April 1895.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
659 
left out of account. The fifth insect, is another 
weevil, Sphienojjborus planipennis said to be injurious 
to coconuts in Ceylon. 
The last two are both Coccidse. If the insects theory 
is to hold, it will be perhaps to these small insects 
that we shall have to look for the damage. Two 
members of this family feed on the coconut, Aspi- 
biotus deseructor and Dactylapivis cocotis. I do not 
know that either of these insects has been reported 
in India, and it may be ultimately found that it 
is an insect it being nearly related to one of these. 
In the Indian Museum Notes, A. destructor is descri- 
bed as follows : — 
" A minute insect which, to the naked eye, looks 
like a mealy pcurf on the leaves. It has been ex- 
tremely destructive to coconut palms both in the 
Laccadive Islands and in the LTUe de Reunion. 
It sucks up the juices of the leaves to such an ex- 
tent as to sap the vitality of the trees and to des- 
troy great numbers of them." 
This would cause the drooping of the leaf shoot as 
mentioned by your correspondent. 
As the genus Aspiodotus is parthenogenous, thus 
resembling Aphidse, enormous numbers of young 
would be produced in the spring and summer, con- 
sequently a correspondingly large amount of sap, 
which the ti'ees could ill afford to lose, especially in 
an extra hot year, would be sucked up. 
With regard to remedies. For young plants two to 
four feet high, I believe a mixture of kerosene and 
soap diluted might be used without evil effect, but it 
would have to be sprayed on several times. For older 
trees, if the attack is really a Coccid one I shall also 
be interested to know the remedy. 
DUTY OF MAURITIUS SUGAR IN INDIA. 
The Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture in a Memorial 
to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the 
Colonies had asked that Mauritius Sugar might be ex- 
empted from the tax of 5 per cent levied on all goods 
imported into India, just as cotton fabrics from 
Manchester arc exempted in that country. His Ex- 
cellency the G .vernor on his way back to Mauritius, 
in a letter to the Viceroy of India warmly supported 
the memorial, pointing out that this tax, it main- 
tained, would entail a yearly loss of about R1,000,000 
to the Colony, but unfortunately these representations 
were of no avail, the Viceroy firmly refusing to 
grant the request. — Mauritius 2'lq.nters' Gazette. 
THE ACME STEEL TEA BOXES. 
A homo correspondent writing on Feb. 21st, 
reports i — 
Acmes — they are working day and night at these 
and nearly all for India. There are a good many 
going to Ceylon, too ; but principally through the in- 
fluence of Messrs. Finlay, Muir & Co. titeel never 
was so cheep, and the box as turned out now is 
really a splendid one. If the Syndicate had not been 
in such a hurry to put it on the market bctore it 
was perfect in every way, Ceylon would have gone 
for them before now. The Secretary says there is 
every prospect of a dividend of 10 per cent in May." 
INDIAN PATENTS. 
Calculi. i. the -J 1st February, 1895. 
Applications in respect of the undermentioned in- 
ventions have been tiled, during the week ending 
16th February, 1895, under the provisions of Act V 
of lsss, m the Office of the Secretary appointed 
under the Inventions and Designs Act, 1888: — 
Manufacture ok Glared Tea. — No. 53 of 1895. — 
Dr. A. S. LethbridgC, Indian Medical Service, of No. 
1, Kyd Street, Calcutta, for making " glazed black 
tea," whereby a waste product in the ordinary process 
of tea-making is utilized, and a tea is produced which 
has a much higher commercial value than the tea 
produced by the ordinary methods of manufacture 
now in use. 
Specifications of the undermentioned inventions 
have been filed under the provisions of Act V 
of 1888 :— 
Improvements in Apparatus or Machinery for 
Disentangling or Separating Tea Leaves that get 
Interwoven or United to each other in the Pro- 
cess of Rolling. — No. 303 of 1894. — William Jackson, 
of Thorn Grove Mannofield, Aberdeen, North Britain, 
Gentleman, for improvements in apparatus or machi- 
nery for disentangling or separating tea leaves that 
get interwoven or united to each other in the pro- 
cess of rolling. (Filed 8th February, 1895.) — Indian 
Etu/inecr. 
TAMIL LABOUR IN PERAK. 
A meeting of planters, contractors, and others 
interested in the labour question has been called for 
Saturday, the 2nd March, at 5 - 30 p.m at Kwala 
Kangsar, with a view to discussing the Tamil labour 
question and the formation of a Planters' Association 
in Perak. The circular calling the meeting is 
signed by Messrs. Aylesbury and Lutyens, and they 
advance as the reason for their action that the losses 
from crimping have become so serious as to rend»r 
it absolutely necessary to organise some scheme for 
the protection of employers of Tamil labour. — Pinang 
Gazette. 
PLANTING AND PRODUCE. 
Japan Tea and the Russian Market. — With re* 
ference to our remarks last week on this subject, 
we now learn that a special agent from the Japanese 
Government has arrived at Odessa witn one hun- 
dred and fifteen large cases of tea, for the pur- 
pose of making Russians acquainted with the taste 
and quality of Japanese teas. The Japanese 
Minister at St. Petersburg had received instructions 
to give him every assistance, and the Japanese 
Consul at Odessa has introduced him to the prin- 
cipal tea merchants in South Russia. This agent 
is commanded by his Government to visit the towns 
of Kieff, Moscow, Nijni Novgorod, and other large 
towns in European Russia. 
No Adulterated Tea. — According to the report 
of the Public Analyst given in the annual report 
of the Local Government Board, although adulter- 
ation generally is on the increase, no fault can bo 
found with tea. With the decay of the China trade 
bogus tea has fallen into disuse, and ihe analyst re- 
ports that tea is absolutely free from adulteration. 
Coffee, unfortunately, is mixed with chicory as much as 
ever, and coffee planters have to accept the situation. 
North Borneo Coffee. — The Coffee prospects 
in British North Borneo are reported to 
be all that can be desired, and an 
abundant yield is expected. The native cotton is 
being experimented with in various localities, and 
the staple is expected to become one of the chief 
exports of the island, as it is only an eight months' 
crop, and flourishes in a very remarkable way. It 
is already in great demand for Japan, and, it is 
added, it would also be in demand for South China 
and Hong Kong if mills were erected there. 
Tropical Plants in the Caucasus. — In fur- 
therance of the design to make experiments 
in tea planting in Batoum, the Russian Administra- 
tion of Imperal Apanages will dispatch a committee 
of agriculturists next month to Northern India, 
Co) Ion, China, and Japan, in order to study the 
industry, and to bring back tea plants and Chinese 
planters in order to make the attempt. The Ad- 
ministration ha; lesolved to send M. Krasnnff. Pro- 
fessor of Geography at the University of Charkoff 
to South America and Mexico in or. c. to make in- 
quiries as to certain other tropical plants, tlio cul- 
tivation of which would, it is believed, be also prac- 
ticable in the Caucasus. 
What is Cocoa ? — In the Divisional Court last week, 
before Mr. Justice Wills and Mr. Justice Lawranoe, the 
case of the Queen v. Field and others, Justices of G 5p i ' . 
ex parte White was heard. In this case the Hump- 
shire County Council had obtained a rule calling 
