THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
Maskeliya, 17th Aug. — I send you two coffee roots. 
Can you tell me what the white fungus or insect feeding : 
on the rootlets is ? [The little white patches on the coffee 
roots are mealy or white bugs. A description of the 
"bug (Pseudococcus adonidum ) will be found in Nietner's ; 
■* Coffee Tree and its Enemies," page 5, second edition. 
—Ed.] 
Agricultural Education in Scotland. — As noticed 
in these columns two weeks ago, the Highland and 
Agricultural Society of Scotland resolved on the 15th 
of June to memorialise the Lords of the Committee 
of the Council on Education, expressing the desire 
that existed in Scotland to have the teaching of agri- 
cultural sciences included in the subjects taught in 
the board schools throughout the rural parishes. The 
secretary of the Highland Society accordingly, having 
communicated the resolution to the Education Depart- 
ment, Whitehall, London, has received the following 
favourable reply : — " Scotch Education Department, 
June 27, 1881. Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge 
the receipt of your letter of the "23rd inst., which I 
have submitted to their lordships. I am directed to 
request that you will inform your society that my 
lords are fully alive to the importance of the subject 
which has been brought under their notice by your 
letter. They have had under special consideration 
arrangements by which encouragement will, it is 
believed, be given to the study of the principles of 
agriculmre in the schools under inspection, and they 
trust that these arrangements, when finally settled, 
will be found to go far to meet the wishes of the 
society. — F. R. Sandford." — Field. 
The Guava and the Beetles. — I noticed another 
curious fact, in the same strain, in that same island 
of Lucod. The common Guava, undoubtedly imported 
from America by the Spaniards, has run wild there 
like the Lantana Camara in Ceylon, and is very fast 
invading the grassy savannas of the interior, probably 
through the agency of the pigs scattering broadly the 
undigested seeds. Well, if there is a true Malayan 
type of beetles it is the Pachyrhynchi, a tribe of 
Curculionidae, whose gorgeous metallic colouring cannot 
fail to attract the eye of the least attentive observer. 
I was at the time doing a little bit of beetle collecting 
just for the sake of the sport and for pleasing friends, 
and from several hundred specimens of Pachyrhynchi, 
in about fifteen species I caught, all but half-a-dozen 
were found on the Guava bushes, where they looked 
settled and at home; the few others were stray 
individuals, distributed by some cause and trying to 
regain their favourite haunts. What did they feed 
upon before the introduction of the Guava ? By-the-bye 
these weevils mimic wonderfully some spiders, so much 
so that it struck even my Tagal servant who, after 
a while, took readily to beetle hunting, and used to 
call them "spider-beetles," but then you must see 
them alive and not pinned down in a drawer. — Gardeners' 
Chronicle. 
Ostrich Farming in Cape Colony.— From time to 
time there appear in your widely read paper com- 
munications, as well as reviews on books, relative 
to ostrich farming. Advertisements are often inserted 
with a view to obtain the investment of the young 
Englishman's moneys in birds, and as an inducement 
a calculated return of 50 per cent is held out to 
him. That 50 per cent, and even more, has been 
obtained annually as interest accruing from money 
invested in ostriches, there can be no gainsaying ; 
however, that such a handsome return is not within 
the reich of ''prentice hands" would probably soon 
become apparent to the investor, and he would find 
that he hail been building his hopes on " fancies as 
twinkling ai d vague as the stars." In any ca>e, such 
a high percentage is the exception rather than the 
rul» Ostrich farming, nioperly conducted, is certainly 
lucrative ; but my advica to S'oung men coming from 
England to thi3 colony is— first, to gain experience 
and a knowledge of the relative value of birds before 
investing their money in them. It is only natural 
that the ostrich farmer will fancy his own stock, 
and fix a high price when offering it for sale. As 
there are public auctions and sales of birds very 
frequently, there would be no difficulty in ascertaining 
the market value of ostriches, and opportunities would 
offer of judging of the merit3 of their feathers. Ex- 
perience in colonial ways, and amongst birds, are 
necessary preliminaries before investing. If this plan 
is adhered to, the investor will have no cause to re- 
gret having gone in for birds ; but, on the other hand, 
a hasty investment will certainly not meet with such 
happy results. In fact, the former procedure will in 
all probability conduce to give an impetus to ostrich 
farming, and be beneficial to the whole ostrich-farm- 
ing community ; whilst in the latter case a few 
interested individuals will be the only gainer3 ; ostrich 
farming will get into bad odour in the old country, 
and thence the enterprise will suffer. — Gypogeranus 
Serpentarius (Cape Colony, May 24). — Field. 
Notes on Cassava growing in Sumatra.— The 
following extract from a letter from a planter in Su- 
matra affords a little novel information. In reply 
to your question of the probability of Cassava p 'jing 
in Ceylon, and its cultivation out here, I can only 
give a very outline reply, as to go fully into the 
subject of Cassava cultivation would require a lecture 
of considerable length, and which I fear I have not. 
the time at my disposal now to undertake. I wilt 
however speak of one thing that will give you an 
idea of the capital required to work Cassava pro- 
fitably. The first outlay is in machinery and buildings^ 
as they are tbe chief expense, on one placj here 
they cost $ 185,000, so that you see for such an 
outlay in mills, a very considerable acreage is re- 
quired to make it pay. Then again Cassava wants 
any quantity of manure, as it cannot be profitably 
cultivated without. The plant literally grows on a 
muck heap, dead dogs and horses cut in pieces are 
often added with advantage besides lime, cattle man- 
ure and bones, heaped in ridges or mounds, before 
tbe slips are planted. These are put in 2 feet by 3 
feet apart, the ground being previously mair-otied up. 
Roots are not dug up before 18 months, but plants 
must be eo planted that sufficient may be uprooted 
each day throughout the year to feed the mills in 
proportion to the capacity of driving power of the 
steam engine, and the number of cooking pans, hands, 
and tanks. Tapioca requires a large tract of land, 
as the soil so soon gets exhausted. A 1,000 acres is 
a fair estate and some have that nearly under culti- 
vation. The market is London, but greatly influenced 
by Tapioca coming from Rio and the Brazil, so 
I think it could not be profitably cultivated especi- 
ally as land costs so much more in I eylon than 
here. I find that Johore, where I was going first, is 
rather a snare and a delusion than otherwise. The 
place is very sickly, and unless one can breathe in a 
miasma, and has a very good situation arranged for 
him, I should not advise his going there. If your 
friend is still thinking of going, advise him not. The 
Maha Raja does not carry out his promises, and at 
present every one there holding coffee land is look- 
ing on at the few adventurers. By and bye when 
more land is opened up, the place may be a pro- 
sperous country for capital, especially to those who 
now hold land at $ I per acre tor 99 years. Advert- 
isements, as you are aware, I have found out in other 
parts of the world, are only flaunted to catch the odd 
thousands of adventurers and speculators, but are not 
to be believed in by hard working poor planters. 
People here get commissions on produce in addition to 
salary, so they live on their screws and lay by the 
commission, as something to fall back upon. — Ceylon 
i Times. 
