328 
THE TROflCAL AGRICULTURIST. [Kov. t, 1894. 
capable of making the finest tea, " T,'' speaking 
of new markete, s»ys, that thin fact is disputed 
and has still to b" determined. Mr. Seton eaya that 
thousands if cheats of finest tea are sol 1 in Mir dug 
Lane, but strange to say tins finds its best market 
in the North of Ireland. Hj you fee that ths test for 
superiority is determined by the taste of the North 
of Ireland. (You may remember the "Lunacy" 
controversy). We make tea on the model of the 
North of Ireland and expect it to capture the world. 
In the endeavour to gain strength we fpoil the 
flavour of our leaf. The flavour is wanted in America, 
but the strength is objected to ; stiil we hope to 
force our tea by adveriising. 
I would ask your planter* whether they thnkthat 
by making up their leaf as Oolong tea the necessary 
manipulation would spoil the qualify of the tea. 
They have bad Oolong in America, but you could 
give thfm good Oolorg at tfce same price. They have 
bad, adulterated Congous in America, aid you cmld 
give them good, clean Congom. If you do bo you 
will find that the grocers will tai-ta your teas a id 
pass them off in qum'ities ca'culated by their good 
quality as comoared wi h what thev get from China. 
'• 1874." 
TEA AND ITS ENEMIES. 
Central Province, Sept. 28. 
Sib, — I send by parcel post a small box con- 
taining some caterpillars which is doing a great 
deal of damage to a patch of tea on this estate, 
and some of the damaged leaves and, if eomething 
cannot be done to stop them will, I thick, do very 
serious damage. I e bal 1 feel obliged if you will 
inform me and the readers of your paper if these 
caterpillars have been seen before and what you 
think is the best to be done to get rid of them. — 
Yours faithfully, E. E. M. 
[Mr. Green of Pundaluoya, to whom we referred 
the above, is good enough to write us the following 
interesting and instructive letter: — 
Pondubya, Oot. 3. 
Dear Sir,— Your letter of 29th ult. and enclosure 
duly to hand. On opening the box I found a number 
of damaged tea leaves, but not a vestige of any cater- 
pillar or inseot of any sort. As the cover of the parcel 
was open at the end?, and there were numerous 
breathing holes made in the box, I fear the insects 
must have made their escape and wandered off amongst 
the other pottal matter. It would be r-s well to 
inform your correspondents that it is quile unneces- 
sary to leave air holes in sending insects by post. 
They will travel much fresher and in better condition 
if paoked in a olose fitting box. Nothing is better 
for the purpose than the ordinary tea sample box 
in whioh an ordinary caterpillar would iive for a 
week without any air holes. 
In the present instance, from the nature of the 
injury, I can make a pretty fair guess at the perpe- 
trator. It is io all probability the caterpillar of the 
very pretty moth Elerusia Cingala, an insect peculiar to 
CeyloD. The moth and caterpillar are figured in 
Moore's Lepidoptera of Ceylon, (Plate 96-figujes 1, 1 a.) 
I have lately seen a similar attack in this 
district. In this crisa the caterpillar devoured all 
the lower leaves of the bushes over a consider- 
able acreage; but left the tops of the trees 
uninjured. They were afterwards almost exterminated 
by their natural enemies — the ichneumon flies. If I 
am correct in my 6urmise — the moth is a moderate- 
sized iufeot, black and yellowish white with brilliant 
metallic b:uo reflections — etpeoially on the hinder wings. 
These details of colour would of course bs only 
noticeable upon close inspection. On the wing, the 
insect would look merely blsok and while. The moths 
fly in the .mornings and evenings and were rather 
abundant here about two mo'.ths ago. The caterpillar 
js lczenge- shaped, reddish-brown with small spiny 
tube roles on its back upon whioh little viscid 
globulus may often be noticed. 
If it should be found necessary to fight the peat, 
band picking— where practicable— wuld le moat 
effective. If the area affected should be too arge for 
this trfatmtut, the lower parte of the bushes might 
be sprayed with some insecticide. For which purpose 
I could recommend tfce baudy " strawsoniters " in 
ki.apsaok form for v. I icb the Eastern Produoe and 
Estates Co. are agents. They also i-upplt s> very 
effective an!ipest mixture. But k< roeme emnUion, if 
pr perly compounded, is as good an ii seoiioide a- could 
be desired.— Yours faithfully, 
K. ERNEST GKEEN. 
THE TRADE OP FIJI. 
The imports, export*, and tjt.il trade of tfce coIodj 
duriig the paat five years have been ae follows: — 
Year. 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1862 
1893 
Import*. 
£ 
189.393 
2U6.767 
253,0.9 
253,5S(i 
276,398 
Exports. 
£ 
304,261 
364,532 
474,334 
434,791 
355,631 
Total Trade. 
£ 
553,674 
571,290 
727,383 
688,377 
632,030 
Th-; imports show a 
of the five years- The 
ttea !y advance daring rich 
impor s of 1893 chow an 
increase of 46 per rent oa those of 1889. 
The exports of the year 1893 on trie otter haul 
aro lower thao in any of I lie fivo years . 
The total trade, however, is tie third highest 
during the period. 
The quantity and va'ue of the three staple pro* 
duots of the colony— sugar, gnen fruit an J ccpra — 
exported during the five yean in question are given 
in the following table :— 
Oreen 
Year 
Sugar 
Qumtity Value 
Tons 
1889 ...13,178 
1890 ...15,291 
1891 ...20,471 
1892 ...18,883 
1893 ...15,389 
£ 
263,533 
244655 
327,526 
302.133 
246,231 
Fruit 
Value 
£ 
42,525 
57,525 
61,501 
62,442 
36,597 
Copra 
Quantity. Value 
Tons £ 
5,567 38,179 
3,446 31,013 
5,019 46,431 
5,901 49,422 
4,970 42,235 
These figures represent exports the produce ol these 
colony only. 
The total falling off in exports during the year 
1893 as compared with the previous year amounts to 
£79,160. The fulling off on the three principal items 
of export amounts to — 
Sug*r 
Green Fruit 
Copra 
£55,902 
25,845 
7,187 
Total „. £88,934 
The decrease io the export of sugar and Copra may 
be regarded as due principally to floods and inclement 
weather. 
The falling off in the export of green fruit is 
due mainly to the temporary lack of a profitable 
market in the Australian Colonies throught the 
competition of Queensland in the fruit trade.— Fiji 
Times. 
The ExroRT or Vegetable Tallow from China — 
The introduction of vegetable tallow from Exeseearia 
sebifera into Marseilles from China for candle-making 
has already been noticed. We now learn that this 
export from Hankow is a revival after a lapse of 
twenty years. During the last quarter of 1893 there 
seems to have been a very strong demand at Hankow 
both from natives and from foreign exporters, so that 
a considerable advance wes expected during the early 
part of the present year. The quantity of vegetable 
tallow that could be produced, if there were a demand 
for it,is stated to be practically unlimited.— Ga rdmcri 
Chronicle, 
