658 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Fj£B. 1, 1899. 
To the Editor. 
THE DANGER OF IN-TKODUCING "SCALE" 
AND OTHER PESTS WITH FKUIT 
FROM AUSTRALIA. 
Sir,— Has it ever struck you that the increas- 
ing' importation of Australian fruit, especially that 
of^apples and oranges, is a .source of danger to 
the Colony? 
Apples and oranges are particularly liable to 
cany liviiij< scale insects and this is so fully 
recognised that I believe I am ri^ht in stating 
that^some colonies absolutely prohibit the import- 
ation of fresh fruit and other countries only ad- 
mit them under certain lestrictions. 
In the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales 
for October 1898 there is an interesting article 
on " Insect and Fungus Diseases of Fruit Trees 
and their Remedies." Of the scale insects men- 
tioned in the article we already have several (I 
write under correction) but we are at present, I 
believe, free from the two most important pests, 
viz., "The Fluted or Cottony Cusnion Scale" 
(Icc'rya purchasi) and " The Olive Scale" (Lecan- 
ium Olccc). 
"Tlie Fluted Scale" you will remember was 
the pest that almost ruined the Californian fruit 
growers, and would undoubtedly iiave done so, 
but for the signal services rendered by "Vedulia 
cardinalis," a predaeeous beetle introduced by 
the Entomologist of the Hawaiian Government, 
Albert Kcebele. 
The " Lecanium Oleoe" is reported to render 
more oranges in Australia unfit for sale than any 
other pest, red scale (Aspidiotus aurautii) only 
excepted. 
That pests have been introduced into the island 
on imported plants cannot be denied and but 
for the introduction ot " Lecanium viride" coflee 
mi"ht still be liourisliing on many estates in the 
island. The survival of collee in Haputale is a 
meie question of time ; the three years 1 have 
been there witnessed the gradual incursions made 
by this fell pest on otherwise healthy cofifee. 
There is an old adage, namely, ' ' An ounce of 
prevention is worth a pound of cure," and my 
objeDt in writing to you is to point out that 
the remedy is in our own hands and the intro- 
duction of pests into the island can be prevented 
by the fumigation of all imported fruits. The 
treatment is simple, inexpensive and absolutely 
harmless to the fruit. 
I send you the account in the Gazette referred 
to above, of experiments in the fumigation of 
fruit ; and this, I think, conclusively proves that 
we can guard ourselves without iuterlering with 
the growing fruit trade. 
I would submit in the interests of fruit-grow- 
ers in Ceylon and of planters in general that 
all fruit imported should be inspected, and if 
necessary fumigated at importer's expenses. Great 
attention is being paid to these matleis in the 
Australian Colonies and if it were known that 
fruit thence exported was liable to be fumigated 
on arrival in Ceylon, the exporters would be 
careful to send nothing but sound fruit.— I am, &c., 
JOHN F. JOWITT. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
Kaady, Dec. 28. 
Sir, — I enclose extract from letter leceived 
fi'um Mr. William Macken;:ie which givet inter- 
esting inlormatiou ou the bubject ot Ceylon Te« 
in America —I aui, sir, yours i&ilhfuily, 
A. FUILIP. 
Secietary. "Thirty Commitiee." 
On a leading avenue in Chicago, close to the whole- 
sale grocery aistrict, there is a large building called 
the OejloD Baildtog, full of busiDess offices, one of 
which is Maravilla Ceylon Tea Co. On the ground 
floor of a large restaurant, called the Ce> ion, on 
the menu card cf which is lo be found '* (ienuan 
aausHges a la Cevlon, Pork and Means a la Cejloo," 
but no (yc-yluu lea, jet 1 met several handlers of 
our teas at luncheon there. 
From Chicago 1 went about 500 miles West to Omaha, 
to see the splendid Webtern Exhibition — the grand- 
est thing of lis kind ever done in America, except- 
ing llie ChiCi^o Fair. Omaba, west of the Miskibsippi, 
was 50 years ago iiihatiiled by Indians, bufialuts and 
a solitary irapper or two: it is now ihe thriving door 
or entrance to a coantry having 32 millions of white 
people. 
A luagaziuc which I send gives pictures and an 
account of the show, in it ib also to be found on 
pages 81 and H2, an interesting account of great 
Trusts, like the Sugar Trust, and a sketch of the 
Arbuckle's. 
The Japaue&e bad an exhibit which they calle'l a 
tea garden, bu>. it was not in good tituatiun, in 
that it was a slraug coutrabt to Liplou's beautiful 
pagoda, which was in the moat frequented part of 
the Exhibiiiun, and which in the three days, I was 
there, certainly had a deal of patronage. It cost 
about £»00, ot which Ceylon contributed £200. 
1 called ou Mr. Porter of the Umaha Tea and 
Coffee Co. Ue said Ceylonshad an increabiog trade 
in the teas, but it was still very small. I found he 
had four chests of good Ceyious, besides Lipton's, 
Tetley's and the Mousoon packages. 
Mr. Weaver, the Manager of the Tea Department 
of Paxtou & (iallagher, a leading wholesale grocery 
bouse, took a great interest in our teas, especially iu 
our green samples, which be appraised very highly. He 
had been iu Japan himself, as a buyer, ana said he saw 
few teas there, equal to the Brunswick Young Hysou, 
yf t the very slight difference between the Bruuswicks 
and the Japans iu use, might mske the former 
dithcult to sell for a time. The chief differences were 
a little too much fermentation which made the 
water when infused slightly red, whereas Japs do 
not ; and the want of ariiticial coloring to which the 
grocer has been accustomed. 
I asked him what influence he thought the World's 
Fair Exhibition had on our teas. Ue said, many of 
their customers when they returned West from 
Chicago, " thought they wanted our black teas," his 
very Mords ; but when they bought them, they did 
not like them, because they could notsiand steep steep- 
ing. The usual story. 
But he added " had Ceylon exhibited those green 
samples at the World's Fair, ) ou might be belling 
millious of pounds iu the West now. " 
I dined at the best restaurant in Omaha. I asked 
for Ceylon tea, the waiter did not understand. The 
proprietor came foiwurd : he had never heard of it, ha 
kept Japans, but he had never tasted tea in his life. 
He was an elderly German. 
From Omaha, I went north to St. Paul and 
Miui;efipolis, known a^be twin cities, and containing 
about 450,U0U peopU', riiey are the centres of the wheat 
and corn uiiliiiig and lumber trades. I called on a firm 
of wholesale tea merchants. 1 found their store full 
of Japan tea chests. I abked if they did anything 
in Ceylon teas. They said about 25 chests a year ; we 
keep them to mix with very wtak Japs, they bring 
up the strength. 
