156 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [SEPr. 1, 1902. 
the many instances of Government assistance which 
has been extended to planters and others in the 
Federated Malay States, when cases of real urgency 
have arisen. 
About six months ago, an estate which I visited, the 
property of a Compmy which has large Ceylon in- 
terests also was attacked by the caterpillars of the 
bee hawk moth ; for some time we were able, though 
only at a heavy expenditure, to keep pace with the 
pest, and to an inexperienced eye, tlie coffee showed 
scarcely any signs of being denuded of leaf. In 
June last, however, owing probably to some climatic 
change favourable to the rapid development of the 
insects, there was a terrible increase in their numbers 
and it became apparent tbat, unless a largs force of 
coolies could be at once concentrated on the spot, the 
most serious result must ensue. 
Neighbouring planters came to the rescue, and lent 
every coolie they could spai'e, but sliil we could not 
keep up with tlie carterpillars. I then appealed to 
the Government and at once a special train was 
put on and neatly 200 coolies daily were sent down. 
These men had to walk, in some cases, a long distance 
to the railway station, and on arrival at their journeys 
end, nearly four miles more to the estate lay before 
them. After work they had to go nil the way back 
again. There was no suggestion that such a day's labour 
was an impossible t^sk, and the men all worked 
cheerfully and well. With this help we were able 
to get th ) pest in hand and in the end were only 
called upon to pay half the cost, the Government de- 
fraying ihe rest. 
You will agree, I feel sure, that such ready sym- 
pathy and liberal and prompt assistance are not to be 
met with in official quarters all the woild over, and 
deserve to be made known, especially in quarters 
where the proper significance of the thing can be ap- 
preciated. 
Mr. Ernest Green, with whom I have been in com- 
munication, tells me that the bee hawk moth is well- 
known in Ceylon, but is not epidemic over with you 
owing to some fungal or bacterial infection, and ihia 
it is to be hoped may in time become an established 
condition here too ; but, meanwhile, we can do nothing 
but " hand pick " eggs, caterpillars and chrysalids, 
and meet every flight of moths (which are day insects 
and therefore not to be caught in the meduse acety- 
lene lamps] with as many butterfly nets as we can 
muster coolies to use them. 
Somewhere about 1885, many of your readers will 
remember how the cinchona was absolutely stripped 
of leaf by a Luge hawk moth caterpillar, which ap- 
peared in such numbers that one even fouud them 
crawling over the bungalow walls. The Badulla 
district in particular had a bad time of it, but finally 
thousands and thousands of crows came to the rescoe, 
and absolutely cleared the caterpillars out. Having 
this in my mind, I approached the Resident-General 
with the object of seeing whether the Government 
would negotiate with Ceylon for the supply of a few 
thousand of crows, these useful birds being very 
few and far between over here unfortunately ; and I 
am glad to say that, instead of treating this sugges- 
tion as a huge joke, as many men migiit have done, 
Mr. Treacher has at once put himself in communi- 
cation with your Government on the subject. 
I hope, Sir, if you notice the matter at all, you will 
.accord your support. You might send us over 100,000 
crows and never miss them ; in fact, the effect would 
,^probably be as beneficial to tho remaining stock as 
flhocting over a moor which has for years remained 
undistarbed— Youre, &c., E. V. CAREY, 
Kiang, Selangor, Federated Malay States, August 
8rd 1902. 
FEVER IN PLANTS. 
Although animals and plants seem, at first sighti 
to be two tbsolutely distinct groups, and to have 
little in common, closer investigation points uomis- 
takibly to the fa^t that they are very similar and 
very closely related to one another. Further, many 
organisms are known which it is impossible to class 
with certainty as plants .or animals. Let ua confine 
our attention for a moment to one of the ordinary 
recognised signs of life, namely, breathing or respi- 
ration. Both animals and plants breathe. In both 
oxygen is taken in from the air, and after certain 
changes caibon dioxide is given out. This process, 
it is true, is masked in green plants, during 
exposure to sunlight by another process in which 
caiboa dioxide is taken in and oxygen given out. 
Tt goes on, however, in a plant as steadily as in 
an animal, and tliere is no essential difference 
between the respiration of man and that of the 
humblest vegetable he cultivates. In man it is not 
uncommon to find that when the health is affected 
his temperature rises; in other words, he becomes 
feverish. 4t the same time the rate of breathing is 
often inerea?e3. Is this true of plants also ? Can we 
throw a Potato or an Onion into a fever? The 
idea seems absurd. Yet it is an ascertained f»ct. 
It was shown by Mr. H. M. Richards {Annals of 
Botany, vol. xi., p. 30) that if Potatos or Onions were 
sliced— that is to say, wounded — their temperature 
rose, and their breathing became more vigorous. 
They exhibited in fact two of the characteristic 
symptoms of a feverish person. The rise of tem- 
perature was carefully measured ; in some cases it 
was as much as 3° 0. The course of the fever was 
followed, and was found to reach its height usually 
about twenty-four hours after the injury, the tem- 
perature then began to f^ll , and reached the normal 
again on the fourth or fifth d ly. Experiments such 
as these help to bring home to one in a strikint; 
manner the fundamental relationship between animals 
and T^l^^n^s.— Agricultural News, Barbados. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Sweet Peas in Quantity.— We are informed by 
Messrs. E W. Kir.'G And Co., Coggeshall, Essex, that 
they have now in flower 6 acres of Sweet Peas, in- 
cluding seventy-two choice varieties cultivated for seed- 
ling purposes. — Gardeners'' Cfuronicle. 
Manure foe Roses, — Artificial manure, says a 
German contemporary, if properly chosen and ap- 
plied, are the most useful, as by their use vigorous 
growth and fine flowers are obtained. Raw bone-meal, 
in point of usefulness, is prepernble to manures con- 
taining phospheric acid ; but the manure most to be re- 
commended is potash, and two dressings afforded 
during the sumaier have all the favourable results 
which one can desire from a manure. -Ibid, 
A New use poh the Onion. — The onion has been 
recommended as a beneficent remedy for diseases iii 
poultry on account of the essential oil, vfhich causes 
tears to flow from the eyes ; hence therapeutic qutlities 
of great value are attributed to it in the case of throat 
affections in -said poultry, which, as we well know, ia 
the disease which decimates our poultry yards. The 
administration is very simple : Once or twice a week 
cut up the onion into very small pieces, and feed it to. 
the poultry. It will keep them in excellent condition 
for fattening and producing plenty of eggs, — La Indus 
tri, Nicaragua. — Ibid, 
" Agbicultural jSTEws." — We have before us the 
first number of a fortnightly periodical, published at 
one penny at Barbados. It is one of the many evi- 
dences of the activity of Dr. Morris in all that con- 
cerns the development of the agricultural resources 
of the West Indies, and lays no claim to public 
recognition beyond an earnest desire on the part of 
the Imperial Department cf Agriculture to instruct 
and assist all classes of the community, and to pro- 
mote the agricultural interests of these colonies. The 
contents, though naturally dovoted almost exclasively 
to colojial affairs, are varied and interesting. — Hid. 
