August I, 1898.] THE TliOPICAL AGRICULTUIilsT. 
129 
T', lU Edilnf. 
THE PRUNIi^G OF TEA: IX INDIA 
AND CEYLON. 
Dear Sir,— The Indian planter, wlio in your 
columns lias ofi'ered sngge-stions ior an improveil 
system of iiruuing, has eviilently a dift'erent con- 
dition of thing-i to deal with than obtains gene- 
rally ill Ceylon. With his applied system of 
pruning and liberal manuring he holds an estate 
should not fall short of l,()iJC) lb. an acre. ' Who 
in Ceylon is sullicienb for these thing«, and where 
is the estate here to he found that can hope 
to touch such a magnilicent record'? I have Iieard 
of estates brought up to 800 lb. after a series of 
guccessive manuring*, and each was thought to be 
doing well at that, and as a top shot, 1,200 lb. may 
have been attained ; but these Indian yields take 
poor Ceylon wholly to the fair, and we can but com- 
fort ourselves that if we cannot duplicate them we 
can at least stand by and admire. 
That the planters in Ceylon know a lot is ad- 
mitted at least by themselves, and they are as 
ready to impart their information, as they are 
to pick up a wrinkle anywhere. Our thanks are 
due therefore to the Indian man, who has so 
fully explained a system which lie says he has 
tried, and proved to be worthy of following. 
On the face ot it the .system reads well, and 
to be able to save a lield from the drastic 
action of "cutting down" should commend it for 
a trial anyhow. Thus regularly of surface and 
steadiness of yield arc two L'(;nditions much to be 
desired, and when to tiiis is added that the tea ob- 
tained from the tre2s is better than could e.xpected 
from bushes recovering from a severe De dose of the 
knife, it would seem as if your Indian correspondent 
was on the track of a good thing, and that Ceylon 
might benefit from his thou<.-litful woi k. 
That the new system will need careful watch- 
ing goes without saying, but what does not need 
that more or less? The experts who are to re- 
move the hard work; will soon take a ijride in 
their work for the Tamil cooly has the faculty of 
all good workers that of knowing when they 
stand well with their emjdoyer and rising to it. 
Of course "the proof of the pudding is the eating 
of it," and to know what this new system is 
worth, will take sometime. Meanwhile, the writer 
of the article assures us that h<: is satished with 
what he has seen it do, and as the whole paper 
has a decidedly modest ring about it, and is full 
enough to enable any one to follow out the line 
indicated, it is more than likely that the system 
will get a trial and later on tlierewill he improve- 
ments on this improved .system. If the result 
be better grown trees, better tea, and a bigger 
yield, the new system will have more than estab- 
lished a footing for itself. Certainly in these days 
of short crops, and unattained estimates, to read 
of a simple system for increasing output is cheer- 
ing. But perhaps the improved system is not 
proof against tlrought ! 
WILLING TO THY. 
COFFEE AND THE - LADY-BIRD" 
QUESTION. 
Hirnlouvah Estate, HaldummuUa, .June 13. 
Dkau Sir. — I am giad to see the interest you 
are taking in the "Lady Bird" (|uestion, as I 
* Aa a masimtiiu,— Bd. T.S, 
consider it more important to the island r^ener- 
ally, than it seems to be supposed at present 
and It successful would enable many of nft 
re.siime coflee growing with satisfactory results 
Ihere is not much coflee left here, but what 
there is, I have never seen in better heart, and 
with a good show of spike on it. Its improved 
appearance this year, is I think due to mucli 
more favourable weather (for coffee; than we 
nave had tor some few years. And with bu- 
kept in check by "Lady Birds ^' I should be 
g act to increase the acreage under coHee, especi- 
ally as " Ceylon plantation^' always seems to -^ell 
well I do not know what funds are renuired 
for the scheme. But if coftee planters were agree- 
able we could easily raise K3,000 by a levy of 
< ^"^^ ^" '^''^ ^'"''^'^^ '"^cres coffee left 
-T-nd i daresay many tea planters would be '^lad 
to assLst with the hope of being able to pTant 
portions of their estates with coffee, and crow it 
successfully. 
Government would I sliould think be glad to 
Cive a similar amount to what was collected bv 
planters, through the P. A. -Your faithfully, 
H. H. KIRBY. 
THE BUG ON LANTANA. 
„ Fairieland, June 13. 
.•sir,— My attention was drawn to the "Bu"'' 
that attacks the " Lantana'' some six months 
ago. Since then, it appears to have spread 
very considerably in the "Central Province" 
It will be an " eye-sore" very soon, as the 
pretty green, soon turns to an ngly black : and 
the " Lantana" looks withered. 
The (juestion of importance, however, is not 
one of oppcamHcr but one for very serious con- 
sideration, as to whether this '■• Lantana" pest 
may or may not attack our tea bushes ? 
The Government should be approached on this 
subject, by our "Planters' Association," and 
opinions obtained from qualified experts. 
Some of your reaflers may remetnber 'the first 
appearance of the "coffee" pest, and how efforts 
were made to '• stamp it out." only when it had 
gained a firm footing in Ceylon ; if there is 
danrjerol this "Lantana" bug coming on to our 
tea bushes, thjn let us with the help of Go- 
vernment, light it and try and stamp it out at 
once. SHELTON AGAR. 
"LANTANA" BUG AND COFFEE LEAF 
DISEASE. 
, . Heneratgoda, .June 15. 
StR,— Ueternng to Mr. Shelton Agar's letter 1 
have to say that many ]jeo:jlc told nie that coflee 
leaf disease was introduced hy disease which affected 
Lantana plant. I think there is reason to believe 
the story as is plague from rats. There is no disease 
in the lowcountry Lantana as yet to be seen. 
Coffee leaf disease also first appeared up- 
country and gradually came to lowcountry. Mr. 
Shelton Agar's letter deserves immediate'atteu. 
tion of the Planting Community as well as 
Govern m en t — Yours fait hf ul ly , 
^, , . J. P. WILLIAM, 
[Coftee leaf disease was flrsc seen in Madul 
sima district and Dr. Thwaites traced t!ie fnn- 
gurj to an insignificant jungle plant in Uva. It liad 
nothing to do v^-ith Lantana.— Ed. 
"THE LADY BIRD." 
StR,— The "Lady Bird" is a very eommon 
inject of Ceylon. It is found on pumpkin vines 
