October r, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
377 
who 
cultii 
of re 
dens 
tion 
settle) 
aboun 
of fau 
The 
neither 
atiou hy 
lamem 
tion i 
ordina 
We 
of alle 
that c 
sentati 
sulfur, 
loudly- 
labour, 
toriats 
trans pt 
niunt 0 
countr 
their i 
taininc 
cultivate their laD(ls nor permit their 
others, but this solution of the problem 
riculturo from unfair and impolitic bur- 
leen in favour with our governments and 
stwithstanding it is of the most evident 
ie State to discountenance the couscrva- 
mds in vaste, and to stimulate their 
1 cultivation, affording homes to the 
ve proletariat, and solving the problem 
1 of lower railway tariff's is also un- 
ntimately connected with that of the 
tlie waste lands, inasmuch as it is the 
ty of a producing and consuming popula- 
111 which renders necessary the cxtra- 
tho difficulties which lie in the way 
the burdens of agriculture in the hope 
e active discussion attending the pre- 
udidates for the suffrages of the agri- 
Bt, it may be remembered amid the 
prosperity and power have 
that of the problem of ob- 
d cultivation of waste lands, 
.•1III1 
embarrassing 
jrovement, and .spreading 
the very confines of tbe 
maritime cities themselves. — Anglo- Brazilian Times. 
the progress of 
their enormous 
INK I.OSSKS KitOM T li A PLIGHT. 
Ewjlish 
So far the 
one for Tea, 
lated on the 
that has led 
at home indi 
by reports c 
the Indian c 
and, to crow 
ferior. A ris 
the natural t 
finer pluckin 
good 
;ratu- 
auces 
this 
the 
placed 
my estates 
it was at one time a question whether even the high 
prices would save them from loss. Quantity however 
is being now made up in most places, and if tea 
does not fall heavily in value, the results of the season 
may bo above the average. The importance of per- 
manent causes of loss is, however, not dimiushed by 
thil spurt of prosperity, and there is one matter of 
-r ll in iinent that calls for the attention of all con- 
cern. ■ I in tea. We allude to the serious havoc annu- 
ally caused by blight. This is often equal to a 
dividend, and there seems so far to bo no 
ittempt to cope with it. 
It is all very well for Government to send an 
entomologist to tho Toa districts to study and report 
on I Ihj various insect blights. It is, no doubt, a step 
in the right direction to ascertiiu tho times and sea- 
sons of tlh'ii- development, when and whero the eggs 
arc laid. Other enlightened Governments go agrat 
way in this direction, and wo should not bo behind. 
Wo arc therefore glad to see that Mr. Wood- Mason 
has been deputed for tho work, and no doubi he will 
fiud out n great ileal both u eful and interesting, but 
that ho will discover a euro oven for ouo of the three 
moat eouspieilous of Tea blights, wo very much doubt. 
A vast amount of time may bo ueccssary to loarn 
all ab nit 1111 insect, and when the knowledge has 
95 
been attained, we may be as far off as ever from a 
cheap and certain means of exterminating it. The 
knowledge! is the result of careful and prolonged in- 
vestigation, whereas the cure (if there is one), is ten 
to one a discovery, tho " happy thought " of some ob- 
scure assistant who has tbe matter in view, and tries 
it in the nick of tim*. Considering the enormous 
losses caused by each of the blights if bad, a loss 
estimated at f oine nine or ten lakhs of rupees per an- 
num, it seems a matter for surprise that some steps 
are not taken by those most interested (i. e., the large 
agency houses) to combine and offer substantial rewards 
for cures, or even such discoveries as may conspicu- 
ously mitigate the evil. Where the losses are so 
steady and so severe, the amount lost per annum 
might be well taken as that of tho total prize found, 
in which case the interest of almost every planter 
would be at once enlisted in the matter, and experi- 
ments would become so general that the chances of 
discovery would be enormously increased. Practically 
the money value of a cure for "red spider" that 
would save 90 per cent of what is now Inst by it, 
would be worth some R150,000 or R200,000, and 
that of a cure for the other blights not very much 
less; for both the "Tea Bug " (or mosquito) and the 
little "greenfly" can, where bad, do equal damage. 
There is much that Government can do in this 
matter of the study of blights affecting tea, but for 
the discovery of a cure the agency houses aud pro- 
prietors generally should look quite as much to their 
own combined efforts to offer an inducement to tbe men 
who are specially qualified to watch and work at the 
task, but who now feel that, if they do rind a cure, 
or even a means of conspicously lessening the damage 
and loss, they must keep such knowledge to themselves, 
or present a very valuable discovery to the world for 
nothing. 
far behind that 1 
THE MANGROVE A FUEL PRODUCER. 
(From the Madras Mail.) 
A correspondent writes : — 
The protective merits of sea-weed against littoral 
•osions have at different times suggested to those 
iterested in the question the planting of mangrove 
•ees along the banks of such of our tidal currents 
1 evince a propensity, under certain conditions, to 
2 eroded by the action of the stream. Nowhere 
'residency, except at Masulipatam, have the 
.ilts of the plan been more manifest. Thirty 
o, the tidal stream that runs by tho side 
i pat am was subject to frequent inundations 
volumes of water that, under the appella- 
resh'ets, sometimes changed the bed of the 
md produced inundations atti nded with loss 
•ty, aud not unfrequently of life too as well. 
Mr. Rhodes, who was then the Judge of the district, 
conceived the happy idea of planting the whole length 
of this stream with seeds of the mangrove, and, under 
his immediate direction, measures wero taken which 
resulted in the stream being confined very much to 
its own bed, and a provision for fuel b ing also secured 
at tho same time that supplied the wants of the 
whole town. Tho mangrove— I canuot just now re- 
collect its botanical name— is a capital fuel and fodder- 
supplying agent ; and tho cattle at Masulipatam take 
readily to Us leaves. Tho branches aro Uied as fuel, 
certain seasons of the year being chosen for the low 
jungles being cut down to a certain height and 
sold by auction to local merchants. A very extra- 
ordinary feature connected with the mangrove is that 
its soods germinate wbilo on tho tree ; they drop intu 
tho oozy banks and send up, with marvellous rapidity, 
a growth which, but for tho measures takeu to restrain 
in tli 
curroi 
" prj 
