258 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct.  1,  1892. 
catch  the  flying  beetles  during  the  night,*  the  larva 
being  produced  by  them.  When  seeking  and  destroy- 
ing seemed  to  be  hopeless  work  by  reason  of  the 
enormous  numbers,  chemical  means  were  employed  to 
get  rid  of  these  destructive  insects — suoh  aa  unsiaked 
lime,  petroleum,  oarbolic-aoid,  &c.  And  a sugar  planter 
in  the  east  of  Java  informed  me  that  gas  water  from 
the  gas  works  in  Soerabaya  had  been  made  nee  of  for  the 
same  purpose.  But  the  destruction  of  ever  so  many 
thousands  of  the  insects  by  such  means  as  above 
mentioned  oould  have  no  appreciable  effect  on  the 
myriads  of  myriads  which  are  yearly  produced  from 
the  eggs  of  the  beetles. 
In  the  number  of  the  6th  February  last  of 
this  journal,  in  the  yearly  report  of  the  cultivation  at 
Goenoeng  Sarie,  I met  with  the  following  statement : — 
“ The  damage  done  by  this  long  prevailing  drought 
oonsists  chiefly  iu  the  development  of  the  green  and 
white  bug  together  with  the  oeler  boemie” — or  earth- 
worm (tbe  grub).  “ As  this  last  named  pest  was 
discovered  soon  after  its  first  appearance,  its  destruc- 
tive effects  were  much  diminished,  as,  in  the  absence 
of  very  urgent  works  in  tbe  establishment,  a large 
force  of  labor  was  available  for  the  search  after  the 
gruband  itsdestruction,  and  about  320,000  of  the  insects 
were  caught  and  burnt.” 
The  earth-worm  here  alluded  to  is  the  “ uret”  [or 
according  to  tbe  Dutch  power  of  the  letters  oeret]  of 
greater  or  smaller  sizs,  according  t>  the  dimensions  of 
the  beetle  that  produces  it.  The  ooconut  beetle  pro- 
duces larva  of  great  size. 
No.  1. 
Sinoe  the  gru'o  is  found  in  high  and  moist  districts — 
aa  well  as  in  the  low  and  dry  localities  where  cane 
fields  are  situated,  I am  of  opinion  that  it  is  an  error 
to  assume  that  the  long  continued  drought”  above- 
mentioned  has  any  connection  with  the  appearance  of 
the  pests  in  question.  Tho  eggB  deposited  by  the 
beetles  may  have  been  in  the  ground  for  a couple  of 
years.  Not  alone  in  India,  but  equally  in  Europe  is 
this  same  larva  the  terror  of  cultivators. 
•I  think  Mr.  Geo.  Wall  advocated  the  catching 
of  the  beetles  during  the  night,  with  the  help  of  large 
sheets  and  toiclies.  Tho  total  destruction  of  the 
coffee  estates  in  aud  near  Bambarabotuwa,  Sahara- 
gamuwa,  was  caused  by  the  grub  ; and  it  was  said  that 
fully  75  per  cent  of  the  coffee  plants  put  rut  in  Ma<- 
keliya  were  killed  in  like  manner,  but  there  tho 
supplies  succeeded. — Note  by  the  translator. 
Moc6ieur  Grandeau,  the  well-known  authority  on 
agriculture,  declares  that  the  damage  done  by  this 
insect  to  the  cultivators  of  France  amounts  to  the 
sum  of  300  millions  of  francs  [£12,000,000  English 
money].  For  a series  of  years  the  savants  of  Franoe 
have  been  striving  to  find  a remedy  against  this  pest, 
but  all  their  efforts  have  hitherto  seemed  in  vain. 
Monsieur  Vivien,  chemist  at  St.  QuentiD,  suggested 
the  idea  in  1889  of  instituting  researches  after  some 
means  of  infecting  these  insects  with  a disease. 
II. 
