Ocx.  r,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
291 
heavier  than  we  ever  get  here.  Besides;  why  do  you 
prune  “ down  to  the  ground"  and  so  religiously  pull 
off  every  leaf  of  the  pruned  bush  ? Surely  you 
must  know  that  the  leaves  are  the  very  lungs  of  a 
plant ! and  by  that  terribly  severe  butchering,  you 
do  more  harm  than  good,  were  you  to  prune  lightly 
leaving  as  many  leaves  as  possible  they  would 
(after  doing  their  duty)  fall  off  of  their  own  accord  and 
the  bushes  would  winter  (?)  just  as  well,  exhaust 
the  soil  less,  and  yield  better ; why  not  bury  the 
green  prunings  ? 
T. — It ’s  the  custom,  and  everyone  does  it  here, 
I can’t  afford  to  bury  the  prunings,  it’s  cheaper  to 
rake  them  down  into  the  river,  when  I want  the 
fields  to  look  clean,  besides  they  do  no  good. 
P.  J. — Oh ! custom ! ! ! were  it  the  custom  for  every 
planter  to  drown  himself  after  five  years’  hard  work, 
would  you  consider  it  necessary  to  follow  suit  ? 
Prunings  if  buried  green  would  add  to  the  soil,  a 
weeding  and  burying  of  prunings  could  be  com- 
bined, the  digging  alone  necessary  for  it  would  en- 
able the  fresh  soil  to  take  in  a little  of  the 
atmospherical  chemicals. 
T.~ Now  Placid  Joe  ! you  are  talking  “ rot ”;  you 
know  perfectly  well  no  one  ever  does  it  here,  our 
main  object  is  to  get  as  much  out  of  the  places  as 
we  can  and  in  as  short  a time  as  possible  at  the 
least  cost. 
P.  J. — Steady  old  man ! Sit  tight ! ! How  about  pre- 
sent prices  hardly  allowing  the  places  to  pay  ex- 
penses with  the  small  flushes  you  now  get , what  will 
you  do  if  they  go  down  still  iower? 
T. — Do ! why  I trust  it  will  never  come  to  that, 
however,  I hope  to  sell  out  before  them ! 
P.  J. — Ah  ! — well — I won't  be  the  buyer  ! ! ! I admit 
you  have  as  good  a chance  of  selling  as  you  have 
of  drawing  the  winner  of  the  St.  Leger,  the  odds 
are  heavy 1 However,  I think  it  very  stupid  of  you, 
you  evidently  want  a “short  and  merry”  life;  you 
are  certainly  going  the  proper  way  about  it,  but 
where  the  merriness  comes  in  I fail  to  see,  “ slow 
but  sure’’  I should  have  thought  the  best.  No  plant 
life  can  possibly  go  on  for  ever  in  the  same  v;aij  of 
cultivation,  they  like  change  as  well  as  we  do. 
T. — Now  “ dry  up  ” Placid  Joe,  why  on  earth  don’t 
you  carry  out  your  ideas  on  your  own  totum  or  better 
still  cut  your  throat  ? 
P.  J. — My  dear  fellow!  I’m  only  paid  to  do  what  I 
am  told  ; if  my  “ boss  ” would  guarantee  to  support 
for  life  those  I would  have  to  leave  behind  I would 
gladly  do  the  latter ! 
THE  CINCHONA  AND  OLEANDER  MOTHS. 
New  Cornwall,  Nuwara  Eliya,  Sept.  23rd. 
Dear  Sir, — Will  you  kindly  tell  me  if  the  cin- 
chona moth  is  the  same  as  the  death’s  head 
hawk  moth  of  England — aDd  wheiher  the  larva 
feeding  on  oleander  is  called  the  cinchona  larva. 
I should  say  the  cinchona  and  oleander  moth  are 
quite  different  species.  “ Newman,”  one  of  our 
greatest  entomologists,  gives  a plate  in  his  book 
of  the  oleander  moth  and  larva  how.  Can  ypu  tell  me 
if  this  is  what  is  called  in  Ceylon  the  cinchona 
moth — or  are  the  cinchona  and  death’s  head  the 
Bame  and  the  oleander  a different  speoies  ? Sorry 
to  trouble  you,  but  this  is  worth  knowing. — Yours 
faithfully,  F.  H.  A.  FOSTER. 
P.  S. — I have  not  found  any  larva  feeding  on 
cinchona  so  cannot  give  an  opinion  as  to  difference. 
[If  our  reoolleotion  serves  us  aright  the  cinchona 
moth  is  a hawk  moth.  We  do  not  know  the 
oleander  moth,  but  we  should  think  it  improbable 
that  it  was  identical  with  the  oinohona  insect.  On 
reference  to  our  entomological  authority  he  states 
that  the  cinchona  and  deathshead  hawk  moths 
are  two  distinct  species.  He  has  never  heard 
the  oleander  larva  called  the  cinchona  larva  ; and 
cannot  say  if  the  oinchona  and  oleander  moths  are 
different  species,  never  having  compared  them : 
they  may  be  only  varieties.  The  oleander  moth, 
he  says,  is  also  a hawk  moth.— Ed.  T.A.’] 
