THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov.  i 1892. 
3H 
him  that  those  on  whom  he  relied  for  assistance  should 
have  so  signally  failed  him.  He  says  that  the  Cecidomyia 
tritici  is  the  Hessian  fly  of  Europe  and  America.  In 
reality  the  Hessian  fly  of  Europe  and  America  is 
Cecidomyia  destructor,  Earned  so  by  Say  loDg  at o,  and 
is  completely  and  specifically  distinct  from  Cecidomyia 
tritici,  which  is  the  true  wheat  midge  of  Great 
Britain.  This  is  a mistake  which  appears  unpardos- 
able  in  a seitntific  reviser.  On  p.  45  it  is  stated  that 
“the  species  of  Necrophorus  and  Silpha  are  useful; 
they  feed  on  carrion  and  by  scratchii  g the  ground 
from  under  dead  animals  they  par  idly  bury  them.” 
As  a fact  the  Silpha  opaca , and  another  species  the 
Silpha  atrata,  eat  and  seriously  injure  plants  of  beet 
and  mangelwurzel  as,  has  been  shown  by  Curtis 
and  Miss  Ormerod  in  England,  by  Guelin  Meneville 
in  France,  arid  Taschenberg  in  Germany.  It  need 
hardly  be  said  that  correct  information  as  to  the 
habits  of  insects  is  as  necessary  as  accurate  nomen- 
clature at  least  to  agriculturists. 
Again,  under  the  heading  Buprestidse  and  Ela- 
teridse  (click  beetles)  it  is  remarked  that  the  larva; 
feed  on  living  wood  and  are  more  or  less  injurious. 
The  wire-worm,  the  larva  of  Elater  lineatus  is  fearfully 
destructive  to  the  roots  of  crops  of  all  kinds.  In  the 
description  of  Elateridre  further  on,  this  kind  of  mis- 
chiel  is  attributed  to  their  larvae  ; so  that  there  are 
two  utterly  oonflioting  accounts  of  the  habits  of  these 
inseots  calculated  to  puzzle  the  inquiring  Indian  far- 
mers. 
A sweeping  statement  that  “ all  the  weevil  family 
insert  their  eggs  in  the  stigma  of  the  flower”  cannot  be 
supported,  and  is  utterly  opposed  to  the  experience  of 
observers.  A few  species  do  this,  but  others  deposit 
their  eggs  in  a variety  of  places.  Of  weevils  it  is  also 
said  that  they  “ attack  principally  in  their  larval 
stage  every  psrt  of  vegetable  tissues.”  As  a fact, 
many  weevils  do  incredible  harm  to  vegetation  in  their 
perfect  or  weevil  form,  and  it  would  be  difficult  for 
thelarvaa — mere  maggots — toholdon  to  leaves. 
Sitonas,  described  as  attacking  stored  grain  and  seed, 
have  been  evidently  mistaken  for  species  of  Bruohi. 
These  and  other  mistakes  ought  to  be  corrected 
before  the  work  is  put  into  the  hands  of  the  agricultur- 
ists of  India  as  a text- book  for  their  guidance. — Nature. 
PLUMBAGO  MINING  IN  TEAVANCOEE. 
We  print  in  another  column  a letter  addressed 
by  a London  correspondent  to  a Ceylon  contemporary 
on  the  above  subject,  which  has  evidently  exercised 
considerably  the  minds  of  those  in  Ceylon  who  are 
interested  in  the  plumbago  industry.  From  infor- 
mation which  we  have  been  able  to  gather  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that  our  neighbours  are  not  en- 
tirely wrong  in  supposing  that  the  monopoly  which 
they  have  hitherto  looked  upon  as  theirs  is  theirs 
no  longer.  But  that  the  competition  which  has  now 
arisen  is  as  serious  as  the  London  correspondent 
would)  lead  them  to  believe  we  are  not  as 
yet  quite  satisfied.  It  is  nearly  two  years 
since  mining  operations  for  plumbago  were 
started  in  Travancore  by  Messrs.  Parry  & Co., 
who,  we  may  say  at  once,  are  the  Madras  con- 
cessionaires whose  enterprise  has  so  seriously  dis- 
turbed the  mind  of  the  Ceylon  miners.  That 
plumbago  existed  in  large  quantities  in  various  Dis- 
tricts of  Travancore  territory  has  been  known  for 
some  years,  and  it  was  indeed  the  existence  of  old 
workings  which  led  Messrs.  Parry  & Co.  to  con- 
sider whether  under  a more  modern  system  of 
mining,  and  with  the  newest  machinery,  this 
valuable  mineral  could  be  extracted  at  a cost  likely 
to  prove  remunerative.  The  trial  has  apparently 
been  a thorough  one,  and  if  the  results  so  far- 
obtained  fall  somewhat  short  of  the  description 
contained  in  the  letter  to  which  we  have  referred, 
at  least  they  have  been  so  far  satisfactory  as  to 
decide  Messrs  Parry  and  Co.  to  continue  their 
operations,  which  are,  we  believe,  still  in  an  experi- 
mental stage,  in  the  hope  that  as  the  workings  extend 
and  the  ore  Obtained  improves  in  quality,  the  value 
may  be  bo  increased  as  to  put  them  on  a more  level 
footing  with  their  Ceylon  competitors. 
