250 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 2, 1893. 
ease of Ceylon, that red-spiiJer det( tts tnois'ure 
and ought therefore to be quickly dieposed of by a 
good shower of rain and fortunately for us, no 
Ceylon tea diBtriots uro without well disiribuied taiu- 
fall throughout the year.— Ed. T.A.] 
HABITS OF COCONUTS. 
Nilgirie, Aug. 21ct. 
Sir,— I have peruaed with great inter«di the 
various articles and letters on ooooDut p!auting ia 
your oolumna. I should be greatly obliged if " W. 
H. W., or, W. J." or any other exparienaed planter 
could inform me (1.) If proximiiy to the sea is 
essential to the suoceas of coooiiut plantations, 
(2.) If not, what approximate rainfall do they 
require?— I am, sir your etc., CUEIGHTON. 
[Some of our best Ceylon ooconut plantations are 
20 to 30 or more milee inland, with an average 
annual rainfall under 100 ioohes, perhaps as low 
as 70 inches.— Ed. t.a.] 
THE TEA BUG: A WAK OF EXTERMINA- 
TION IN CEi'LON ADVISED. 
Peradeniya, August 2G. 
Sib, — The serious damage done in Atsam tea 
gardens by the tea bug or " jEiosquito Blight (//eto- 
peltis tlmvora) is only too notorious, and i have 
always dreaded lest it should be lairoduced to 
Oeylon where another member of the genus (H. 
antonii) has already been so mischievous to cacao. 
Owing to several complaints of " Mosquito Blight" 
on tea on some estates in the lowoountry, I have 
been recently examining the insects concerned and 
find that the Helopeltis seat me from these estates 
is not the Assam one, but our old enemy the 
native H. antonii. 
At present the attacks of this insect are not of 
very great import&uoe; tea is no doubt a new diet 
to it, and it has not as yet taken to it with avidity ; 
but no certainty can be felt that this state of 
things will continue. On the contrary it appears 
to be increasing in abundance and it ia highly 
probable that it will find the tea-phnt much to 
its taste and bo rapidly multiply on it as to be- 
come a serious pest. I therefore feel that an (Sort 
should be made at once to check its progress. 
Our experience with cacao comes in useful. 
In my report on this pest to Government 
(printed in Tropical Agriculturist for October 
1884 pp. 327-9) the good results of the sys- 
tematic catching of the insect are described ; 
and it has been found that where carried out 
vigorously and thoroughly, the practice has had- the 
effect of very greatly mitigating the damage done 
to the trees- I feel therefore conlidenoe in strongly 
advising a similar proceeding on tea-estates while 
the pest is still manageable, thus anticipating a 
time when it may have assumed proportions ren- 
dering rtmedial efiorts ineffectual, 
To be of any real use, however, the attack must 
be a general and concerted one, and worked unani- 
moiisty for the common good. I am not aware 
that Helopeltis extends beyond the limits of the 
low-country, bi<t I taink I am justified in earnestly 
advising immediate action on all estates below 
3,000 It. elevation. There is no occasion for 
any alarm, the measure recommended is a 
precautionary one, and offers a reasonable chance 
of checking the progress of this extremely destrac- 
tive insect. 
There is little difficulty in catching Helopeltis, 
and it should be captured in all its stages. The 
fully-developed flying insect can be caught in a 
band-net, and in the wingless larvas stages it can 
be picked oS the plant by hand, These larve must 
not be ovcrlooknd as they do as much damage 
(or perhaps mote) as the perfect insect. They 
considerably reKemble loig-Iet^ged yellow ante end 
run vc ry rtpidly ; cooly boys quickly get into 
the way of secnr ng and (jottliog (hem. 
As regards the e^g, I have not as yet had the 
opportunity of examining them on the tea-piant, 
but ia Assam those of H. theivora are laid in the tender 
jcurg bhoote, ana were found by Mr. Wuod-M<tBon 
of the c a^cutta Museum, especially in the spaces 
between thu " pekoe " bud next two or three leaves. 
No doubt tho.e of H. antonii will be louod to 
occupy the same position; they do so on cacao, 
being foun l particularly just balow the baees of 
the young leaf-sttlk'^. Tliey are of considerable 
size (about l-24;h inoh) and, though white, are 
not conspicuous, being buried in the twi^ ; ueu^lly, 
however, the two lermital bristles protrude and so 
show the position. In my c£oao report (para 13) 
I recommended that wherever detected cucb shoots 
should be removed and burnt or buneJ, and a 
similar course should be followed with tea. The 
eggs will not be found in badly sucked twigs, but 
in those little or not at all so aitaoked. 
In Java, another species of Helopeltis (li. Bradyi) 
wai at one time veiy injurious to cinchona, lat 
there also eyht^matio and continued oalcbiDg 
practically exterminated the insect. 
I therefore strongly urge upon all interested in 
our tea-industry to combine in a vigorous effort 
for the Bupprebsion of the Ceylon Heloyeltit, and 
the prevention of its development inio an un- 
manageable pest. 
HENRY TRIMBN, (Director R. B. G.) 
ENEMIES OF TEA : HELOPELTIS BAD 
IN THE LOWCOUNTRY. 
Lowcountry, Aug. 29. 
Sin, — I am very pleased to tea your Editorial 
in re EneiuieB of Tea, as I think many planters 
are inclined to stand still knowing they have the 
pest of Helopeltis on their estatee, through the 
tear that by trying to catch them it m^y become 
known that they are doing so, ana, in their iaeas, 
thus depreciate the vaiue of their ettates. Now 1 
consider this should at once be ezpobed, as it is 
quite antagonistic to the interest of proprietor or 
corupauy to ignore a known evil, and one and 
ail should co-operate in strenuoutly doing their 
level bcBt to exterminate any enemy of our staple 
industry. When taken in time we can overcome it, 
and no one until they try, knows the number of 
flies that can be brought in daily by their 
pluckers, without reducing their plucking average 
to any extent ; and as every female fly brougut 
in means 8 to 10 eggs besides the individual fly 
the game is indeed worth the candle. I thought I 
bad none on this estate, but to co-operate with a 
neighbour I started my pluckers on ibe hunt and 
I am now destroying daily from 1,5'jb to 2,500 
mature flies ; some of my neighbours are more 
than doubling that. Should we then, Air, be doing 
our duty to our employers, if we calmly sat down 
and ignored the presence of this pest '? I trow not. 
Let us have the courage of our convictions and 
eradicate the Helopeltis. — Your^, A PLANTER. 
THE ALLEGED DETERIORATION OF 
CEYLON TEA— AN INDIAN PLANTER 
TO THE RESCUE. 
Naduvatum, Nilgiris, "S. India, Aug. 29. 
Deab SiE— May I ask you to allow me just 
this once to call the attention of my brother 
planters to most importaQt faote which are cot 
