May r, 1895. J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
765 
Legislature, as a result of such memorial, appro- 
priated §5000 for sending some one to Australia 
for the purpose of searching for beneficial insec s, 
and placed this sum at the dii-posal of the United 
States Government, which in turn transferred it to 
the State Departmeut of Agricuitu'e with a view 
to effecting the object desired. Accordingly, Albert 
Koebele, an officer i i the Entomological Brauch of 
the department, whose special aptitude for the work 
had already been abundantly displayed, left America 
for Australia in August, 1891. in the course of the 
travels which his mission involved, Mr. Koebde 
twice visited ih s part (f the c lony, and procu ed 
in addition to other insects, the utility of which 
had already been made ki.own by me, numerous 
examples also < f the insect with which this note 
is e p eially concerned. And it is gratifying to learn, 
by latest advices from Washington, that Mr. Koebele's 
visit has been so far successful, that iving ex- 
amples of CryptoUemus montrouzieri have been 
transferred from Aostralia to America for the behoof 
of fruit-growers there.* In cotclusion the early 
h story of this insect may be here alluded to, as it 
abo is. not without interest. The heede then was 
first collected in Australiaby the celebrated natura i jt- 
missionary, Pierie Montrouzier in the ''■ Fifties," 
and shortly afterwards described by Mills mt in the 
Bid volume of his " Opusules Entomologigues " (p. 
140), under the name which it now bears — namely, 
Crypto ;emus, from two Greek words signifying 
hidden scythe, in allusion to the fact that th j 
mouth organs are concealed by the projecting breast- 
plate, and Montrouzieri as commemorative of its 
discoverer. However it does not appear that either 
Monti ouzier i oted, or Mulsant suspected, the im- 
portant lule which it em-cted as a destroyer of 
insect pests. Also until my discovery of it in 1889 
the fact of the actual or reputed existence of this 
beetle in Australia seems to have escaped the notice 
of students of Australian coleoptera. '1 hough this 
useful beetle is in its larval condition such a cons- 
picuous object, being noticeable at a di-tance of 
several yards, it never i eeui9 to bo itself consumed 
by insectivorous birds. It is not remarkable there- 
fore that it should havd imitators amongst insects 
which do not, it is thought, possess this immunity. 
These comprise ivvo apparently m descr bed beetles 
— (lj a Cryptocephalus, and (2) a Rhizobius. In the 
first of these tha simili.u 'e resides in colour and 
size oi ly, in the latter both livery and form are 
repeated. The specimens illustrating this statement, 
were in one instance obtained with Cryptohemus on 
a single w.ittle tree, and were thought at first to be 
identical with i'. 
POULTRY-KEEPING IN INDIA. 
(From a CoiiREsroNDENT. ) 
A well-stocked poultry-yard is a necossity on tl e j 
hills as well us on the plains, unless, perchance, the i 
Anglo-Indian be content to live on the bazaar moorgltee \ 
whic'i is but one degr e removed from the crow, j 
For every reason it is necessary out here in India j 
that every Mem-sahib who hss any pretentions to j 
being considered a honsekeepor should have a yard 
well supplied with poultry, including pigeons, ducks 
and pos-ibly turkeys. Poultry flourish we 1 every- i 
where in India, all the year round, except perhaps 
during 'he monsoon at Oolacamund, when they are 
liable to ibeumatism and liver. The first quest on 
to he considered is what are the best all round varie- 
ties of poultry to keep in India. As a rule, the moro 
highly-bred a fowl is the more likely it is to 
be deiica'e, so that it is better to keep crossbred 
in barn-door fow's. The pure bred Cocbin-i hina fowl 
was at one time very popular out heie. The late Mr. 
Arathoon imported some very fine specimens which he 
introduced into Ootacaimmd and Bangalore, and for 
a time tbo birds were to he seen in most poultry- 
yards. But it was soon found by the duly ol servant 
• But the establishment of the insect does not 
appear to have been estab ished there at this time. 
