dct. i, i8 94 .j THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
order to ascertain the resisting power of certain cater- 
pillars in the presence of poisonous matters. A 
single drop was placed upon the head of the insect 
in each case. A solution of alum produced no effect 
whatever; sulphide of calcium produced no effect; a 
solution of lime was not fatal in every case ; nicotine 
failed to destroy the insect, while benzine and petro- 
leum were not always effective. Other substances 
were tried, such as phenic acid, turpentine, and 
sulphate of copper, all of which produced negative 
results. M. Huet's experiments have been conducted 
with caterpillars of several kinds, but particularly 
with those which live upon cabbage leaves, and the 
results were almost always the same. The writer says 
that a universal insecticide does not in reality exist, 
for if petroleum, for example, kills a caterpillar of 
one variety it is found, on the contrary, to be without 
effect u^'on those of another variety. Caterpillars of 
the Lspidoptera, the natural order which includes the 
butterflies and the moths, have a greater power of 
resistance than the larva? of the Coleoptera, the 
natural order to which the beetle belongs. These 
facts are all of supreme interest, and they will 
suggest to the cultivator, whether farmer or gardener, 
the importance of recogntsiog that reliance cannot 
be placed upon any specifio destroyer of dangerous 
insects, and more especially that prevention is 
better than cure. — Chemical Trade Journal. 
« 
THE COFFEE CROP IN COORG. 
The following returns have been received from the 
Madras Local Administration: — 
Forecast of the Coffee Crop foe 1894-95. 
Tons, 
Forecast of yield obtained 
from planter-)' returns... Europeans... 1,907 
Forecast estimated for aei for 
which no returns Lave been fur- 
nished... ... do ... 949 
Natives .. 2,498 
Total forecast for 1894-95.. ... ... 5,354 
Estimated average yield per acre 
of ordinarily well cultivated coffee 
in full bearing for 1894-95 ... Cwt. 4§* 
Return of export of coffee from 
Coorg last year 1893-94 taken 
from Toll gate returns... ... Tone 3,873f 
Return of export of coffee for 10 pre- 36,802 or 3,68 J 
vious years... ... ... tons, auuual av. 
* 
TIMBERS OF WEST AFRICA. 
Mr. W. Crowther, Curator of the Aburi Garden?, 
Gold Coast, writes : — 
I h»vc received the following interesting communi- 
cation from a gentleman named Mr. It. B. W. Walker 
of Axim, regardiug Camwood and Barwood, As 
there is still a doubt respecting the origin of these 
woods, it is very interesting, " As one who has 
purchased and shipped thousands ol tons of Barwood 
and hundreds of tons of Camwood, I am able to 
answer your enquiry respecting these woods." " liar- 
wood (commonly called Redwood." — Governor Moloney 
is wrong in thiukiug Redwood to be different from 
Barwood) is found chiefly in Gaboon and places in the 
immediate vicinity and as far south as Mayemba, 
— also in tho Oil Rivers, where, and at Batauga, &c. 
it is used for making oanoes. Its oorreot bo anical 
name, is, I think Pterocarpies Augoliniia. Itis totally 
dWtinot from Camwood wbioh is aBaphia, but whether 
B. nitida or B. laurifolia, I am not quite certain, but 
* The figure for 1893-94 was 4$ owt. The quantity 
forooaBted for 1894-95, viz., 5,354 toDS being uoarly 
equal to thai of last year viz, 5,248 tons, tho same 
figure has been reJainod. 
t Tiiose figures are not accurate. The number of 
carts ouly aro ^ivou in tho accounts aud it is roughly 
calculated tLat each cart takes halt a ton of coffee, but 
aj a maHer of fact moot carta carry more than tuis. 
on May or June 1876, I read a paper before the 
Society of Arts on "The Commerce of the Gaboon" 
>n which alter considerable enquiry and research, I 
gave the correct bota iical Lames of both woods. 
Camwoid is found liom Sierra L o n e, downward! as 
far as the Gold Coast, but 1 do not think it exists 
East of this co'ony certainly not in Gaboon. No one 
who has seen Barwood and Camwood could for a 
moment confounl cno with the other. "Having bern 
forty-two years on tbe Wts r . Coas^ of Afrca and 
knowing ii from Goree to the Congo, you may be 
quite certain that I am correct in statiug that Bar- 
woo laid Camwood are diffen-nt woods entirely." 
" P.S. — I shall be happy to give you further in- 
formation es to Barwood and Camwood if required. 
Barwoo 1 is prac iaally inexhaustable, but Camwood 
has alt been cut near tlie Coast. Sir A. Molouoy dis- 
plays ignorance in bis remarks on the subjeot (see p. 
139.) It ii because itis so much more valuable than 
Barwood that it has nearly a l beeu cut. The natives 
are qui'e wi e awake, but the two woods do los 
grow in the tamo localities." 
THE INDIAN TEA TRADE. 
The following letters referring to the Indian 
tea trade appear in the Times of the 18th ultimo:— 
Aug. 11th. 
Sir, — Referring to a letter whioh we see published 
in your i^sue of the 10th iust. on Indiau tea, we think 
that your correspondent "T" might have made his 
letter soill stronger had he givtn a few figures to 
demonstrate the necessity of producers introducing 
Ii dian tea into the markets of tho world, even at the 
expense of a considerable amount of money. 
During tbe last three yeara the imports of Indian 
tea into this country have beeu 333,000,0001b., ae.d the 
cousauipti ii 330,000, 0001b. Hid an extra demacd for 
only a lew million pounds perat.num been introduced 
into the market, this almost even balance of supply 
a-.d demand would have been destroyed, and instead 
of a fill in price of about Id. per pound, which has 
occurred during that period, we should doubtless 
have had an advance. 
As was pointe 1 out in the able article on the sub- 
ject in your issue of the 6tb iust., Atneri a consumes 
some 90,000,000. b, of China aud Japan tea per annum. 
Surely it is worth while for Indian producers to 
expend money freely to seoure even a fractional part 
of suoh a vast traie, when it is lemembsred that 
at the present annual rate of productiou every I'd, 
per pound rise or fall in the price of the Indiau orop 
represents a sum of some £500,000. 
Producers must remember that America is a oountry 
where, owing to vast distances and scattered popula- 
tion, an article, however good in itself, cau ouly beoome 
known to the multitude by advertisement of some 
kind on a large soale ; and we doubt whether much 
good can bo doii9 to the Indian tea industry, in which 
millions of money have been invested, with the iu- 
s : gnificant sum mentioned in " TV letter, a sum that 
a private firm of moderate tize would think nothing 
of expending. — Yours faithfully, 
Indian Tea Bbokers. 
Sir, — I entirely agree with what has fallen from 
your correspondent '■ T," that the sum of £3,000 is 
quite inadequate for intro due ng tho merits of ludiau 
tea to America, but " T" seems not to be fully 
informed as to what is really intended. The Indian 
Tea Association, both at home and in Calcutta, are 
fully ulive to the naoessity of liberal expenditure so as 
to push the te» iu foroigu markots. There is no 
thought on tho, r p\rt of stin'iu* their outlay for this 
purpose, but betore spending freely the money of the 
producers they would like to teol their way a little. 
They have now a special oommie sioner in tne States, 
whose business is not only to advertise the tea at 
shows and in largo grocery estiblishmonts by means of 
hia staff of Indiau servants, but also to inquire auj 
ascertain as to every possible way in whioti the tea cau 
beet be brought before the American public, 
