April 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 713 
Both these fungi live in the leaf and as they 
do not re-appear in tlie plant after pruning, it 
is evident that they are confined to the leaf and 
therefore if the leaves are taken oft and burnt 
the spores will be destroyed. From the fact that 
vouu»- leaves plucked for tea making are ii t 
rusted even on affected bushes, I should imagiiu- 
that the time taken for the spores to reproduce 
themselves is more than ten days. The mycelium 
of roots of these fungi ramifies among the loose 
cells of the leaf and gains its nutrition from the 
iuices of the plant-a greater strain therefore is 
put upon tlie plant in supplying food "both for 
itself and the fungus. , ^ ^ • i * 
There -svas no case in the fields I examined of 
a bush being so badly attacked as to cause death ; 
a purely leaf disease very rarely produces fatal 
effects ' If measures are taken to prevent the 
spores of these diseases spreading-by burning 
diseased leaves, there is no reason to expect that 
thev will spread to any serious extent. A cooly 
or gang of coolies might be specially employed to 
collect and burn affected leaves. It has occurred 
to me that anv tea being left to go out of cul- 
tivation mightreasilv foster these or other diseases 
and it would be w ell that at any rate an inspec- 
tion of such intended tea should be made to 
ensure that it is not a " spore farm " for the 
rest of the island. As the report has been written 
after a most hasty examination I must ask to be 
allowed to state that I consider the statements 
it contains open to correction. 
(Signed) J. B. CARRUTHERS. 
October 14th, 1898. 
THE EFFECTS OP THE RECENT 
FROST NEAR AND AT NUWARA 
ELIYA. 
Hakgala, Nuwara Eliya, March 17. 
Dear Mb. Editor,— Being quarantined by 
the doctor on account of measles in the 
house I had not been up the road towards 
Nuwara Eliya until yesterday and was not 
aware of the extent of the damage done by 
the frost during the nights of 7th, 8th, and 
9th inst. I have not seen anything like it 
in my 17 years' experience here. Between 
the 52nd aiid 53rd mile-stones (elevation being 
between 5,600 and 5,700 feet) I made a list of 
over .50 species of plants that had been more 
or less injured ; and as it may be of interest 
to record these plants, as showing those that 
are easily affected by frost, I append the 
^^^Rubus—" Blackberries," three species, all 
badlv injured. -ci <• " 
Cynoglossum — " Ceylon Forget-me-not, 
young shoots only. 
i. Alsophila ^ —Tree ferns. The.se two 
. f kinds suffered severely. 
Amphicosmia J , , , 
Osb^ckia— "Bowitiya' (S.), two species. 
Quite fri/zled up. , 
Eurya japonica--' Wild tea." Scorched on 
the top. „ , 
Strychnos— A creeper of the same genus as 
Nux Vomica. Scorched on the ton. 
Elcpagnus— " Wel-embilla (S.). Scorched on 
i**^''*^"!'- >! -Both of the 
" Todallia— " Kudu-miris " (S.) [orangefamily: 
*' Acronchia— " Ankundn" (S.) I .scorched on 
j the top. 
Rhodomyrtus— The "Wild Guava." Scor- 
•ched on the top. , , n 
• Pygeum— Of the apple fjumly. Dreadfully 
cut up. 
Photinia — Of the apple family. Slightly 
cut up. 
Litsea — Laurel or cinnamon family. Several 
species very much injured. 
Semecarpus Gardnerii — " Badulla "(S.) This 
till presents a remarkable appearance. The 
frosted foliage has turned a yellowisli white, 
and the leaves being very lai'ge, the injiired 
trees can be distinctly seen dotted about tha 
forest in the hollows and on the lower side 
of the hill. 
Strobilanthus— Tlie "Niln" (S.). Several 
species have dropped all their leaves. 
Thunbergia fragrans — The prptt;^' v\-hile 
flowered creepers are all shrivelled up. 
Crotalaria semperflorens — The yellow- eree« 
per that looks so much like a Laburnum has 
been badly burnt and there is scarcely a 
flower of it to be seen. 
Hedychium coronarium — " Ela-mal " (S.) or 
'• wild Ginger." Has been quite killed back. 
This is one of the first plants to feel severe 
weather. 
Symplocas spicata — "Bomba" (S.) and 
other species, of the same genus, are served 
in the same way as the Semecarpus, named 
above. 
^and^*^^ \0f the Order Olacineoe— Itave 
Mappia J tlieir tops quite blackened, 
Meliosma arnottiana — One of the few de« 
ciduous trees of Ceylon, and one that is 
quite a feature in the upcountry jungle in 
April, when covered with its cream-coloured 
blossoms, has had most of its young shoots 
destroyed. 
Among others that were injured I noted 
several species of Hedvotis, also Rhamnus, 
Dipsacus, Vibtirmini, tobelia. Cassia, Piper, 
Microglossis, Polygonum, Chrysogonum, Vero- 
nia, Blmuea, AUceophania, Celtis, Moesa, 
Emilia, Adenostemma, Gynura and Senecio, 
The following ferns were also much black- 
ened : — Glechenia, Stenoloma, Pteris, Lastrea, 
Nephrodium, Blechnum, Asplenium, and Phe» 
gopteris. 
The grass along the road-side is as brown 
as can be — quite as bad as it is in Nuwara 
Eliya. 
Of introduced species the Mexican sunflower, 
Tithonia, was killed to the ground. Tree 
Tomato and Mountain Papaw (from West 
Indies and Chili,) was killed to the gi^ound, 
Calla Ethiopica — the introduced arum — suf- 
fered in the same way ; and the young tips 
of Eucalyptus robusta were killed — Yours 
vary truly, W. NOCK. 
CoFFEF IN Japanese Dependencies.— Tke 
Governor of Loochoo islands — an intelligent Japa- 
nese—is anxious to learn all about cofl'ee grow- 
ing, as the shrub already grows on one of the 
islands (of course introduced). A friend is send- 
ing hiin a co))y of our " Coffee-planter's Manual " 
as liis best instructor. We should fear tlie 
Looclioo's to be too far Norlli for coffee at 28 
deg., but if they are favoured with a warm 
curieut in the sea around ilieni, it may make 
the temperature right and free from irosr. — For- 
mosa i.*, however, a inorp likelj' cotlee country i 
and Mr. Kirkwood on bi'lialf of ilie Jii|>itii(-.<e 
authorities, fully equipped liiin.Ni^lf im e.xperiuK-nts 
in several of our products, when in Ceylon some 
months ago. 
