Deo. 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. 
403 
to have been successfully established, but the 
imported bats are said to have disappeared. I 
wonder that Mr. Koebele has not tried moles. 
I have often thought that these Utile animals 
would be of great use in reducing tlie number 
of underground insects such as cockchafer grubs, 
wireworms, cut-Vv-orms, and even white-ants. Their 
introduction woukl be unattended by any dan- 
ger. Even in England the only harm they can 
be said to do, is that they sjioil the neat appear- 
ance of the grass sward by the numerous little 
hillocks of earth thrown up during their sub- 
terranean wanderings in search of the grubs that 
feed upon the grass-roots. It is said that the 
wholesale destruction of moles in England has 
led to a serious increase in damage from under- 
ground larv;e. Mr. K(cbele himself quotes an 
instance of the value of the mole. He tells us that 
a gentleman of Yokohama, " in building a lawn 
for a cricket ground, had a brick wall surround- 
ing this to a depth of several feet to prevent the 
moles from injuring the lawn. All went well 
for a tew months, at the end of which the grass 
began to get yellow and die off. All efforts \yith 
manure and water were useless, and he continu- 
ously found larvae of Scarabeeids (Cockchafers) 
that had come to the surface to die. Nothing 
could be found to remedy the evil until the gen- 
tleman was advised to take down the wall and 
give the moles access to the larv;e, which was done, 
and the lawn soon recovered." 
Mr. Kojbele may be called the " Apostle of 
Natural Kemedies." He altogether refuses to re- 
commend artificial remedies, as being effective 
only for a short time and too expensive. 
In view of the failure that so frequently at- 
tends the freezing process, it would be interest- 
ino to learn what plan Mr. Ku?bele has found 
most successful for the transportation of the 
numerous consignments of lady birds and other 
beneficial insects he has been procuring for the 
last three or lour years,— Yours faithfully. 
E. ERNEST GKEEN. 
AN INDIAN PLANTER OF 24 YEARS' EX- 
PERIENCE ON TEA PRUNING. 
Sir _I have read several of the recent letters on 
Pruai'ne and from one of them I have received a 
perfect revelatiou. This revelation hinges on the word 
Gormandizer." I read that gormandizers or straight 
shoots growing from below have been carefully cut ont. 
Comemtntbi, the bush could ncvev be renewed, and 
In the course 'of eight, ten, or twelve years the existing 
branche* become worn out. Then they have to be 
cat down in order to get a new set of gormandizers ? 
The words gormandizer and sucker have a certam 
fascination about them, and on my word I believe 
that this epithet has beeu the cause of incalculable 
loss to tea estates. It has not been tested whether 
the sucker sucks up and makes leaf of it. Tea plan- 
tara have got the word from fruit-growers, who 
naturally do not want leaf, and have used it to the 
destruction of the ouW means which the bush has to 
lenew itself. No doubt, the destruction of new shoots 
will causo a slight increase of growth on the old oranches 
and in course of time the bush may cease to try 
and force out growth through new channels, it is 
hi-'hlv iKobable that this la the cause of deteriora- 
tion in tea bushes, and the blame has beeu placed 
on poor Hoil, or bad weather or over-plucking. 
My own experience is that my best branches are 
suckers, which I have allowed to grow and come to 
maturity. I'l each bush where one sees gvowth ex- 
tending well above the level of the bush a sucker 
will be found, growing straight up from the ground 
{rom low down oa some old biauch. 
I have worried a good deal lately to find soma 
reason for the prevalence of cutting down, and I 
believe that I have found the reason, and I expect 
to hear that those planters who do not fear the 
"Gormandizer" are not much given to cutting down 
their tea bashes. For the present I do not think 
inuch more need be said until this point is settled. 
But I want to start a new discussion which I have 
never seen before in pi'infc, i.e., — 
The Proper TRUiTJiKNi of Youxg Tea. — Opinions 
vary, and young tea is generally allowed to grow 
untouched for a term of years. The first pruning is 
given at the end of the second year after planting, 
or at the end of the third year. Some seedlings are 
cut to a few inches when they are planted if they are 
over 18 months in the nursery. 
This also is a very important subject, and as I 
have some new planting I should like to get pro- 
fessional opinion. 
I have filled in a plot of ground on which there 
are about 10 percent of plants alive. It was planted 
about 15 years ago, and a few of the bushes are aa 
good as can be desired, others are sickly and a few 
just alive. The soil cannot be bad or there wonld be 
no good bushes after 15 years of struggle. 
My intention is to pluck the new and old plants 
at 2 feet from the ground. I intend to goon pluck- 
ing the new plants until they get strong enough to 
prune. Above 2 feet I shall consider all growth to 
be mine, and below that all shall be given to the 
bush. 
1 have nsver tried this system, and will of course 
modify it if I find that it does not succeed, but I 
have great hopes that this will be the best way of 
getting the new plants to become bushy and strong,' 
and come into full bearing gradually. 
The system of growing for 3 years and then cutting, 
back to a certain level, I consider to be a great waste 
of material, and of no use whatever to the bush for 
its future growth. During these 3 years one has 
induced a heavy grov/th at a point where it is not 
wanted, and when the bush is pruned one is left with 
three or four straight sticks which have to make new 
growth before plucking can commence, whereas by 
judicious plucking and pruning, one might have a fat 
round bush ready to give any quantity of leaf. 
1874. 
POULTRY DISEASE. 
Oct. 29. 
Deav Mr. Editor, — Many thanks for the in* 
teresting information about the shooting stars, 
lately given us, which lias interested many. Can 
any correspondent give me a, cure for the fol' 
lowing disease whicli has attacked my poultry, 
and wliich I lind very fatal, especially to chickens? 
It first appears in the form of a small spot, on 
the comb, generally near the eyes, sprea4s very 
rapidly and swells to a great size, until the 
fowl is blinded, whicli happens in about three 
days, and of course dies from starvation. I have 
tried the native remedy of saflron and coconut 
oil, but without effect. I am now trying carbolic 
acid and sweet oil. If any fowl fancier can ad- 
vise me, I shall feel very grateful. I hear that 
native fowls are dying in great numbers from 
this disease just now, in the lines and villages, 
Yours etc. 
UPCOUNTRY SUBSCRIBER, 
[An authority on poultry reports : — " A mixture 
of lime juice and sallron niiisfc be applied. 
The fowls and chickens must be fed with soft 
boiled rice as the nioutii is very tender. The 
'fowl-house must be well smoked out daily with 
fumes of coal tar which should be heateii in a 
chatty ill a corner of the fowl-hcuse,"— EDi 
