February i, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
733 
could apply any solution to the leaf, which would 
prevent him from germinating, he would do little harm. 
Numberless fresh potato tubers now laid up with us 
for winter store are infested with quiescent schrotiets 
of their own fungus ; many solutions could easily be 
tried on the various leaves (marked with coloured 
threads) of a single plant, before the granules become 
developed! You see that isolation of your experiment 
is unnecessary. If grafting on some suitable stock 
has not been tried, possibly the alteration of sap arising 
from this process might have a tendency to arrest 
the germination of the germs lodged in the stomata. 
And trusting that some lucky dog may hit what others 
have missed, 1 am, dear sir, yours very truly, 
A. STEPHEN WILSON. 
P. S. — I should like to have an opportunity of in- 
vestigating more fully the resting system of the 
He.mlicia. I have recently discovered a parasite which 
destroys tho leaves of the lilac which Mr. Berkeley 
hos named Olfulane ayringae, the conidia of which give 
rise to a great crop of opalescent resting spores which 
stare at you from a jungle of mycelium like the eyes 
of wild cats. And if you could find an opportunity of 
sending me a packet of coffee leaves and buds in all 
states of health and disease, you would lay me under 
further obligations. — A. S. W. 
CEYLON TEA IN LONDON. 
33, Basinghall Street, London, E. C, lGthDec. 1881. 
Dear Srit, — There have been three different parcels 
of Ceylon tea up in public sale this week, the prices 
realized being 3d. per lb. above valuation aud consider- 
ably in advance of earlier sales. We give you marks, 
description, and prices realized : — 
W. E. S. 58 chests Pekoe Souchong ... @ ]/l per lb. 
49 half-chests Pekoo Souchong „ 1/U do. 
17 chests Souchong ... „ 1/1$ do. 
45 half-chests Broken Pekoo ... „ 1/1$ do. 
8 chests Congou ... ., /ll do. 
ID ., broken tea ... „ /IOi do. 
22 half-chests , , ,. „ /10f do. 
22 „ „ „ Pekoe ... „ 1/H do. 
15 „ „ Pekoe Dust ... „ /7 do. 
8 „ „ Dust ... „ /4j do. 
30 ,. „ " Pekoo ... „ 1/1 j do. 
Hope 25 half-chests Pek. Sou. ... „ 1/32 
17 „ „ Pro, Pek. .. ,, 1/3 
Windsor 
for 
GHDE 19 chests Bro. Pek. ... „ 1/7J 
0 „ Pek. Sou. ... ,, 1/2 J 
1!) „ Bro. Bok. Sou. about... „ 1/laftersale 
121 „ Souchong ... „ I/l* do. 
4 „ Bro. Sou. ... „ /I ft 
18 „ Dust ... „ m 
1 1 „ Fanning* ... „ /t) 
3 „ Fngss. Dust ... ,, fl 
MR 2 ,, Lots ... „ 1/ 
Tho brokers say that, while the make is good, the 
infusion is still very inferior, particuhiry that marked 
M.B. although tho leaf of this lot is pretty enough. 
Tho buyers were various, and an offer made after the 
sale of tho C. C. L. tea at au advance of Jd. por lb. 
did not secure the parcel, which was purchased for 
some firm in tho North. The bidding was brisk and 
the inclination to deal with the article very apparent. 
Tin- v. idiot of tho public from all quarters is that 
Ceylon tea has a "smoky" flavour. This is the fault 
of the fermenting, and until further care is exercised 
in this brnnoh the private sales, resting on the merits 
of the pure article solely will bo limited— Yours faith- 
fully. 
HUTCHISON & Co. 
COPPER IN MATA1 B 
Matale, L'tilh Dee. 1SS1. 
Dkak Slit,— I seo that attention is being pud to 
the subject of copper ore, and I wdl !>,• glad if you , 
will tell me if the enclosed is a piece of copper 
pyrites. There is plenty of it here, in large and small 
pieces, at times, to be picked up. With regard to its 
being found in pockets, some time ago my atten- 
tion was attracted by a burnt appearance on the face 
of a large rock, and, on picking at it with a knife 
the crust broke, and inside, in a neat hollowed out 
space, I found a quantity of green powdor, which I 
soon discovered was mixed with a bright metal, and 
on applying fire to the powder it burnt up, giving 
out a strong smell of sulphur. Mr. Dixon analyzed it, 
and declared it to be a mixture of sulphur, tellurium, 
copper pyrites and some other substances. I have since 
discovered the same stuff cropping up in a reef, which 
readily burns in dry weather. I think, if trouble 
were taken, the pyrites could be found in considerable 
quantities.— Yours faithfully, YOU KNOW WHO. 
P. S. — Since I enclosed this, I h >ve procured some 
of the sulphurous earth. The reef in which it appears 
seems to be a sulphur rock. I will send it to you 
when it is dry. 
[The enclosure, if any was made, has failed to reach 
us. We know that Mr. Dixon mentioned he had found 
copper in samples sent him from our correspondent's 
neighbourhood. — Ed.] 
HOW TO COMBAT COFFEE LEAF-DISEASE : 
VALUABLE HINTS IN PRUNING AND 
MANURING. 
Yoxford, Dimbula, Dec. 26th. 
Dear Sir,— Mr. Marshall Ward's dictum that 
manure is in no sense a cure for lealfdisease is prob- 
ably a correct one. At the same time, my own ex- 
perience is that a proper manure enables the trees to 
pass through au attack of leaf-disease comparatively 
uninjured. The question, therefore, is what is a pro- 
per manure, and this, I believe, cannot be answered, 
in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, for every estate, 
without the proof of accurate experiment. In 
this connection, I hope shortly to send you the results, 
so far as they go, of a series of experiments laid down 
here ou the Rothamstcad system and as recommended 
by M. Ville. Mr. Tulbot says that what we want to 
know is how to get our wood ready for blossoming 
in January, and, as this has been my chief aim for 
some time, and accompanied, I think, I may say, by 
a fair measure of success I will say what I consider 
chiefly necessary for the attainment of this object. 
In the first place, I consider that the pruning should 
be completed by the end of March or the middle of April. 
This is not only necessary to give the trees the required 
impetus for the setting of the blossoms, but also to 
clear the way for manuring operations which should 
be begun in May. I should like to say a good deal 
upon the subject of pruning, but space will not per- 
mit. However, I would ask the advocates of hoavy 
pruning what they hope to gain by cutting off wood 
which is in a condition to bear crop aud which has 
at the expenditure of considerable energy, stored up 
within itself the food drawn from the soil for many 
previous months, with the object of producing blossom 
aud maintaining the crop when set. If handling has 
been systematic dly done previously, there will not bo 
any matured wood going in a wrong direction. In 
my own praotioe 1 handle steadily from about tho 
middle of June up to crop time aud again just before 
pruning where the ines are thick. 
However, prunjng being over Mid all made ready for 
tho application of manure by May. my cip« rienee hero 
and elsewhere bads ine to the opinion thut all back- 
ing up of crop should bo completed by tho end of 
Juno, or it will fail of its lull affect, aud niter that 
that the fields which aru to be pushed forward for 
tho next season bo dealt with. In higb-lying 
codec the mauuru should bo in before the middle oi 
