July 1, 1901] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
23 
such a fatuous idea &» the land route being so 
much superior in eveiy respect to the sea route. 
Durinf; my stay in Persia tliis matter was never 
once referred to by my Persian friends and ac- 
quainlances, some of wliom were Ifeenly interested 
ill the tea trade ; this supposed superiority must 
be put down as one of the ingenious but 
fallacious arguments of the boomers of the 
Nushki-Seistan route. In the oflicial communica- 
lion already referred to, mention is made of every 
man considering his cup of tea a necessity rather 
than a luxury. This is not literally correct, as the 
Persians do not drink tea in the same manner as 
we do. At many street corners of every town in 
Persia, there are restaurants or sliops for the sale 
of drinks, wliere a customer can also obtain a 
smoke from the kalian. Usually music of a sort is 
also provided, the mudcian being only too fjlad to 
perform in return for a drink and a smoke. In each 
of these restaurants there are one or more brass 
samovars (Russian urns) continually on the bubble. 
A small quantity of tea is placed in a Ciiina teapot, 
which is tilled with boiling water from the samovar, 
and then placed aside to brew. Onacustoniercalling 
for tea, it is poured out from the teapot in a small 
vase-shaped glass, which holds about '20oz, a piece 
of loaf sugar is added, and the glass and a small 
spoon are placed on a china saucer and handed to 
the customer. Persians do not add milk. To show 
special honor to a customer, the lump of loaf sugar 
should project out of the tea like an iceberg. The 
Persian likes his tea sweet. 
Should any enterprising individual or firm be 
contemplating a campaign with the object of estab- 
lishing a tea business in Persia, I should be only 
too happy to place my knowledge and services 
at their disposal, as the country and people are to 
me most interesting,— Teherani, Sambalpur, C. 
P., in the Statesman.— Indian Gardening md 
Planting, May 8. 
THE 
HELOPELTIS 
LIFE-HISTOR\ OF 
THEIVORA. 
note on a disputed point. 
{Bii Harold H. Mann B. Sc.) 
As'is well-known, Eelopeltis theivora, the " Tea, Buf{ 
of Assam" as it was called by Mr Wood-Magon, th« 
"Mosquito Blight" as it is generally termed— is the 
most alarming pest which has yet appeared on tea 
cultivated in India. It causes the more disquietude 
as it tends to increase as years go by,— fluctuating 
according to season, but generally increasing, and 
invading new areas. Daring 1901 which was a part- 
cularly bad year in almost all districts subject to th« 
pest, a very moderate estimate gives seven lakhs of 
rupees as the nett loss to the Indian Tea Industry froia 
this cause alone. 
Though we have a knowledge, thanks to Peal, Wood 
Mason, Dudgeon, Watt, and Green, of the general 
life-history of the insect from the egg to the adult 
stage yet there remain several points which have been 
very obsoure. Of these the moat important is the 
question as to what becomes of the insect during th« 
time when it apparently disappears from the tea Dush. 
So complete is this disappearance, as a rule, that most 
planters living in affected districts in North-Bast 
India have hardly ever seen a single insect during 
January, February and March. Mr Dudgeon has 
suggested that it hibernates in the ground but offers no 
evidence for his position, and declares frankly that he 
had not been able to verify his conjecture. It 
bas also been supposed that hibernation takes 
place in water and awamps, but again, not a scrap 
of evidence in favor of the view exists, and the 
•ame may b« said of the very general idea among 
tea planters that in the cold weather the JJdopeltis 
goes on to various jungle trees. 
With a view of acquiring information on thia point 
Ihave spent considerable time in January, Febru*ry 
and Jdarch ot the present year in two of the dis- 
tricts most affected by the pest — the Darjeeling Terai 
and Cachar— at a period, that is when the iTiaect 
was supposed to be hibernating. As a result I have 
come to conclusions of which the following i» «, lum- 
mary : — 
The Helopeltis tJictvora can bs found on tha tea 
bush in every stage of development during every 
period of the year. The cold weather kills off the 
iDulk of the mature insects and practically all tho 
larvse, but at all times auffloient remain to carry on 
the pest to the next seaaon, and in addition the 
bushes are full of egga. These latter were found 
not only in the usual position on the young ahoots 
but sJso at a much lower part of the bush than hag 
previously been noticed, embedded in the usual 
fashion in the midrib of the large mature loaves. 
The larvse were found on 11th January in small 
numbers on unpruned and sheltered bushes, then 
forming about 24 per cent of the total number of 
insects caught, By 12th February, however, a very 
different proportion of adults and larvse was obtained, 
and now instead of 2i per cent the larvse formed 
80 per cent of the total catch. This proportion was 
approximately kept up during several weeks from 
that date. The difficulty in obtvining evidence of 
their presence at this time is due to their attacking 
almost entirely the slightly shaded young leave?, the 
surface growth being rarely attacked in the early 
part of the year. 
The insect could, further, not be found on any 
jungle plant at this time. Though jungle of very 
miscellaneous character was systematically searched 
both by mj' self and by the children who are regularly 
catching the insect, not a single one was discovered 
in any form. 
It appears, therefore, evident that there is, from 
present knowledge, no need to aaanme a hibernating 
stage at all for Helopeltis theivora, and that tha 
insects remain and can ba found in every stage of 
growth, from the egg to the mature female full of eggs, 
at all times of the year. Whither the egg found low 
down in the bush, as described above, can be con- 
sidered as a special hibernating egg, I can hardly say, 
but there certainly was no difference in structure or 
in method of deposition from that usual during tha 
regular season. Inasmuch, then, as there is absolutely 
no evidence of the cold weather being passed by the 
insect in the soil, in water, or on other trees, and 
furthermore, as careful observation can always 
detect the insects and their egga on tea bushes 
in affected districts, there is no need to imagine 
any hibernation atage at all in India, and beyond 
a certain retardation in development, due to the re- 
duced temperature, the reproduction of the insect 
may be considered to take place in a similar manner 
throughout the year, and to be carried out on the 
tea busli itaelf during the whole period. 
Tbe.=ie observations have a very practical interest, 
and may lead to a sound method of attempting to 
deal wilh the pest, and experiments in this direction 
are now in progress. Harold H Mann. 
— Indian Gardening and Planting, May 8. 
VANILLA CULTURE liST BENGAL. 
We have in previous issues referred to the ex- 
perimental cultivation of the Va/nilla planifoUa 
in the gardens of the Agri-Horlicultural Society 
of India. It may interest our readers to know 
that the Vanilla plants are making most vigorous 
growth, and have ful y established themselves on 
tlis stakes. The manner of growing the plant oa 
a commercial basis was fully described by us just 
