44« 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, 1889. 
A very good shot can be made whence pests 
are propagated, but who upon earth knows their 
origin ?- It is quite believed — and with truth — that 
the opening of jungles iu Madulsima was respon- 
sible for II, vastatrix, and all its conse- 
quences : hence we dearly love that district. But 
it is not quite so certain that green bug, which 
is more deadly than 16 years of leaf-disease con- 
glomerated, was not introduced by Liberian plants 
in wardian cases. At all events, 4 years ago this 
question was publicly put : " Was this bug in 
Liberia, upon Liberian coffee, when Liberian plants 
were despatched to Ceylon?" This question, no 
notice was taken of it, and what makes it more 
suspicious is the fact that green bug seems 
a permanent and comparatively harmless parasite 
of the Liberian coffee tree and as familiar as are 
buffaloes and ticks. Moveover its first appearance 
in Ceylon was upon Liberian coffee, not one hundred 
miles from the north road, where it recruited 
strength and started thence upon its gruesome 
journey, collapsing district after district, like so 
many ninepins. 
If it was Liberian coffee which brought the bug, 
I subscribe myself one of the earliest victims of 
the introduction by others of a 
" NEW PEODUCT." 
LOSS IN WEIGHT OF CEYLON TEA 
SENT TO LONDON. 
The Hermitage, Kandy, Dec. 6th, 1888. 
Sir, — Loss in weight of tea has been alluded to 
by your " London Correspondent." Beside the usual 
draft 1 lb. per package allowed, there is an actual 
loss as per enclosed extract from a London letter, 
of 2 per cent; on other occasions I have had it a 
good deal more. Now, sir, the question is, where 
and how does this loss occur? If Ceylon exports 
thirty million lb. of tea during the current year, and 
there is a loss on it of 2 per cent over and 
above the usual draft of 1 lb. per package, what 
pickings there must be for some people ? Fancy 
60,000 lb. of tea which has been securely boxed, 
leaded, and soldered on the estate, going into thin 
air ! We poor deluded planters chuckled at the idea 
of packing up our own produce and dodging the 
Colombo curing charges. We are not a whit better 
oil, in fact, I may say, worse off, as I cannot 
remember loss in weight cf coffee anything like 
what it is in tea. A story has been told me by 
a sampling clerk, which goes far towards con- 
firming my suspicions, regarding malpractices at the- 
London warehouses. My informant relates, that 
samples taken from the packages were looked upon 
as the property of the clerks, and were regularly 
sold, and proceeds divided amongst them ! As an 
illustration, he tells of how he took what he con- 
sidered fair samples on his first visit to the 
warehouse, but the old stagers very soon opened 
his eyes and told him to bring paying quantities 
in future ! 1 ! If our teas are dealt with in this 
manner, it is indeed needless to combat against 
loss, except by very powerful machinery. — I am, 
sir, A-c, SHELTON AGAB. 
Coffee in Wynaad. — Taken as a whole, we hear 
the coming coffee crops will scarcely realise esti- 
mates. A few estates in Wynaad, which were fortu- 
nate to get the early showers to bring forward a 
large April blossom appear to be the exception to 
the general rule. During the early part of last year, 
and especially during the months of Juno and July, 
the rainfall was excessive, but this year the early 
showers throughout Wynaad and Coorg appear to 
have been unusually deficient. This, however, it 
appears has not affected tho highly cultivated estates 
ho much as tho onca lacking thi« advantage. —South 
of India Observer. 
Mexican Agriculture.— -In a recent report on the 
agriculture of the Mexican State of Vera Cruz, the 
British Consul describes the primitive manner in which 
maize is cultivated in the Minatitlan district, where 
three crops are raised annually, but never on the 
same land. No ploughing is done ; one man makes 
with a pointed stick a series of lines of holes about 
two feet apart ; another man follows, dropping two or 
three grains iuto each hole, and the rain is left to fill 
the holes iu. The harvest is calculated at a hundred 
times the weight of the seed, and is gathered in 1G 
weeks after the planting. No manuring is done, except 
when the land is first cleared, and then the ashes of 
the burnt underwood, rank grass, and stumps are used 
as fertilizers. This method of cultivation prevails in 
remote and low-lying districts : on the higher levels 
maize is cultivated on ploughed lands, and farming 
there is becoming more and more systematic, and on 
many haciendas scientific. Lack of capital is the cause 
of the exceedingly rude cultivation of cotton, maize, 
and other products in Mexico. Even in the ease of 
tobacco many-planters never plough or manure, aod 
never plant the same land twice, yet the requtation of 
Mexican tobacco is rapidly increasing, and tbe manu- 
facturers of Vera Cruz are increasing the size of their 
factories and the number of their operatives. The 
present annual production is almost6,000,0001h., produced 
at an average cost of 5|d. per lb. Twenty-three per 
cent, of the whole is exported, about half of which 
is manufactured and goes chiefly to England. 
The Influence of Sunlight on Trees. — In the 
latest report of the head of the Forestry Department 
of the United Stites reference is made to the effect 
of light on the growth of various trees. It is well known, 
says Professor Fernow, that light is necessary for the 
development of chlorophyll, and therefore, for the life 
of all green plants, and especially for that of trees. The 
heat alone which accompanies the light is not sufficient, 
although the relative influence of the light and the heat 
on the growth is still an open question, as well as the 
relative requirements in light of different species of 
trees. In the case of forest weeds, Which in forestry 
serve as an indication of the amount of shade which the 
trees exert, and with that their capacity of impeding 
evaporation, some require full sunlight for their develop- 
ment, others are averse to a high degree of light. To 
this must be due the change in the plants of a district 
when its forests are removed. Then tbe amount of light 
or shade needed is modified by site. Where the 
sunlight is strong, in higher altitudes, drier climates, 
or where the growing season is longer, or there are 
more sunny days, some species will endure more shade. 
The flora of high altitudes in general requires light. 
Trees nearly always develop best, in other words. make 
most wood, in the full enjoyment of light, hut their 
capacity of developing under shade varies greatly. 
The yew will thrive in the densest shade, while a few 
years overtopping kills the larch ; the beech will grow 
with considerable energy under partial shade, where 
the oak would only just keep alive and the birch would 
die. When planted in moist places all species are less 
sensitive to the withdrawal of light. In the open, 
maples, elms, sycamores, and others grow well and make 
good shade trees, iu a dense forest they thin out and 
have but scanty foliage. Conifers, such as spruces and 
firs, which preserve the foliage of several years, 
have perhaps the greatest capacity of growing under 
shade, and preserve the foliage in spite of the 
withdrawal of light. In America sufficient data to group 
the forest t'ees according to the amount of light required 
by them have not yet been collected, but rules oased 
on experience have long been formed in Germany, where 
the behaviour of trees under different conditions of 
light has been carefully studied. It has been found, for 
instance, that on the same branch those leaves which 
are developed under the full influence of sunlight are 
not only larger and often tougher iu texture, and 
thicker, but that they have a larger number of stomata 
or breathihg pores than those less exposed to light. 
The whole subject is one of the utmost importance in 
forestry, and observations and experiments are to be 
carried out iu regard to it in the United States.— Times 
Weekly Edition, 