On  the  28th  June  1890,  Monsieur  Le  Moult  discovered 
in  a field  in  the  departement  de  l’Orne  a quantity  of 
larva  covered  with  a white  blight  or  mildew.  At  the 
recommendation  of  Monsieur  Vivien,  Monsieur  Le 
Moult  sent  the  larva  he  had  found  covered  with  the 
blight  to  Monsieur  Girard,  professor  of  a school  of 
agriculture.  In  December  following  Monsieur  Le 
Moult  requested  Monsieur  Prillieux — the  Iuspector- 
General  of  Agricultural  Instruction  and  Director  of  the 
Phyto-pathological  Laboratory — as  well  aa  Monsieur 
Delacroix  in  their  turn  to  help  forward  his  researches. 
The  result  was  that  the  blight  champignon,  named 
Botrytis  Tenella,  was  found  to  infect  and  destroy 
healthy  Iarvre  and  beetles,  whilst  it  was  innocuous  to 
plants  and  other  animals. 
Messieurs  Fribourg  and  Hesse  of  24,  Rue  aes  Ecoles, 
Paris,  in  their  laboratory  connected  with  the  institution 
of  Dr.  Pasteur,  have  subsequently  been  actively 
engaged  in  the  artificial  propagation  of  this  cham- 
pignon parasite.  Its  cultivation  has  been  carried  on 
with  the  utmost  care  by  bacteriologists  of  experience 
and  repute. 
Experiments  on  a large  sca'e  were  immediately 
undertaken  both  in  France  and  Germany  in  tbe  open 
air  and  iu  the  agricultural  organs  of  both  countries, 
I see  it  stated  that  larva  iufeoted  with  the  parasite 
Botrytis  Tenella  had  been  buried  tome  centimeters 
in  the  ground  in  several  6pots  in  a field,  and  that  all 
the  healthy  larva  in  the  neighbourhood  had  been 
infected,  diseased  aud  destroyed,  and  that  when 
ploughed  up,  the  entire  field  was  white  with  dead 
larvae  wbioh  were  all  enveloped  in  the  blight  (cham- 
pignon parasite)  which  with  the  help  of  the  wind  and 
other  natural  influences  was  so  distributed  about  the 
adjoining  fields  that  an  entire  district  was  freed 
from  the  terrible  pest. 
The  beetles  as  well  become  infested  and  the  females 
deposit  their  eggs  in  a contaminated  condition.  So 
that  the  evil  is  counteracted  at  their  first  coming 
into  existence. 
Haviog  well  informed  myself  of  all  these  facts,  I 
wrote  to  the  above  geutlemen  Messrs.  J.  Fribourg  and 
Hesse  of  Paris  requesting  them  to  send  me  some  tubes 
of  Botrytis 'lenella,  and  I forwarded  this  means  of 
infection  to  the  Heer  M.  Luder,  chief  manager  of 
the  coffee  and  cinchona  undertaking  Pagilaran— iu 
the  Residency  of  Pekalongan  [on  the  north  coast  of 
middle— Java  J.  D.  Y.]  The  Heer  Luder  carried  on 
experiments  with  great  care  and  patience.  He  wrote 
respecting  them  to  the  director  of  cultivation  at 
Pagilaran  as  follows  : — “ Tbe  experiments  made  with 
the  infected  matter  to  destroy  the  grub  during  the 
mouth  of  April  were  atteuded  with  tavourable  results. 
After  preliminary  trials  iu  earthen  pots,  and  repeated 
careful  microscopic  examinations  which  brought 
nothing  new  to  light,  I at  last  found  indications 
of  the  white  mould  or  blight  to  a remarkable  ex- 
tent. I set  to  work  immediately,  to  endeavour 
to  cultivate  the  pure  para'ite — and  had  the  satis- 
faction to  see  this  effort  succeed.  As  far  as  I 
could  follow  the  prooese,  the  specimens  which  became 
covered  with  the  blight  were  infected  not  by  the 
poisonous  matter  directly,  but  by  the  diseased  insects 
in  a secondary  manner.  I continued  the  trials  and 
am  now  engaged  in  cultivating  the  pure  parasite 
directly  and  indirectly,  viz.,  from  the  deceased  grubs, 
and  from  tbe  remains  of  the  poisoned  matter,  which 
I preserved  for  the  purpose  I have  not  yet  begun 
to  apply  the  system  in  the  open  ground  as  I am 
desirous  first  to  ascertain  how  the  process  developes 
itself  iu  the  earthen  pots.  I shall  however  soon 
extend  my  researches  to  the  open  ground  when  I 
