194 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August r, 1881. 
larger and the inflorescence more lax, but I was 
pleased to be able to assure Mr. Wilkinson that the 
tree was 0. Ledgeriana. 
In my letter to him I pointed out the drooping 
character of the flowers, their white colour and the 
shape of the buds, and in his reply he thanks me 
for helping him to "see the difference between the 
real Ledger blossom and the ordinary Caliawya." 
I have seen Ledgeriana flowers from this one tree 
only, so far as Emelina is concerned ; and I am 
anxious to check promptly — so far as I can — that facile 
exaggeration and loose deduction to which it seems 
not unlikely my determination of this cinchona may 
give iise. — I am, sir, yours faithfully, 
HENRY TRIMEN. 
THE SAPU TREE AS A BREAKWIND. 
Lindula, 8th July 1881. 
Deae Sir, — I notice, in your paper of 5th inst., a 
Dikoya correspondent advocates planting sapu trees 
as breakwinds. 
I think, if your correspondent would study the na- 
tural habits of that tree, he would observe that it is 
seldom or never found on blown land, and appears 
to flourish only in sheltered situations. 
Several attempts to grow it here on ridges &c. 
have only resulted, after much trouble and expense, 
in total failure. 
In addition to the natural tenderness of the tree, 
it possesses long delicate roots, which make it an 
exceedingly difficult matter to transplant it successfully. 
The black wattle will, I should suppose, be found 
a much superior tree for wind belts in the younger 
districts. It has the merits of being easily planted, 
growing fast, and standing wind splendidly. Whether 
its timber is valuable or not I am unable to say. — 
Yours faithfully, TIP. 
DIKOYA RED BARK FETCHING 5s. 5d. PER 
m.— ? THE HIGHEST YET REACHED. 
No. 1. 
Kandy, 11th July 1881. 
Dear Sir, — I see that at a recent sale some 
Kirkoswald estate red bark was sold at the high 
rate of 5s 5d per lb. ! 
Is not that the highest price yet realized for Ceylon 
bark of this description ? 
It would be interesting to know how it was pre- 
pared etc., as there must have been something decid- 
edly superior in the curing, as well as in the bark 
itsel f , for it to have sold at such a high figure, when 
there is so much cinchona in the market. — Yours truly, 
PERUVIAN. 
No. 2. 
Dimbub, 11th July 1881. • 
Dear SiR)— In a recent issue of your valuable paper, 
I observe that Kirkoswald estate red bark fetched 
5a 5d per lb. in London. This strikes me as an 
unusually high figure for succimbra bark, and I know 
the Kirkoswald trees, lately cut down, cannot be over 
eight years old. The bark is said to have been of 
" an exceptionally fine character." Are we to under- 
stand from this, that the analysis was good, or simply 
the appearance ? It would be interesting to know how 
the bark was prepared and shipped. — Yours truly, 
CATEADOR, 
A CEYLON TEA AGENCY UN GREAT BRITAIN. 
Agra Patana, July 11th, 1881. 
Dear Sir, — In reply to a letter from Mr. W. T. 
Mackenzie, in your issue of 8th instant, I beg to 
state that the matter of a Ceylon Tea Agency is now 
in court o of arrangement, and is in fact only waiting 
for a final decision from some influential gentlemen 
connected with the cultivation of tea in the island. 
A gentleman with tome commercial experience ia now 
011 the point of starting for England to arrange pre- 
liminaries, and 1 hope that advertisements will soon 
appear in the home papers, and also through the 
medium of your journal in Ceylon —Enclosing card, 
I am, sir, yours faithfully, A LOVER OF TEA. 
[As we understand the matter, several Ceylon Tea 
Agencies are at work in the old country : in Aber- 
deen there is a gentleman giving most of his time to 
the sale of Ceylon tea. Some of our planters have 
contracted, we believe, with large houses in Edinburgh 
and Glasgow to supply Ceylon tea. Others have 
arranged with London houses to despatch packets 
of Ceylon tea to any English address. Our advertise- 
ment columns shew Low this is done. But of course 
there is plenty of room for a special Ceylon Tea Ageney 
in England. Since writing the above, we have received 
the following from a well-known tea planter : — "I notice 
Mr. Mackenzie's further remarks in your paper of the 8th 
on the subject of a London Tea Agency. I think it a 
greut pity that those who could help in this work do 
not combine to do something. In the case of this estate, 
nay partner at home has arranged for a retail business 
in Glasgow and the tea is sent from here in 20 lb. 
boxes, and sold there for 2s. Gd. per lb. duty paid. 
This amounts to our tea being worth to us Rl per lb. 
in Colombo, or perhaps a little moiv. I believe that in 
six months 10,000 lbs. have been sold in thi3 way, and 
there is no reason why the thing should not increase, 
as all I hear of the tea is in its favour. What 
Ceylon wants is just such an agency in London and 
other large towns. I should be glad if you could call 
attention to the importance of a meeting being held to 
discuss this question." [Our idea is that tea planters 
should await the arrival of tha Ceylon Commissioner 
next month to have his advice at the meeting. — Ed ] 
The "Sirocco" Tea Drying Apparatus.— This ia 
an invention of Mr. 8. C. Davidson for drying tea by 
hot air. It is in the form of a stove with drawers, 
and is capable of drying 20 mounds of green leaf per 
diem, with from 5 to 6 maunds of dry wood. The 
teas cried by to is apparatus are spoken of very highly 
by Messrs. W. J. & H. Thompson, the well-known 
tea tasters, who state that the value was enhanced 
by the process. The price of the apparatus is £85 f.o.b., 
the Colombo agents being a well-known mercantile 
house who will doub'less bring the apparatus into 
use. 
Tea-bug.— Mr. J. Wood-Mason, of the Calcutta 
Museum, who was especially deputed by the Govern- 
ment of Bengal, at the request of the planters of 
Assam, to investigate the nature of the insect tea 
pests, has succeeded in ascertaining some facts about 
the tea bug which are disseminated through the medium 
of the Assam Gazette. Mr. Wood-Mason finds that 
the tea-bug is armed with a serrated ovipositor, in 
appearance, as in sh-rpness, resembling a sword ; with 
this the insect pierces the leaves of the plant, and 
deposits therein the eggs that eventually cause such 
villainous mischief. But the most important discovery 
is that the pest appears invariably to choose the 
blighted portions of bushes for these o; erations, and 
thus there is good hope that by vigorous and un- 
remitting plucking of these parts the evil may be 
mitigated. While on the subject of insect pests, it 
may be remarked that vigorous attempts are still 
being carried on in Ceylon to discover a means of 
putting down the Hemibia vastatrix, which has been 
so destructive of Lte years to the coffee ; Mr. Schrottky, 
in particular, is very sanguine that he has discovered 
a method of extirpatiug the disease, though we are 
not aware that its success has yet been fully established. 
— Pioneer. 
