434 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. 1, 1898. 
future. Of course, it all llie inferior teas couUl 
he bouglifc and consi}»ne<l, niuler the jiatronage 
of the Editor of tlie "Ceylon Btaudard" to 
Persia, the local market might not sufler po 
serioufsly ; but the dismemljerinent of tlie Per- 
sian empire will come about soon enough with- 
out the Ceylon planters conspiring to slowly 
poison the Shah's poorer subjects. 
We can apparently get t\n help from the 
Public Analyst, nor can Colombo Duj-ers be 
trusted to condemn as unlit for consumption 
any stufT wliich can be used foi blending ))ur- 
poses, so the rubbish must be destroyed on 
estates.— Yours faithfully, 
INCINEPtATOR. 
A CUKE FOR BUG ON LlfiERlAN COFFEE. 
Greenwood, Nov. 4. 
Dear Sir,— I enclose one of some leaves of 
Liberian coflee which a friend .has just sent mc 
from Serdang (Sumatra). He writes : " A barge 
amount <-f trees were attacked by green bugs. 
The orai;ge tips on the under surf.ace of the 
leaves are I think a cryptogam. One fortnight 
after I had remarked their' appearance, all the 
green bugs on the plantation were dead. 
"These orange ti])s are to be found on eveiy 
.tree where there is bug and every where large and 
small are dead." 
This is more eflieacious than tlie lady-i^irds and 
it might still be worth cxpei imenting here to de- 
velop the growth of it where there is coflee left. — 
Yours truly, A. V.D. POORfEN. 
[We refeired the leaf to the Honorary Ento- 
mologist and Mr, Green is good enough to re])ort: — 
" The yellow fungus on the leaves is evidently a 
parasitic growth that has killed out the bugs. And 
it must liave done very great service in checking 
the peat. Our local ' green-bug' (Lecanium vinde) is 
fiubject to the att.;ck of another kind of fungus, of a 
greyisli-vvhite colour, which frequently destroys very 
large numbers of the insects ; but a sufficient num- 
ber always escapes to replenish the stock. I am keep- 
ing the leaf, and shall try to propagate this Sumatran 
fungus upon our Ceylon coffee bug. It may possibly 
■prove a more effective check than the disease to which 
they are already subject," — Ed. 2'.,t,] 
AN INDUSTRY IN DRIED PLANTAINS, 
COFFEE, COCONUTS, PARA RUBBER 
AND TIN IN THE STRAITS. 
Straits Settlements, Oct. 24. 
Dear Sir,— I have been very interested to read 
in the columns of the T.A. of the suggested 
industry in dried plantains. I believe my.'elf 
that the fruit can be made to pay handsomely if 
shipped in bundles to Penang and Singapore ; 
but a rush would soon over-do the business, 
and it would be wise to keep the possibilities of 
export in the dried form in view. I write 
therefore to ask you, if you or any of your , 
numerous correspondents can give me any liints 
as to the best method of drying and packina; 
plantains, whether any sugar should be used in 
, the curing; or not, etc., etc., etc."* 
Coffee beans wliich went down with the recent ' 
slump from ?45 to about $13 jier picul {13.3'J lb.) 
has recovered slightly and is now in the neigh- 
bourhood of $23 for the be.st quality, and tlii,'? 
is a price which would pay 15 to 20 per cent on 
capital cost on estates in full bearing, J.e., giving 
5 to 6 piculs an acre- But some investors show 
* See T.A. for October 1896 page 257 ; also Novem- 
ber page 335 ; and specially October this year page 
23«.-Bd. T.A. 
signs of chuekinp their intfrests before giving 
their places a chance. Tlie large majority liuwevsr 
are sticking to their guns, and planting para 
rubber and coconuts, in many cases through liie 
coffee, Kuflicieutly far apart to minimise the eflfect 
of the too dense nhade. Tiie di.scovery of tin 
on their totunis lias raised tlie liopes of & good 
many, and one estat* which was once very nearly 
converted into a Company in Ceylon is'said to 
have struck it pretty rich. The Government at 
one time were ail for putting difiicuhics in tlie 
way of planters mining their land without first 
eurrendering their agricultuial lilies, but our 
present Resident look up a strong position and 
helped us through. It is early to jirophesy ; but 
it is )icvertliel6ss quite on the cards thai a good 
deal of land originally taken up for coffee may 
bring t!ie proprietors in a considerable revenue 
from the tin, which is now quoted at the splendid 
price of S48 per jiicul (i;«,\lb.) There can be no 
dimbtthat the country has a great agricultural 
future before it; for e\ erytliing your plant growa 
luxuriantly, especially in the rich alluvial soil 
of the coast districts, almost all of which is re- 
claimed swamp land which ought to be a liot- 
bed of fever and its attend.ant evils, but is on the 
contrary extraordinarily healthy, infinitely more 
so than the interior where fever and dysentery in 
Bome localities, just about break one's lieart. 
I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
EX CEYLON PLANTER. 
VENESTA CHESTS AND THE SAVING 
WHICH MAY BE EFFECTED BY 
CAREFUL TEA PACKING. 
Dkar Sir, — I think the following figures will 
prove of interest to planters shewing as they do 
how great a saving may be effected by carefully 
following Brokers' in.'itructions on tarin^j and 
weighing gross. 
The London Warehouses weigh packages 
gross and then, having turned out the 
tea, they weigh the packages themselves ; 
deducting the tare from the gross, they 
deduce the net weight. 
If the gross weight of a pack.ige be 120 lb. 
15 oz, the 15 oz, is disregarded and the planter 
loses on that score 15 oz. of tea. beinsr credited 
with only 120 lb. gross. 
If the' chest itself weigh 20 lb. 1 oz. the tare is 
called 21 lb. and the planter loses on that, score 
another 15 oz. of tea, making with the draft lib. 
which by custom is always allowed, (on chests 
and half chests) 2 1b. 14 oz. tea or more than 3 per 
cent of his crop. 
To avoid to the utmost such a loss, chests nm.'t 
be thoroughly seasoned. If it is desired to liave 
a 20 ib. tare, the chests should be made 19 1b. 
14 oz., i.e., 2 oz. under the number of lb. desired' 
while the gross weight should be 2 oz. over the 
number of lb. required. A beam scale should be 
used, platform scales being frequently inaccurate. 
The following M-eighments of teas from three 
-Ceylon factories speak for themselves : — 
An estate sent home four eon.?ecntive invoices 
weighing 50,660 lb and gained 13 Ib tea over 
Fact or V weights. Another estate sent 184,211 lb 
tea v.ith a loss of 54 lb when packed in Vene.stas 
as compared with 1, lis lb loss last 3 ear when 
packed in Moniis, and as only 2 oz e.xtrateahas 
been put in .this year as compared with 4 oz 
per chest the proprietors remark that the gain 
is over 1,300 lb of tea." A third estate sent home 
172,915 1b tea with again of 66 1b. 
