jULY I, 188 1.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
89 
unrarely they are exceeded. There is a curious fact | 
in connection with coffee leaf disease in T'viuni. A 
comparatively old es'ate, which hud been neglected 
and allowed to grow weedy, is suffering from leaf 
disease. Very near, and in constant communication with 
it is. a young estate. It ba3 remained all along free 
from the disease. I have seen chinchnna succirubra 
plants growing a few feet above sea level. The growth 
«eemed everything to be desired, but 1 fancy the analyses 
cannot turn out well at such a low elevation. There 
is, h^wev r, plenty of suitable high land 1 also saw 
a few tea plants, and they seemed all right. One con- 
siderable item of estate expenditure is buildings. Only 
European carpenters can be obtained, and they recive 
16s. per day. Timber also is costly. The South Sea 
Islanders seem to have no mechanical genius whatever, 
and the attempts of missionaries to teach them useful 
arts have failed. They fire quick to pick up common 
duties, and, on the whole, seem to be as go h\ workers 
as the Tamil 8. The Government is accused of being 
morbidly anxious for their well-being. Whet er this be 
the case, is hard to say. No doubt, when Sir Arthur 
Gordon im'tirled the British flasr, very diff rent laws 
to those of the old native Government were necessary 
to give every one the liberty of the British subject, 
and the old settlers must have fel' the difference, and 
given an exagg racd importance to th^ subject. The 
labourers. hei"g engaged by Government and guaranteed 
protection, no doubt fully avail themselves of the 
situation : more s >, certainly than if the planters dealt 
directly with them. Superintendents— they are but 
" overseer chaps " down here— are, as a rule, boarded 
by the employer and receive salaries ranging from £6 
to £15 per mensem ; a few managers of large properties 
are paid better. These rates chiefly refer to sugar, 
which is as yet a much more important industry than 
coffee. I think the public of Kiji might with very 
good taste do away with the term overseer ; there are 
so many «'isa<'reeable associations connected with the 
word. Any K. C. B. objecting to sit at table with 
artizms should not come to Fiji. It is a very demo- 
cratic colony. The missionary work is chiefly in the 
hands of the Wesleyans. They, and the Roman 
Catholic missionaries in a less decree, stopped the 
horriblo vice of cannibalism, and prepared the islands 
for the advent of the British settler. This fact should 
be an unanswerable argument to use with those who 
ridicule missions. The inter-insular 'r>de of Fiji is 
carried on by a large mosquito hVet. There are a few 
pretty large steamboats and vessels engaged in it. 
There is communication once ft month with Sydney, 
Melbourne and Auckland The Sydney boat, rejoicing in 
the Indian name of 'Ganga," is a very fine large steamer. 
SILK PRODUCING. 
On Silk-producing, and other lepidopterous insects, 
by Alfred VVailly ( Membre Lau> eat de la Societe 
d'Acolimatat : on de France), lid, Clapham Road, Lou- 
don. S. W. Kngland. 
The following paper on this subject will, we think, 
be found inter' sting to many : — 
During several years, I have studied and reared 
many species of silk-producing Bonihyces and o'her 
lepidoptera. My reports on thip subject, have appeared 
in »anous numbers of the ' Bulle in de la Society 
d'Acclimatation," Paris; the "Journal of the Society 
of Arts," and "the Entomologist." London; "Isis," 
Berlin; "The Scientific American," New-York, &o. 
Of the wild silk producers reared in Kurope, I may 
mention: Attieus Yama-Mai, from .1 npan ; Attiuus 
Peruyi and Attacns Cynthia, from North China; 
Telea Polyphemus. Snmia Cecropia, S. Promethea, and 
others from ihe United States of North America; 
Attacus Mylitta, Attacus-A las. and Actias Scb ne from 
India. 
The sending of living cocoons and pupoe (which I 
purchase eveiy year) has always been suece-sf'ul from 
North America, but as this has not been the case 
with respect to live cocoons sent from India and South 
America, 1 shall make a few remarks on the sending of 
live cocoo is and pupce from India, and other distant 
countries to Europe. 
The time for sending these living insects should be 
from about the beginniug of October, till about the 
beginning of April, so that the cocoons should not be 
subjected to the Ivat during the whole time of the 
voyage t > Europe. On the cases containing the COCOO 18 
and pupffi, there should be writteu in large letters : 
Living cocoons or Pupce of lepidoptera, with request 
to keep them in the c olest places in the ship. The 
c ico"ns sbou d be well packed in the straw, hay, 
moss, or anything that will deaden the shocks, to 
which the cases may be subjected in transit. Hare 
pupce most be placed in bran, saw-dust, or soft moss, 
&c. All should be sent, as soon as possible, after 
their formation. Small quantities of cocoons pupae 
should be sent by sample post in registered boxes, not 
exceeding eight ounces in weight for each box ; the 
boxes must he strong, and it is best to tie a label 
to each box, and affix the stamps to the label 
Persons, living too far inland to send living pupoe, 
may send dead specimens of the perfect insects, butter- 
flies, and moths. These should be in good condition, 
and placed with folded wings in paper envelopes. As 
it is well known, butterflies are caught with a gauze 
uet, they should be killed immediately after they are 
captured, which can be done by carefuly pinching 
the thorax of the insect when its wings are folded ; 
or, as ir must be done with moths, they should be 
placed in a bottle, containing cyanide of potassium, 
or some other poison. It i- also important, when the 
dead insects have been put in a box, to add some 
poison to protect them from the attacks of mites, 
dermestes, beetles, anis, &c, as there are great many 
entomologists in Europe, who make a particular 
study of the larvae of lepidoptera. I shall now pass 
to this subject. 
To rear lepidoptera from the egg, the moths should 
be placed in cages (having muslin side?) for the 
inception, and the la,\ ing of eggs. .Moisture should 
be maintained in the ca^e. When the ova have been 
obtained, they should be placed und°r a glass, with 
a small branch, or leaves, of the proper feed plants, 
so that the larvas should find their food as soon as 
they are hatched. 
When the lavrse (caterpillars) are small, I rear them 
under bell gl isses, having a few holes on the dome. 
These glasses, which are of various sizes, according to 
the number of size of the larvae, rest on sai cers, full 
of sand, covered with a piece of paper. Small bianchcs 
of the food plants are plunged through the paper 
into the sand, and keep fresh for several days, even 
without water. The glasses must, of course, be kept 
in the shade. Some species can be reared in this 
manner, till they turn into pupa (chrysalid state. 
With respect to the larvae of the iarge Bombyces, 
after tl e hrst or second moult, it is be*t to rear 
them, without the glass covering on branches (the 
longer the better) plunged in water ; small twigs must 
b>- avoided. 
The larvoe should be reared in the open air. but 
sufficiently protects from euenres, or in a well-ventilated 
room ; also (and this is the best plan) ou the living 
trees, protecting them from birds, &c. 
Larvae, which go into the ground to turn into the 
pupa state, should be reared in cages, containing a 
f. w inches of light soil : such cages must be used 
with larvae, the habiis of which are not known. An 
open box or ea.«e containing a few iuches of .-oil is 
olten all that is required. A branch of tin- food plant 
is plunged in a bottle containing water, ami the 
