June i, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
$or]i]esponrlcnoc, 
To the Editor of the Ceylon Observer. 
EAWK-MOTHS ON COFFEE. 
Ramboda, 25th April 1882. 
Siu, — In reference to your footnote to the Madras 
Mail extract where "South Wynaad" mentions a great 
number of hawk-moths busy amongst the blossom on 
bia coffee, I bog to send you one which I have Little 
doubt ia the insect alluded to. It unfortunately lias 
the tail destroyed by a spider, in whose web it had be- 
come entangled. In your next quotation from the 
Indian paper J see it is described as one of the sphin ces. 
As i have all along supposed, though not pretending to 
scientific knowledge, these sphinxes are not uncom- 
mon here; but I certainly never saw such numbers 
before, as were observable amongst the coffee when in 
blossom a fortnight or so back. However, they do not 
con line their attention to coffee blossom; but, with 
multitudes of insects of many kinds, could be seen a 
day or two ago on a large jungle tree in full flower close 
to the bungalow. 
It seems to me somehow that insects of many kinds 
are especially numerous this season : caterpillars of 
various kinds ; moths in varietv, such as I never observed 
before; beetles ; and those evil-smelling green bugs, 
which suck the sugar from the ripe coffee berry, 
mentioned, if I recollect aright, as the last of his list 
of enemies to the coffee tree by late J. Neitner. One 
comfort, how ever, the cockchafers this seasou have, 
with mo at any rate, been far less numerous than they 
were last year. — Yours truly, E. W. 
[Our entomological authority states: — "One of the 
clear wing humming-bird hawk-moths belonging to ihe 
family Sessida-."— Ed.] 
THE QUESTIONS OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION 
AND HYBRIDITY IN CINCHONAS. 
April 25th, 1882. 
Sir,— Interesting though the discussion now going 
on is in reference to hybridization among cinchonas, 
and valuable the opinions so far must be when com- 
illg from men BO. well qualified either by their scientific 
attainments, or by practical experience, to express 
themselves emphatically, is it not possibly true that 
they are, after all, all pulling at an imaginary rope? 
That Messrs. Smith aud Gammie are quite right in saying 
there can be no such an occurrence as hybridization 
among cinchonas, owing to a misapplication of the 
term ; the fact being the different varieties as little 
deservo to be considered anything beyond this as do 
white men and black, figuratively speaking, all men 
with as little right any of them to be regarded as 
monkeys I And is it wrong to suppose that there are 
instances of a cross between, say, an Kuglishman and a 
Hindu, accruing: though, for an ideal specimen of 
robusta, it may be necessary to refer to the West 
Indus, where an African mulatto, from all I have 
heard, would hardly be a comfortably safe mortal to 
call a hybrid at too close quarters— as good at hitting 
or kicking us any "Nestor " ! 
Mr. Gammie calls tor a single instance in either the 
animal or vegetable kingdom of natural hybridization. 
Il"» DI to rabbits and hares? And what about his near 
neighbour.-, the Assam and China varieties of tea ? Do 
they, or not, cross freely, artificially fertilized through 
the agency nature so abundantly provides, in the 
multitudes of bees that By from llowor to flower, in 
the ea e of all specie's of plants ir/io within tlwir mm 
»l>> s So inclined ' Amor - these,.* so indisputable 
botanical authority as the Director of the liotanical 
Gardens tells us the cinchonas afford striking example*, 
owing to tho peculiarly apt construction of their 
flowers. As to outward appearance, no two varieties 
of cinchona differ moro from one another than do Assam 
and China tea plants; and do they differ more 
essentially in other respects? 
Were the question as to a cross between any other 
of the quinine-yielding ppecies of the same family, 
(instance cuprea !) and the true cinchonas, say between 
a chimpanzee and a Chinaman, it would be quite a 
different matter. Such a cross might be called a 
typical hybrid. And it is quite possible to realize the 
necessity for mental intervention to effect it. — Yours 
faithfully, X. 
A DEVIL'S ADVOCATE ABOUT JOHORE. 
Gallc, April 26th, 1882. 
Dear Sir, — There has been a good deal written to 
the Observer regarding the prospects of Johore and 
great deal of it is calculated to mislead readers. 
Mr. Dobreo, who visited Joho 
last year, gave a very u 
Pulai district, and havii 
Pahat district, which is the 
tivation, I can only say tb 
complete failure. The soil i 
and quite unsuited for the 
Liben.m, or cocoa, and the 
both for Europeans a 
is very expensive : 30c 
money 
rds the end of 
iccount of the 
sited the Batu 
rict under cult- 
lat I consider that it is a 
is sand mixed with sour clay 
i growth of Coffea Arabica, 
b climate is very unhealthy 
Tamils and Chinese. Labor 
day, i. e. about 6'Oc. Ceylon 
chiefly Chinese, who are only good for contract 
Tamils cannot be procured now. The district 
is situated 70 miles from Johore and Singapore, and 
there is no road whatever to it, not even a jungle 
path, the only means of communication being Chinese 
boats or tongkongs, which go up two or three times 
a month, and take three or four days over the 
voyage, and are most uncomfortable t 
residents there cannot obtain any fresh 
ever. To shew what people in Singa; 
prospects, the "Lettybrook" estate, \ 
SS00, about £150. There are 10( 
with Liberian coffee, 11 acres r 
and 177 acres forest. When an estate like this is sold 
for such a ridiculous figure there must be something 
rotten in the state of Denmark. Having had nearly 
20 years' experience planting in Ceylon and seen a 
good deal of coffee planted, I think I may say that 
I have never seen any coffee such n complete failure, 
or planted in such miserable soil. I would not advise 
anyone to go over to Johore to invest, or even to 
take a berth, certainly not to throw up one in Ceylon, 
however small, to go over there. — Yours truly, 
COFFEE. 
[The writer of the above sends us a privato letter to 
the following effect : — 
Enclosed I send a letter regarding Johore, which, 
should you think fit to insert in the Observer please 
I think that it is only fair to the public to 
avel by, and 
'isions what- 
think of the 
i was lately 
r as sold for 
res planted 
dy to plant 
do 
I hear both sides of a question, and Jahore nas been 
: praised up too much. Every Ceylon planter of experi- 
! enco who has visited it has condemned it. Messrs, 
Dobree, Macartney, Yonng and several others have 
all had the same opinion. 
| Theao letters having been written on April "Jtith, of 
! course the writer had not seen Mr. Dobree's favourable 
opinion which appeared in our columns on Saturday. 
That Mr. Dobree gave an adverse opinion regarding 
an Arabian coffee estate at loo low ih\el i-, u, bel - \ -, 
I certain ; but no one who has sc n tea. lain r an . lice 
and cocoa within easy reach of the capital of Job uv can 
doubt the suitability of sod and climate Labor is another 
1 question. We saw Chinese at work aud were disap- 
pointed th?t the aborigines employe. I by 'he Maha- 
rajah were absent. We have no doubt Mr, Dobree 
aud others will reply.- -Ko. J 
