t34 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST [August i, 1893. 
in diameter. This is not bad for trees growing 
in old ooflee land. — Youra faithfully, 
H. H. KIRBY. 
[Well dona the Balangoda-Haldomalla region ! 
We had long ago heard of the magnificent growth 
oi tea on Mr. Bastard'elfine plantation. The above 
champion trees are not quite equal to the St. John's 
one.— Ed. T.A.] 
HOW TO IMPROVE CEYLO^^ TEAS. 
Upoountry, July 18. 
DbAB Hib,— Don't you thick that a good plan for 
a start in improying the quality of our teas would 
be for Superintendents when in Colombo, for a 
holiday; to take lessons in tasting from the brokers, 
two or three of whom oould hold an ' exam ' and 
give a diploma, aooording to qualifications. I only 
throw this out as a hint. At present one brain 
manufactures for a Company — rule of thumb — but 
if a man had a diploma in degrees, he would no 
doubt be allowed to use his own brain a bit ; then 
the beat brain would get its reward. A little science 
in manufacture would cost less than in manuring 
and would have the advantega of not increasing 
the output.— Yours truly, 
AN OLD COFFEE STUMP. 
aoTTA-PllBOHA AND NBW PkODUCTB IN THK PhilIP- 
PiNBi.— CoNiDii Webb, op Manila:— As far as is 
known to the department of foretita aud mountain) of 
the Philippines, the oaoutohouo or India-rubber tree 
is not found in the Philippine Archipelago ; it is 
certain that India-rubber h»« never been a product of 
this consular district. But it is quite probsble thatau 
exploration of the hitherto unexplored jungles of the 
southern islands would result in the disoovery of this 
valuable tree, for the olimHte and apparently the soil 
are favourable toils growth. There is a widespread 
conviction that this archipelago will yet be made to 
yield many articles of commerce the existence of which 
is yetunknown here, for the whole vast country, with 
the exception of the environs of the three principal 
porta, Manila, Iloilo, and Zebu, is almost as completely 
wild and undeveloped as it was three hundred 
years ago. There are hundreds of square miles ol 
jungle rich with botanical treasures lhat are never 
disturbed by human foot, black or white, and it will 
probably never be kncwn what tbey really contain 
until the Spanish Government awakes to the advan- 
tage and necessity of removing some of the obfctacjes 
that stand in the way of imm'gration to the Philip- 
pinea, and of encouraging American and English 
capital to come in and develope the country. But it 
maybe of interest to thote engaged in the rubber trade 
to know that about fourteen months ago Gutta-percha 
found its way to Manila and that it promises to tbke a 
promintnt place among tbeexports. For eeveralyeai s 
the natives of Zamboanga, Jolo, aed other southern 
Islands have been sending the crude Gutta-percha 
und«r the name of "goma," by sailing ves^e s, to 
Singapore, from whence it was shipped to Euglaud, 
and it, apparently, never occurrtd to them that a 
market migi t be found for it in Manila until some 
enteiprising Chinamen sent a consignment bete, which 
was promptly sold at $12 per picul of 140 pounds. 
Since then the price has steadily advanced and Gutta- 
percha is soU now at §34 per picul. Within the past 
year about 1,000 piouh have been received, all of which 
has been sent to England, and agents have been lenl 
to Zamboanga and the Sooloo Islands by two English 
houses in Manila to endeavour to secure larger quan- 
tities than have yet been sent here. For the past four 
months the receipts have averaged about 100 piculs per 
month, and four houses are now handling it instead of 
the one which received the flit conBigumeut.— jE'^ect/'t- 
cal Tradfs Jov,rmL 
THE COCONUT PALM AND ITS ENEMIES. 
On p!ige 117 will be found the first portion 
in an abridged form of the valuable paper on 
the " Coconut-palm Weevil" or beetle which it re- 
sponsible for special ravages in Honduras. Thii 
paper appears with a series of admirably executed 
plates in the June number of the " Kew Oaideoi 
Bulletin." We give today an instalment of what 
we have marked, and the balance will follow 
in another iesue. Thercis no need that we should 
enter on a review of the contents of th e paper; 
for we have received one from a gentleman who 
is about the most competent to discuss the subject 
of any we know in the islaod. He writes ai 
follows : — 
Thanks for sending me the K>'W " Balletin of 
misotUaneouR information" (or February and March, 
containing the paper on the " Palm Weevil in 
British Honduras." The paper is a most valuable 
Fud interesting contribution to our knowledge of 
the history of the Coconut Weevil. It is thoroughly 
exhaustive ; and as far as I know it leaves scarcely 
anything more to be said u|.on the subject. 
Every intelligent coconut (.lanter should have a 
copy. I late I. gives capital illueliations of the 
American palm weevil in all stages of its life, 
and is easily recognizable as identical with our 
Ceylon red beetle (lihyncltophoru* ferrugineui 8iii- 
BALESE, Kandapaiiuwa). only that the colour is a 
velvetty black, while the Ceylon vaiiety is red, 
with 5 or tj black spots on the upper surface of 
the thorax. Judging from the drawings the 
American variety is a little larger, more powerful 
and evidently more destructive. Such alarming 
havoc as it commits in Honduras is fortunately 
quite unknown in Ceylon. The habits of the two 
insects seem to be identical, and their life history 
the same. Several remedies are suggested for the 
prevention of egg-laying in the trees, and for the 
cure of those injured ; but I doubt if any of them 
would be of much use ; though where from 30 to 
40 per cent of trees are destroyed one cannot be 
surprised that a variety of remedies have been 
suggested. With such an insidious enemy to 
combat, constant and cireful examination of the 
trees would be necessary to detect the first signs 
of attack and to apply a remedy early. When 
there are signs of the spike leaf beginning to wither 
it is too late to try remedies; for the tree must die, 
' The above list of remedies is intended to in- 
clude all that have been tried and are likely to 
be of snccess under differmt conditions. Tbb 
rROTKCTION OF TBEEB AQAIN6I EGO-LATINO, BY MOT 
TBIMMINO THEM, AND IHK CAPTDBE OF TH« WEEVILS 
ABE, TOOETHEB WITH THE OABEFtJL DBSTBUCnoN OF 
IHE KILLED TltEES, THE MOST PBOMISINO." I have 
undei lined this para lor small caps, as it contains 
in my opinion, the whole secret of preventing 
destruction by these insects. Of sU the methods 
suggested for the capture of the beetles that by 
bait strikes me as the best. It is recommended 
that the stumps and soft tissues — the split cab- 
bage—of the destroyed coconut palms should be 
left exposed, and when the surfaces dry, split again, 
to expose other fresh surfaces ; the fermenting juice 
will attract the beetles, and they can be captured 
by examining the baits at stated intervals. "As 
the weevil, like many other kinds, seeks 8helter|by 
day, the stumps and other baits should be visited 
at difierent times, particularly at day-break, to find 
out when the insects frequent them most ; and 
the stumps will probably last longer and keep 
fresher if protected from the sun with a light 
covering of leaves and fibre, which can be removed 
to get at the inseote." It is also suggested that 
fermenting mangoes sbonld be used as attracting 
