Jan. 1, 1904.1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
471 
point, and further efforts with the experience now 
gained, should effect the desired result. It will 
be no small advantage to the tea enterprise if 
it is found possible to devote the uuproiitable 
fields of tea to the production of Tusser silk, 
and in addition to these there must be a 
considerable extent of tea in many districts 
which would be better for an occasional 
period of rest, and if left unpruned they 
can be utilised for the cultivation of these 
wild silkworms. The eggs devoted to these 
experiments began to hatch on the 
2nd and 3rd August : Tusser 785, Atlas 970, 
The food at first offered to them was of many 
different kinds, including several plants and trees 
on which the worms are often found feeding. 
Several of these latter they altogether refused to 
eat, and the rate of mortality was very high. 
As the Atlas worms are not so ditlicult to domes- 
ticate as the liisser, both species were kept 
together at first, but some days later a number 
of Atlas worms and a few Tusser were picked out 
and kept in trays and fed on bombu leaf and 
castor-oil leaves in the same way as the ordinary 
silk worms are fed on mulberry. A great many 
of the worms kept on branches (in bottles) con- 
tinually crawled down and were drowned in the 
water. On the 26th August only two Tusser 
and 115 Atlas worms were left. The former died 
before spinning (though one, an injured worm, 
began a very promising cocoon) ; but several 
of the latter "spun on cinchona, sapu and castor- 
oil. On the 5th September another lot ol Tusser 
eggs began to hatch. Those that were fed on 
tea from the first day grew very well for about 
three weeks ; but in my absence for several days 
were apparently fed on unsuitable leaf or the 
branches were watered with dirty water, and the 
survivors were transferred to other food. The 
moths from these and the earlier lot of Atlas 
cocoons are now emerging, and the first female 
moth of the latter has just paired. To many 
people the smallness of these results will, perhaps, 
seem discouraging, but the experiments, as already 
mentioned, were interrupted by my frequent ab- 
sence from home, sometimes for two days or more, 
and the results are better than I expected. I had 
not expected with the first brood of worms to get 
them to feed on tea leaf at all : further attempts, 
with the next brood, ought to be easier and the 
death-rate considerably less. 
The experiments are interesting;, too, in other 
ways, In some districts in India the natives 
feed the Tusser worms out-of-doors on trees that 
have been coppiced, and those which are reared on 
sapu trees produce the lightest-coloured and the 
: best cocoons, In Ceylon the worms have never 
been found feeding on the sapu, and the Atlas 
\ worms reared here on this tree have all spun 
I cocoons rather darker than usual. My worms 
I refused altogether to eat the tender leaves, pre- 
Iferring mature, coarse leaf even in their infancy: 
Ithe taste tor succulent foliage is evidently ac- 
'(jnired through their partial domestication in India. 
As regards the natural food-plants of the Tusser, 
note than one writer in the past dozen years has 
tated that it feeds sometimes on the castor-oil 
'lant. My Atlas worms, after being fed for three 
r four weeks in trays on castor leaf, were pro- 
loted to branches, and several of them had 
scidenta, falling down through other worms 
ting the stalks of the leaves they wei-c eating. As 
le Tusser worm is considerably "heavier than tho 
Atlas it does not seem likely that the castor oil 
can be one of its natural food-plants, though the 
worms may be occasionally driven to feed on it by 
accident.— Yours faithfully, 
PERCY N. BRAINE. 
TRIVANDKUM AND THE COLOMBO ZOO. 
Peermacad, Dec. 6. 
Dear Sir,— Reading with interest your 
article on the Colombo Museum and proposed 
Zoo, I would suggest that some of those 
interested in the scheme should visit the 
Trivandrum Museum and Gardens, which, 
it' not strictly a " Zoo," are a credit to His 
flighness the Maharajah of Travancore. 
The Gardens, under the care ot Mr. H. 
Ferguson, are tastefully laid out and contain 
a very fine collection of wild beasts — not all 
lumped together, but, grouped here and 
there in situations most suitable. The lions, 
tigers and bears would be hard to beat 
anywliere, and smaller game, such as kan- 
garoo, deer, sambur, are well represented 
— birds, monkeys, etc., and snakes. Prom my 
point of view at any rate the Museum 
as a building eclipses Colombo Museum. 
Steamers do not often call at Trivandrum, 
but, landing at " Quilon," the journey by 
backwater is well worth doing. A cabin boat 
with some 18 rowers is the luxurious method 
of travelling, but if a day's time is no 
object, and expense is, there are ordinary 
2nd class wallams, which is about a half-size 
padda-boat and is very comfortable ; there is a 
good Travellers' Bungalow at Trivandrum, 
and I am sure it will well repay the traveller 
to make the journey if he is interested in 
the Museum-cum-Zoo scheme. — lam, dear Sir, 
yours faithfully, 
H. DRUMMOND DEANE. 
SOLUBLE TEA AND GREEN LEAF. 
Dec. 7th. 
Dear Sir, — We have had no authoritative 
statement from the Soluble Tea Company as to 
the quantity of leaf required to make 2 oz. of 
their tea powder which makes 100 cups of 
tea, as compared with the quantity of leaf 
required to make the quantity of ordinary 
drinking tea to make tue same number of 
cups. If considerably less leaf is required for' 
the soluble tea, then the prosperity of the 
Soluble Tea Company is adverse to the leaf 
grower; so "cave caneni" say I — and not 
" welcome, little stranger."— Yours faithfully, 
DOUBTFUL, 
Remarkable Prices for Ceylon Stamps.— 
The sale of the iirsi portion of a valuable collection 
of British and Colonial postage stamps formed by 
a well-known philatelist was commenced by Messrs 
Puttickand Simpson at Leicester-square yesterday. 
High prices prevailed throughout, and more than 
£700 was obtained for the 250 lots sold : — Ceylon. 
1S55 59, 6J deep claret, slightly torn, £5 5s unused 
Is lilac, no gum, £7 ; rare 2i blue, large margins, 
£7 53; 1861, 6.1 deep brown and 8d brown, both 
unused, with part gum, £7 2s 6d ; rare 8d yellow- 
brown, brown, with gum, £5 15s ; 1883-84, 16 centi 
lilac, in mint state, £6 153; unused 21 cents purples 
£6; and 1SS5, Scents on 24 cents purple-brown- 
unuscd, with part gam, £7 5s,— Morning PosU 
