56 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
(July i, 1893. 
unjuBtifiably Buspecta that *' a rough and mislead- 
ing guees " was made with regard to an extent o( 
one of the fields referred to, which it ia arbi- 
trarily suggeated is "nearer 20 acres than 15." 
In drawing this conclusion t\(o,thing8 areac-rumed: j 
— (1) that the trees in the fieli in queetion are i 
planted farther apart than one would ntturally 
infer from the figures given in the statement 
appended to the letter, and (2) that "Polgaha's " 
knowledge of the act of reckoning is too limited 
to enable him to calculate with any approxima- 
tion to accuracy the extent of land covered by 
a given number of trees placed at certain dis- 
tances apart from each other. 
The reason adduced for the first aseumplion is 
that more than '* 84 trees to the acre viould cot 
be good planting " (I would fix the limit fcr " good 
planting " at 75); but the purpose of my h tier and 
statement was not to show the results of good 
planting but to prove the profitableness cf liberal 
manuring. 
There was no guess-work whatever in ihi^ ftate- 
ment in question, and in describing field A as of 
15 acres, I did so advisedly; the trees in this field 
as well as in the other referred to, are planted 
from 22 to 23 feet apart and there are a number 
of young plants besides the bearing trees. 
What manures to use and how to ap(ly them 
have already been recommended in your columns 
by the beet authority on the subject in the Island, 
and if his advice be fol'owed in the treatmentof bear- 
ing trees and W. H. W'a instructions be attend< d to 
in the opening of plantations, even larger profits than 
B180 per acre may be calculated upon with the 
latea now ruling for nuts. — Yours truly, 
POLGAHA. 
CEYLON BEETLES IN ENGLAND. 
Sir, — In a recent number of the Spectator in an 
article oq the Butteifiy Farm at the Zoo appears 
the foUowicg : — 
" Amoog itie butterfly cages is a glass case which 
fiitice its inmates first found their way to the 
Zo3 has rever failed to excite the utmost interest 
and curiosity. On the floor of the bo7, partly 
sheltered by a few green plants, are ten or a dczsn 
gold buttons, with a red gold centre, on a lighter 
gold Eetting, edged by a round semi transparent 
rim. It watched attentively the buttons presently 
move about on invisib'e legs, and perhaps, one 
suddenly splite, puts out a pair of wings and files. 
These astonishing beetles, which are at present 
unnamed, are from Ceyioo. Above they exactly 
resemble an embossed gold sleeve button with a 
rim of yellow talc. Laid on their backs the under 
side of golden beetle appears to be surrouuded by 
the same transparent rim." 
Can any of your readers identify these beetles. Is 
this a description of the gold beetle that is to be 
found on the Madras thorn when in bean? — Yours 
truly, J. B. D. 
Planting Potatos. — The question of the right 
number of eyes to the piece of seed tuber has long 
engaged the attention of cultivators and experimen- 
ters, without receiving a generally acceptable answer. 
The experimental data brought forward at the Purdue 
University Agricultural Station, Bulletin, n. 42, 1892, 
prove thst the number of eyes per piece is immaterial, 
but that the weight of the piece is a very impor- 
tant factor. The proper manner of cutting Potatos 
for planting, therefore, is to divide them into pieces 
of suitable weight (size), without regard to the dis- 
tribution of the eye. Instead of attempting to 
have one, two, or three eyes pieces, as the case 
may be, the approximation should be to one, two 
or three ounce pieces, or some other definite weight, 
—Gardinm' Chrmcle, 
TEA :-QUANTITY VS. QUALITY. 
