one of the greatest emporiums of pepper trade. 
Owing to the strict monopoly established by the 
Dutch, and the consequent poor return to the culti- 
vator, other countries that had better advantages 
took the lead, and Ceylon, at present, instead of 
exporting, imports a large quantity for homo con- 
sumption, On referring to the Ceyion Directory, I 
find that during the Dutch period, the "pepper grown 
in Ceylon was sold at higher price than that produced 
elsewhere. In 1739 the Dutch exported 4(55,000 lb of 
pepper, the greater portion from the Kandyau provinces, 
where tho harvest began in December and ended in 
April In 1813, the export of pepper was 195 arid 
odd candies valued at about 12,000 francs." Since 
then according to the Directory, there was very 
little export of pepper, although, here and there, 
pepper is still grown for home-consumption to a very 
limited extent. Fivon in the hey-days of pepper trade 
in Ceylon, we see Bertolacci blaming the indolence 
of the natives for not greatly extending the cultivation 
of tho vine, which, according to him, will grow on 
almost nny soil, and has everywhere forest trees to 
spread over it, forgetting that his own people con- 
tributed a great deal to the indolent habits of the 
cultivator. The decline of the tobacco industry of 
Jaffna, now reviving at a rapid pace, forcibly illustrates 
how monoplies aud prohibited tariffs act prejudical 
to the foster of tho national industries. But, it may 
be asked, why the pepper cultivation was not extended 
after the British occupied the country. The reason 
is not far to seek. The extension of British Govern- 
ment into Ceylon was, in fact, 00-eval with the 
progress of coffee enterprise. The vast amount of 
capital and labor spent in the country by the 
indefatigable planter, naturally led the native culti- 
vator into the belief that he had in coffee what 
he lost in pepper. And he was not far wrong. The 
few plants that he reared up iu tho background of 
his homestead flourished under his paternal care, 
and brought him a handsome amount at the end of 
tho year. He has felt, perhaps for the first timo, 
the peculiar sensation incidental to the jingling of 
money, which was deniod him before. He founrl in 
Coffee the talisman of his life. The cultivation of 
Coffee was, consequently, pushed on sometimes 
even beyond his means, to the prejudice of his 
paddy lands. But, what cared he, so long as the 
" almighty dollar" was in his hand. If his paddy fail- 
ed, he could have hypothecated his coffee crop to 
the ever-ready " Chetty " who probably kept a rico 
boutique close to a Coffee plantation ; and the 
"Chetty" found a good business in bartering rice 
for cofleo. Things went on in this somewhat hum- 
drum manner, undisturbed by any foreign agent, or, 
unruffled by any domestic enemy, until, alas ! tho 
domestic euemy in the shape of " HemUeia vastatrix" 
began to wage war with the cultivation. The history 
of this terrible leaf-disease has become a thiug of the 
past; suffice it to say that both the European planter 
and native cultivator becamo heavily indebted, accord- 
ing to their respective positions in society. Tho 
planter is again up on his legs, as ho has tea to 
support him; but tho poor cultivator is crippled. 
Attempts aro being made by natives to introduce 
tea plants into their lands ; but it can never take 
the place of Coffee. Unless the native has sufficient 
capital to open curing-houses, the cultivation of tea 
will be a precarious one. At present, if tea is culti- 
vated near largo plantations with curing-houses, there 
is profit; for tho planter, is ready to purchase green 
leaves. But, if the European market is flooded with tea, 
and there is every probability of its b ing flooded, and 
prices consequently fall, tho native cultivator will be 
eutirely at tho mercy of the European planter, who 
may, aud will reject tho green leaves to keep up the 
price. And tho green leaves being a perishable 
commodity, tho cultivator is suro to land in bank- 
ruptcy. But tho case of coffoe was very different 
there was very littlo curing, ami the produce might 
havo been stored up iu tho cultivator'* barn, until 
a favorable opportunity arrived for Mile, l'cpper i> n 
■till less purisuablu article, aud has always a ready 
market. Aud the popper cultivator will ho quito 