Under  the  old  methods  of  working,  which  me- 
thods still  obtain  in  most  of  the  Ceylon  mines, 
the  extraction  of  plumbago  in  Travanoore  was  found 
to  be  unremunerative,  as  proved  by  tbe  abandoned 
workings  to  which  we  have  already  referred; 
but  Messrs.  Parry  & Co-  have  gone  to  very  cor  - 
siderable  expense  in  lajing  down  the  latest  machi- 
nery, and  it  is  hoped  that  in  spite  of  many  dis- 
advantages with  which  they  have  to  contend  the 
eventual  output  of  tbe  mines,  both  as  to  quantity 
and  quality,  will  justify  the  outlay.  Messrs.  Parry 
& Co.  have  had  every  faoility  afforded  them  by 
the  Travancore  Government,  which  has  wisely  deter- 
mined to  foster  the  development  of  this  new  and  valu- 
able  industry  by  every  means  in  its  power,  and  they 
have  reoeived  such  assistance  in  the  matter  of  con- 
cessions as  will  effectually  proteot  the  industry  from 
premature  competition.  It  may  be  interesting  to  the 
Ceylon  plumbago  miners  to  learn  that  in  tbe  early 
state  of  the  operations  a 6mall  parcel  of  Travancore 
plumbago  was  shipped  to  Ceylon  for  valuation.  I he 
report  obtained  was  that  the  quality  was  far  below 
even  the  most  inferior  of  that  shipped  frnm  the  Ceylon 
mines,  and  that  it  was  in  fact  unsaleable.  This  re- 
port was  hardly  jnstified,  however,  for  the  parcel  after- 
wards realised  in  the  London  Market  £9  per  ton,  or 
abont  the  equivalent  of  £7  per  ton,  f.  0.  b.  From  a 
Ceylon  point  of  view,  no  doubt,  this  price  was  not 
encouraging,  but  it  would  appear  from  Messrs.  Marshall 
and  Trench’s  (we  presume  the  well-known  firm  of 
Messrs.  Marshall  and  French  is  meant)  remarks 
quoted  in  tbe  London  correspondent's  letter,  that  the 
quality  has  since  steadily  improved  and  is  presumably 
now  worth  a better  price.  As  to  tbis,  however,  we 
understand  that  the  concessionaires  have  Dot  heard 
anything  before.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fears  ex- 
pressed in  Ceylon  that  Travancore  plumbago  will 
improve  in  quality  bs  a greater  depth  is  attained 
would  appear  to  be  unfounded,  since  the  Tra- 
vancore deposits  are  already  being  worked  at  a depth 
ot  150  feet,  and  not  only  50  feet  as  stated.  We 
believe  that  very  few  of  the  Ceylon  workings  exceed 
this  depth. 
In  commenting  on  its  London  correspondent’s 
letter  our  Ceylon  contemporary  remarks  that  while 
the  Travancore  mines  can  possibly  be  worked  at  a 
cheaper  labour  rate  than  those  of  Ceylon,  tbe  advantage 
in  cost  of  transport  should  rest  with  the  latter.  Of 
this  we  think  there  can  be  little  doubt,  and  it  was 
chiefly  this  question  of  transport  which  was  in  our 
mind  when  we  spoke  of  the  disadvantages  with  which 
Messrs.  Parry  and  Co.  have  to  contend.  Our  Ceylon 
contemporary’s  London  correspondent  was  UDable  to 
furnish  any  information  as  to  the  distance  from  the 
coast  at  fwhich  the  mines  now  being  worked  in 
Travancore  are  situated,  or  of  the  means  of  transport 
available  for  traversing  it.  The  mines  are,  we  under- 
stand, situated  at  a distance  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  the  port  of  shipment,  and 
transport  is  both  difficult  and  expensive.  At  pesent 
the  plumbago  is  carried  part  of  the  distance  by 
cart,  and  part  by  boat,  and  the  time  occupied  is 
considerable.  The  disadvantage  as  regards  transport 
is  not,  however,  limited  to  the  journey  between  the 
mines  and  port  of  shipment,  for  ocean  freights  are  both 
high  and  nnoertain,  as  oompared  with  those  obtainable 
from  Ceylon.  At  present  a portion  of  the  labour 
employed  in  the  Travancore  mines  is  imported  from 
Ceylon,  aDd  is  expensive ; but  this  will  no  doubt  be 
dispensed  with  in  favour  of  local  labour  after  a time. 
One  of  the  difficulties  of  working  lies  in  tbe  fact 
that  the  climate  is  extremely  feverish,  and  it  may  be 
found  impossible  to  continue  working  without  inter- 
ruption during  the  unhealthy  season.  This  in  itself 
would  be  a very  serious  disadvantage.  But,  as  we  have 
already  said,  hopes  are  entertained  that,  in  spite  of 
the  disadvantages  named,  the  undertaking  will  prove 
a sound  commercial  enterprise,  and  justify  the  large 
outlay  made  in  its  experimental  stages.  This  has  as 
yet  hardly  been  ascertained,  but  there  seems  to  be 
no  doubt  that  tbe  demand  for  plumbago  is  at  pre- 
sent considerable  and  even  should  the  Travancore 
plumbago  prove  decidedly  inferior  to  that  obtained 
in  Ceylon,  there  still  appears  to  be  an  outlet  for  the 
