THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUEIST. [Feb. 2, 1903. 
solute distinction lias led to much lack of compre- 
hension, and many mistakes in treatment of the 
insect 
The tracking down of the little rascal by Mr 
Mann until he fonnd its place of liibernation in 
the tea bush itself, is well told in the pamphlet, 
and deserves to be widely read by all interested 
in the cultivation of tea. Mr Mann. like all 
careful scientists, is very chary in making large 
generalisations, from a few experiments But 
he seems to be on the right track. These ex- 
periments, along the lines of his working hypho- 
thesis, all conHimed each other in their results, 
and it looks as if he had not only found out all 
about the nature of this expensive pest, but has 
also been able to put tea planters in possession 
of the means of ridding themselves of what 
hitherto has been the perennial cause of 
blighted leaf entailing heavy lo.»s. One hundred 
and fifty gallons of a very cheap emulsion, of 
which a pound or two of country soap and two 
gallons of low kerosine oil form the basis, are 
all that an acre of tea plants require. It has to 
be put on in a fine cloud like form of spray 
about the ecd of February, and Mr Mann says 
that the best instrument for doing this is one 
ni-de by the Goulds' Manufacturing Co., New 
York, and sold by Messrs. Jessop & Co., Calcutta. 
The Tea Association never did a better strok^ 
of business than when they appoint'jd a scientific 
expert to fight the enemies of the tea plant. 
Every other crop has its own specific enemies, 
but as these crops are not raised like tea, by 
European capital under European management, 
the enemies of the crops get leave to commit 
ravages as they please. The success which has 
followed the efforts of the Tea Association ought 
to stimulate our paternal Government to put 
cheir Bureau of Agriculture in efficient working 
order, and to put thoroughly trained and well- 
equipped scientists on to every crop that is raised 
in India. If they would fight the enemies of 
cotton, jute, hemp, wheat, rice, the oil seeds, and 
other ciiief products of the soil as Mr Mann has 
fought tlie pests of Assam, they would deserve 
to have their memories perpetuated by statues 
or by hospitals or in any other manner a grate- 
ful people might devise. After all, let it be re- 
membered that agriculture is the first and prime 
ashet of the inhabitants of India. When it fails, 
everything else is wrong. — Capital, Dec. 24. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Coarse Plucking: A Warning. — The 
Ceylon Association deserves credit for its 
most timely warning; in view of the »ecent 
rise in the niarket and the natural tendency 
of local producers to return to co.arse pluck- 
ing ; but we trust the latter will do all in their 
power to falsify the anticipations of the 
London buyers who apparently regard India 
as alone understanding the necessity for 
controlling its output. I he warning cannot 
be too sternly and persistently emphasised. 
By fine and careful plucking the market hus 
been improved jind now, when from this and 
other causes supply and demand is becoming 
somewhat equalised, it wmild be genuinely 
suicidal were planters to allow their discre- 
tion to be eclipsed by a desire for quantity 
and return to coarse plucking. 
Paba Rubber doing so well at 1,600 feet 
elevation as Mr. P. J. Holloway reports 
on page 543, is a very interesting facfe'which 
may tend to increase the area over which 
this kind of rubber can be profitably 
cultivated in Ceylon. 
A New Style of Tea Drier— is to be in. 
troduced, in which the tea to be dried is steam- 
heated in vacuo. Certain advantages are claimed 
for the new process, but having some experience of 
machines in which vacuum processes are em- 
ployee", we are inclined to think that it will 
prove troublesome and costly. — Indian Planting 
and Gardening, Jan. 10. 
The Lake-ely Nuisance.— Dr. Willey 
elsewhere replies to Mr. Theobald's suggestion 
that, to destroy the lake-fly nuisance. Col- 
ombo Lake should be emptied and refilled 
with sea-water. His trenchant letter scarcely 
leaves room for hope that the scheme will 
be genei'ally regarded as either imperative 
or practicable ! But experiments are first 
required. 
The CtjLTiVATioS^ op "Onions"— in West 
Indian islands is described on page 534, 
as " the development of a new industry," 
and it causes us to enquire why more is 
not done in Ceylon in growing this useful 
vegetable? That there is great room for 
a home industry is shown by the fact 
that during the past five years we imported 
"Onions" into Ceylon as follows :— 1898 = 
131,003 cwt., R786,019; 1899 148,281 cwt., 
R444,844; 1900 157,116 cwt., R471 350 ; 1901 
161,927 cwt., R.582,578; 11 months of 1902 
151 558 cwt, R454,832. 
How Long will Green Tea Continue 
to Boom ? — This is a question many in 
Ceylon would like answered. That it is 
booming now, no one will deny, and we have 
heard of low-country teas recently having 
sold at 36 cents, plus 5 cents bonus, bringing 
the seller 41 cents— considerably over what 
his black teas would fetch. The great cau- 
tion shown by buyers seems to indicate that 
prices will not be maintained. For instance 
when prices were at 32 and 33 cents buyers 
readily took contracts. Now that 34, 35 and 
36 cents are obtained buyers strictly refrain 
from making contracts, evidently believing 
that green tea has already reached its high 
water mark. Referring to a recent allusion 
of ours to these contracts, Indian Gardening 
and Planting of January 10th, just to hand, 
says : — 
" These transactions certainly offer a good in- 
ducement to Indian planters to follow suit. 35 
cents, or 5 annas 7 pies steady average without 
any anxiety whatever as to the rise and fall of 
the market, would pay very many concerns well, 
to say nothing of the bonus which would defray 
the extra cost of machinery. The contracts are, 
of course, for uncoloured tea, and it should not 
be diffionlt, considering the excellent quality of 
green tea turned out in India, for some of these 
contracts to be secured locally. The effect upon 
the development of the new industry of such ar- 
rangements must be most mirked, for the buying 
contractors will necessarily make every effort to 
get (he tea into consumption," 
