February i, 1889.] THF TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
521 
TEA VERSUS COFFEE. 
When a man like the correspondent who signs 
himself " Old Planter " (see page 529) makes com- 
parisons between tea and coil'oc to the disadvantage 
of the latter, the old King or rather Emperor 
may well cover his face with his mantle and, 
as he receives that last " envious stab," exclaim, 
" Et in Brule '! — then die C»sar." Considering our 
friend's experience, however, we cannot wondor. He 
and othors did all that could be done for coffee in the 
shape of supplying fertilizing matter in the hope 
of counteracting the insidious fungus. But all in 
vain ! They found they were only feeding the 
enemy which preyed on the lifeblood of their 
plants. Wc do not feel so certain as our corre- 
spondent and others do that tho visitation of 
leaf diseane was a direct penalty for covering ' largo 
expanses with one product. What happened in the 
case of coffee in Ceylon as in those of the potato 
in Ireland and the grape vine in France was that 
when a blight, fungoid or insect, in the one case 
or tho others, developed, it seized on the large 
expanses of favourite or exclusive food which it 
found ready. It is a shrewd argument in favour 
of "Old Planter " 's new love that even if a 
blight did attack tea we oould out down the 
bushes to the roots and burn away the infected 
portions, with the loss of produce only during tho 
period whicli the plants took to grow again, — say 
a couple of years! Once tea is in bearing, too, 
and constantly yielding crop, as it does in this 
climate, there is no reason why the planter should go 
into debt and mortgage his property : he can sell 
hid tea month by month as he harvests the leaf, 
and pay as he goes. We trust this view of the 
culture will not be lost sight of, but that careful 
planters will observe it, to the benelit of thomaolves 
and those dependont on 1 Hem. 
•• LONDON PUBPLE " AS A CUBE FOB 
GREEN BUG ON COFFEF. 
"London Purple" is by no means a new remedy. 
1 1 has an established reputation among horticul- 
turists in England and the United States extending 
over a good many years ; but wo are not aware if it 
has ever been tried in Ceylon in connection with any 
of the posts which infest our plantations? If any 
experiment has been made either in connection 
with ooileo grub, leaf fungus (though it is scarcely 
applicable being an insecticide) or its dire successor 
"green bug," wo should be muoh obliged by 
learning under what circumstances tho application 
was made and tho results, if any wero observed. 
If thoro has been no experiment and if such an 
authority as tho Director of tho Boyal Botanic 
UardoiiH thinks well of tho experiment, wo believe 
06 
there are several proprietors of "good coffee" 
both in and out of Uva, who are prepared to 
expend money in the attempt to light and drive 
away "green bug" by applications of the strong 
arsenical poison known as " London Purple." The 
United .States have hitherto been the great field 
where this remedy has been tried, and it cannot 
be said that over the vast territory between the 
Atlantic and Pacific oceans, agriculturists of every 
degree have not had their difficulties with terrible 
enemies-, both insect and fungoid, to as great an 
extent as the farmers and vine-growers of Europe. 
By special request in 1S84, we carried from Ceylon 
to Professor Plarkness of the Academy of Sciences, 
California, a specimen of our then great coffee 
foe, Hemilcia vastatrix, in which the worthy- 
scientist expressed the greatest interest; but he 
showed us how our experience in Ceylon had 
been paralleled even in extra-tropical and 00m. 
paratively dry America. The professor produced 
a specimen of the "blaok rot fungus" which had 
literally killed whole orchards of chorry trees 
over some half-a-dozen of the Eastern States of 
the Bepublie, so that not a single fruit-bearing 
cherry tree survived over hundreds of square 
miles. We mention this simply to show that 
the Americans have had experience of fungoid, as well 
as of overy variety of insect pests, in the Colorado 
beetle, canker worm, codlin moth, pear slug, &o. 
Under such circumstances there is some reason for 
giving attention to a remedy which comes recom- 
mended so strongly by American planters and 
agriculturists of all degrees, chemists and professors. 
The manufacturers (Hemingway's, HO Mark Lane, 
London) recommend their preparation as follows :— 
" London Purple."— This powerful Arsonical Poison 
received tho highest award at the Atalanta and Now 
Orleans Exhibitions as an Insecticide for th-: de- 
struction of the Cotton Worm, Colorado Beetle, 
Canker Worm, Peach Borer, Auts, Beetles, Grubs, 
Flies, and all similar Pests. A single application of 
it in the proportion of 1 lb. to tho acre destroys 
all insect life without injnriug the plant. It is .strongly 
recommended by the United States Government, by 
all the State Agricultural Colleges, and also by tho 
Indian Government, as being superior to all other 
Preparations. 
The price is 4Jd. per lb. in boxes of 1 lb. each, 
(100 boxes in a ease— case free) ; or .'!d. per lb. in bulk 
f -100 lb. iu casks). Among the products and their 
specific enemies for whioh "London Purple" 
i' the planters' friend* "—has been used with effeot 
are : — Cotton for cotton worms, on potato beetles 
and several specio? of leaf-eating lame, apple 
worms, and orchard slugs generally. To show 
its application on a largo scale on a plantation, 
wo quote as follows from tho American pamphlet • 
ono of sovoral testimonies to the same effect : 