A very intrreetiog sod caggestiv* diaeusiion b»s 
just been concluded in the p*ge8 of our senior c \i- 
temporary on the allefred det«riora<iou of C«-yli>n 
Tea. It originatid from the publ cation of a le ttt 
Figned " Philpot." which professed to be a bitter cry 
from Mincing L»ne over the falling off in the 
orieiDKl charaoterietics of the Test of thia lelan l 
wbicli had eari ed fo them so high • oani* . • • • • 
The Oliserve, aeke, are plan ers prepated that the good 
nanje of the Island ehould safier ihougb tbi« rnah 
for medium quiUtiee ? The answer, we fear, to this 
queetxin is tbst there are matters wbieh more nearly 
ooDce n the producer than (be gcoi naoie of the 
Islard; And that, provided be honestly turot ont a 
pure article which bexrs a proper rela'icn to the 
price at which he can sell it, he must eouhnlt bis 
own personal inti-reetg, mther tbaa tfaose of the 
Inland. A consideiaiion, however, which gen«>raliy 
stems to be forgottep, is that, if quality bo more 
peraititently iiud gecer^lly aimed at than qaanlity, 
one result woold be (he redDction of the quantity 
of Tea ibtown on the marktt — at moj rat«>, the 
prevention of its uodae growth. One maia caaae of 
the falliog-off in prices bee onquealtotiably been 
over production. While the exie'jde'l maoafacture 
of medium qualif'es has aided or maintained over- 
production, adherence to quality might have to some 
extent maintained price* while checking the flooding 
of the market. Ouly a few writers bare bad the 
ooarage to say that the neglect of doe cultivation 
is, if not wholly yet mainly, respoDetbte for the lack 
of flaTour in the Teas now prodaced at oompared 
with ibote nbich were first turned out. Oar beet teat 
were not produced two or three yesrs ago. Tbey 
came into notice in almost the first year* of the 
enterprise, as soon as the tecret* of manufacture had 
been mastered. Thebusbea planted oo virgin toil, or 
OD toil from wl icb the constituenta rtqnired by Tea 
had LOt been drawn by tbe prodacta which preceded it, 
yielded leaves ol a decid'^d navoar. Continue us pluek- 
iogs and frequent prunir have oatura'ly taken away 
roach from the soil ; nnd even rich Und may have been 
impoverished of consticueots helplul to flavoar. How 
much more land which bad long grown other pro- 
dncte, or whose poverty sboolJ have deterred the 
prudent Planter from placing it under Tea. It will 
never do for men jealous for tbc repatation of the 
Island, or confident in their treatment of their own 
vnlaable properties, to loee sight of Ibe fact that a 
large acreage coder Tea representa poor or watLed 
out land, and that tbe produce of toeb laud canoot 
be high Savoured. We remember hearing of tbe 
Superintendent of one Butale wbof e produce bad long 
topped the market, on his return to it some years after 
confessing himself unable to detect the old fiavoar in 
the Tea. He had no personal or unworthy objeot in 
making the statement, which was supported not alone 
by the falling off in the price of the Teae it produced 
but also by the loss of the position it had once ooon- 
pieJ with reference to other mcrks. Tbe secret was 
that the Estate hnd not been manured at all. and hit 
8ckD0wlp()ged (kill in manufacture failed to make 
any difierence in the price. With Estates in poor 
heart it becomes almost an absolute necenity, if tbey 
are not to involve loss, to adopt medium or even 
coarse plucking ; for even so there is not much to 
hoaet of in quantity , bat if their prodnctiveness be 
inoreaeed by liberal cultivation, quantity w>ll not be 
greatly sacrificed by ftadjing quality. Without deny- 
ing that London Tea Tasters and Tea Brokers are 
at times erratic in tbeir condemnation of Tea*, and 
without questioning the force other circumstances 
snch as strikes and the unreriainty of the political 
outlook in influencing tbe Market, we lean to the view 
that more might be done by cultivation and in the 
Factory to improve tbe quality of our Teac, Tbe 
question is one affecting European and Native alike 
not only beoaa>e the whole Island benefits from the 
Tea enterfirise, but because all classes are engaged in 
it, employes as well as those in the position of 
Proprie o. s; ai d we dtvoutly hope that the dislurbing 
controversy will yet bear good fruit.— Local " Exa- 
miner'"— June i2th. 
