84 
l-HE TEOPICAL AGElCtLTtBIfeT. [AucrsT 1, 1898. 
' Grcen-biig ' that killed out onr coffee. He aRgerts- 
that there are Australinn beetls that would aB 
suredly destroy these two posts. It is hoped that 
a consignment of these beetla will shortly be pro- 
cured, and that they will soon become established 
in Ceylon." 
Mr. Green then appends to his pain))lilet, as 
related very much by Mr. K.>)beie and sub- 
stantiated by other authorities, — "the Story 
of tiie Flnted-Seale (Tceri/a jiurdmsi) in ("all- 
fornia and it.s Eradication through the intro- 
duction of a Piedaceous Australian IJeetle." It 
is a thousand pities, in the interests of coffee 
as well as of all our planting operations tiiat when 
Mr. Ko'bele was in Ceylon in 189."), tl-c Govern- 
ment did not engage his services to go to 
Queensland to bring over a consignment of the 
celebrated "Vedalia"; but it is not toe lale to 
secure such consignment cither tlirougii the South 
Indian Agent, or iMdc))endently on our own ac- 
count. Whatever may be done in destroying 
the lantana and lighting the bug by lire, burial 
or kerosine emulsions in the lirst place, there can 
he little doubt that the most ell'ective means of 
kee))ing in check, if not of clearing oil' "Orllie/ia 
insignis " as well as our old friends of the black, 
white aTid green bugs — desciibed in Neitnei's 
♦'Enemies of tlie (Jollee Tree — will be to im|iort the 
Vedalia or Lady-bird beetles. " To this com- 
plexion we must come at laht " and the sooner 
the better. 
INDIA RUBBER IN FRENCH CONGO. 
The " Mouvement Geographique " of January 30th, 
speaking of the manufacture of rubber iu the French 
Congo, says: — "The rubber is sold in balls weighing 
either 120 grammes or about (> grammes. The larger 
balls contain a superior quality of rubber, which is ob- 
tained by treating the latex with fresh lime-juice. The 
smaller balls are prepared with lime-juice ^hich has 
already been used. The natives add a certain propor- 
tion of marine salt which serves to facilitate the 
precipitation of the rubber. The commercial article is 
obtained from a species of liana called by the Bakala 
'Djoumial' (Landolphia '?) This is the only liana 
capable of producing rubber of a fine quality, though 
many others, notably the 'Akounya' and the 
' Aboundje ' yield this material ; the first named 
forming a soft rubber devoid of elasticity and strength, 
while the second gives a substance which, when 
dried, is possessed of considerable firmness. These 
three are the only varieties of liana exploited by 
the natives." — B. C. African Gcvxtte, April 9, 
CEYLON TEA IN CHINA. 
The following note is from the Wotininstcr 
Budget. English resitlcsi ts at Shanghai sending to 
Ceylon and India for thidr tea is, no doubt, not 
entirely imaginary ; and " the Tschang-Tschili- 
Tung" is excellent: — 
The Chinese Mandarins, in order to save them- 
selves pain, appear to be at present hiding their 
heads in the sand as the ostriches are popularly 
suppose to do. One of them, however, h-is determined 
to make the best of the position, and he sees no 
reason why, if the foreigner cannot be turned out 
of China, he should not be made of some service. 
The refusal of the authorities to allow the introduc- 
tion of modem macliineiy and modern methods of 
cultivation into the tea plaiitatious has i one far to 
ruin the onoo extenv^ive trade in ie\ that China carj ied 
on with Euiopc. Eijglish residents at Shanghai have, 
it is said, found it chpaper to send to Ce> Ion and 
India for their tea than to buy from the Chinese 
planter at their very door. But the Tscbang-Tschih- 
tung, Governor of the great provinces of Hunan and 
Hopeh, decided to overthrow the old prcjndice* Ifatt 
prevented the fiiiployraent of modern method* of 
cultivation, and there is no renson why the Cf'leptiki 
Empire bhould not ag«iL become one of tlie Kre»t te*- 
growing districis of the world. It is another proof 
that ^ 
" III blows the wind that iTolitg noUxly." 
-y.-r. y/e,«W, May 30. ' 
I'A'M KERNELS: A NEW INDUSTKV. 
The ciushinK of seeds and nuta for the oil which 
they contain and the preparation of feeding etdff. 
from the resiuue ik. so far England i a concerned 
f.,^°.'",'"'',"''^ °T industry. And one of the mobt 
mporlBut pnab. 8 of this buMue.s ia that whieh cen- 
tres round the products cf the o^l palm, and pUys 
ench a considerabk pari in the trade between the 
Webt Coast of Afnca and Liverpool. Thi. palm-a 
beautiful tree of the umbrella pattern-floJrs about 
September or October, and the froit npen« about 
'^T,^" the main crop beiuK 
gathered from Februarv to May. The fruit i« gitbe^§ 
by natives, who ascend the trees by meana of rone, 
-sailor ashiou-and detach the mLsea of nnt 
ters, or "hands" as they are called wHh . 
axe or cutlass. The nuu' are then heaped on "Si 
ground, covered with palm leave., atd kit for a 
week in the hot and more or less ^nist at.i osphe« 
to ferment. During this process the nut "bfSon^ 
td'ia'baBkrt^'^The"' ''T -'-ved ^ u'r.TS 
piacea in oasKets. Ihe next process aima •> 
separation of the nut proper from the se^ veaS) 
or pericarp. First, huge earthenware pots we taken 
with a capacity of about 12 or H gallons Ynnll: 
wlZr' ^'^"'^^"''^"ndrc^^weStof nota 
Water s added and the pot placed over " s ow 
fire. After two hours" boiling the seed ves^f « ^.^ffi 
ciently soft to be squeezable b^the Era The 
nuts are then placed in the bottom of a ciLoe drlwn 
upon the river-bank, and the natives tread out the n^ts 
from the encircling pericarp with theirbare feet Three 
men will thus tread out 250 lbs. in an hour Water is then 
poured into the canoe to a depth of 3 to 4 inches 
and the nuts treated to the firml .eparati.J D^^eas 
by being rocked stirred, and sh^ken*^ By this^Ss 
the kernels with the bard sheila mn..; "]^»<i 
become detached from ii^l 'S^^rT^tT^LrtT 
ing 111 the sun are cracked between'^stone. Jij^/Jo 
separate the "palm kernels" of commerce fr^m ihl 
hard shell encfosing ,hem. Bat the water i^ [he 
canoe hag become covered with a vllWl.^ • 
scum. This is carefully collected in calafche, lul 
the pericarp fibre is squeezed and washed and finanv 
pressed in a mortar to €\tr«r-i fK^ • ^ 
particles of oil, and being o no further '^'"'^'"'."8 
value, is thrown aside to\1 uTei^l'tV'l^ZV^ui 
West Africau negroes bupdIt ns f.rt... . ' V 
duce must be ...creased indefinitely. The^bu k^ of 
the palm kerncls-or rather that section r>f Vl.l 
shipped to Eugland-find their wlv to T?L ? 
and it certainly did not reflect creZahlv't ron the 
sfp^ts^r^jr-'^ L^^jsr ^£ 
tricitv H^"" ^" conductor of elec- 
tnci y ; they prove, when planted near hou-es 
excellent defences against liohtnin.^ owi?, ; 
their hei.ht, and their inlluenc:;. .'.J^n thede?tr c 