— H. T. 
that the Cochins were poor layers, subject to liver 
and dropsical affections, and had moreover a ten« 
dency to accumulate quantities of fat instead of 
solid flesh. In this state they were usehsa for the 
table. I have known cases of Cochins turning out 
very well, but the exception is the rule. The Brahma- 
pootra, the Dorking and the Spanish all answer fairly 
web, but a cross between any of these and the com- 
mon country fowl is a decided improvement, being 
very hardy and healthy. They are al-o capital layers 
and good for the table. Pure bred Cochin and En- 
glish fowls, as a rule, only liy two or three times 
a week, while a country, or cross-bred, will lay as 
many as twenty-five eggs on twenty five consecutive 
days, the average number being, however, about fif- 
teen. The Cochin hen is a remarkably stupid bird. 
She will try to hatch after laying only five eggs and 
nothing will induce her to leave her nest. She ia 
too stupid to join in tin morning meal and will gener- 
ally turn up two or three hours too late. She is an 
awkward mother, and frequently through her clumsi- 
ness breaks her eggs or treads on her chickens. The 
first fowl to die in the yard, if an epidemic breaks 
out, is the Cochin. A strain of the. game fowl in 
the poultry-yard is advantageous, oulv there should 
not be too much of it, on account of the game fowls 
well-known pugnacity. Fowls in India are usually 
fed on cholum, cumhu, barlev and paddy, bran and 
sour milk being added for fattening. It is better, 
however, to give skim milk sweet rather than sourj 
A little chopped up meat is a useful addition and 
on the plains a termite nest will supply a large num- 
b r of grubs which are p irticularly good for young 
chickens. It is not advisible to give fowls much 
green food in wet weather, but in dry weather the 
leaves of all vegetables may b9 placed before them 
with advantage. The sharp gravel and grit foand 
in gram are greedily picked up by fowls, and they 
should always have nccess to gravel of some sort, 
ftlany people seem to imagine that f .w s will thrive 
on any form of food They will certninly exist on 
almost anything, but the poultry-keeper who would 
have eatable fowls and sweet eggs must supply his 
poultry with proper food. 
A fowl -yard should be built, if possible, on a well- 
drained gravelly site. The godown should be kept 
plentifully supplied with ashes, and, of course, with 
perches. It is also advisable to have a large dust 
or ash-bath in a dry corner. This will do more to 
keep the fowls in health than almost anything, as 
it is an effectual preventive of parasites. Among 
enemies of the fowl-yard may be mentioned a tiny 
black parasite that fastens itself round the fowl's 
eves in a pattern that resembles a mosaic It is 
impossible for the fowls to rid themselves of these 
tiny pests. A feather dipped in thick castor oil and 
passed over the spot where the insects are gathered 
will kill them all. Keepers of fowls should have two 
yards, one for the well-bred fowls, the other for 
common ones, otherwise disease may carry off valu- 
able birds. Careless servauts think' nothing of bring- 
ing home diseased fowls from the bazaar and tnrniug 
them loose among valuable English birds, with the 
result that chicken-pox or fowl-cholera breaks out 
and decimates the fowl-yard. Beware I I would say 
to all. of cheap ducks and fowls. A friend of mine 
once purchased six dozen ducks at the suspiciously 
low price of lis. 2-8 a dozen, thinking to reap a 
handsome profit. In a week most of the newlv- 
purchased birds were dead, and, worse still, nearly 
the whole of the poultry yard was exterminated. 
The cheap ducks wore suffering from a Bpecies of 
cholera not unlike the epidemic that has rec;ntly 
been raging in the fowl-yards of Bangalore. The 
prescription mentioned in the Madras Mail a few 
weeks ago to be used in cases of fowl-cholera was 
an excellent one. I have used the ingrodients — 
ginger, garlic, rue, popper and saffron — I think these 
wore given — with great success, though in Bomewhat 
different proportions. In cases of olnckeu-pox, fowls 
should be isolated and fed on soft food, such as 
bread and milk, or a small quantity of chopped 
raw moat. Their heads should bo rubbed with saffron 
and castor-oil, which wonderfully allays inflammation. 