THE  CINCHONA  MOTHS. 
Colombo,  Sept.  27th. 
Dear  Sir, — In  regard  to  Mr.  Foster’s  query  in 
your  last  night's  paper,  it  may  be  of  interest  to 
know  that  there  are  in  Ceylon  two  species  of  the 
cinchona  moth: — 
1.  That  known  as  Daphnis  nerii,  identical  with 
the  oleander  moth  of  Europe,  and  the  larva  of  whioh 
feeds  on  the  oleander  as  well  as  cinchona. 
2.  Daphnis  hypothous,  slightly  more  robust  than 
the  former,  and  very  similar  in  markings  on  the 
wings  and  body,  the  light  green  of  nerii  being 
replaced  by  a blaokish  or  deep  purple  green.  The 
larva  of  this  moth  feeds  only  on  oinchona  so  far  as 
I know. 
The  deathshead  moth  is  quite  different  to  the 
two  foregoing,  and  of  it  there  are  aRo  two  speoies  in 
Ceylon: — 
1.  The  large  deathshead,  Aclieroniia  lachesis, 
with  wide  ourved  black  bands  on  hind  wings  aDd 
blue  and  black  markings  on  the  upper  surface  of 
abdomen. 
2.  The  smaller  one,  Acherontia  styx , distinguished 
by  its  ochreous  yellow  hind  wiDgs  and  abdomen  with 
narrow  black  markings.— Yours  faithfully,  M. 
A VALUABLE  DISCOVERY. 
Col.  M.  B.  Wever,  of  this  county,  has  discovered 
a process  by  which  the  orange  may  be  perfectly 
preserved  for  an  indefinite  time.  He  has  been  ex- 
perimenting for  some  years,  feeling  assured  that  it 
was  within  the  range  of  human  possibilities  to  dis- 
cover some  process  whereby  the  oraDge  might  be  kept 
from  decay  and  the  loss  of  those  properties  which 
render  it  so  delicious.  In  the  early  part  of  this  year 
he  perfected,  as  he  believed  and  hoped,  his  process. 
He  began  at  once  to  subject  his  oranges  to  treatment 
and  placed  them  in  store  to  await  results.  He  brought 
to  Dade  City  a few  days  since  several  oranges,  which 
he  treated  on  the  20th  day  of  February  last.  These 
were  inspected  and  critically  examined  by  several 
of  our  most  prominent  citizens,  who  were  surprised 
at  the  perfect  state  of  preservation  of  the  fruit.  It 
was  natural  in  color,  weight,  juices,  flavor  and  every 
other  property.  When  cut  and  eaten  the  orange 
was  in  every  respect  just  as  if  plucked  from  the  tree 
during  the  proper  season.  Col.  Wever  is  an  intelli- 
gent man  of  sound  judgment  and  strong  practical 
common  sense,  who  is  not  likely  to  be  led  astray 
by  visionary  schemes,  and  he  feels  assured  that  he 
has  solved  the  problem  which  will  revolutionize  the 
orange  business  and  take  the  growers  out  of  the 
clutches  of  commission  men.  He  is  now  preparing 
to  secure  letters  patent  to  protect  his  process,  which 
he  claims  will  not  only  preserve  all  kinds  of  citrus 
fruits,  but  all  other  fruits  and  vegetables  that  have 
traces  of  silica  in  their  covering  or  peel.  We  trust 
that  his  faith  is  well  founded  and  that  he  may 
realize  his  fondest  hopes.— Pasco  County  Democrat.— 
Ilorida  Agriculturist. 
Coffee  in  Johore. — A few  days  ago  We  antioffhbed 
the  sale  of  Loonohoo  Coffee  Estate  in  Johore  ; and 
we  now  hear  that  an  offer  has  been  made  to  the 
proprietor  of  Drumduan  Estate  to  lease  his  property 
for  a term  of  years.  As  Loonchoo  has  been  pur- 
chased by  a practioal  planter,  and  the  offer  for 
Drumduan  has  also  been  made  by  another  planter  of 
long  and  varied  experience,  it  looks  as  if  coffee 
planters,  at  least,  believed  in  the  future  of  “ Libe- 
rian ” in  the  “ State  and  Territory.”  Coffee  prioes 
are  still  healthy,  not  to  say  handsome  ; and  though 
such  a product  is  always  liable  to  fluctuation,  we  dot 
not  think  that  there  is  any  daDger  whatever  of  over- 
production oauBing  a collapse  in  price,  suoh  as  ba& 
oeaurred  in  Tea  and  Pepper,— S,  F.  Press,  Sept.  12* 
