Feb. 1, 1904.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
665 
Almost the whole of our Rubher (39,000 lb 
out of 41,000) went to the United Kingdom 
so far- but proc^ressive (lermany has had a 
look in for 1,(572 lb. Of what remains of 
coffee, too, she has had the lions share, 
7-9ths • and so with cinchona and cacao, ot 
which' latter she appropriated 45,000 cwt, out 
of a total of 59 000, Germany coming second 
with about one-tenth of the quantity to her 
credit. Tiiat the mother cruntry has tailed 
to maintain the lead in tea is mainly due, 
we fancy, to the energy of her sons out here, 
who have worked with a will to make 
tea known far and wide by their advertise- 
ments, and have supported the local 
market to the best of their power, 
so far as they have been uatrammeled 
by too intimate relations with the London 
capitalist. Of Cavdaraoms, tlie United 
Kingdom took 5y(),385 lb., out ot 909,418 we 
sent away ; and although the spice has 
fallen from its high estate, there is hope 
for better prices-if further over production 
be stayed— in the number of countries which 
take it direct, and the quantities they 
already consume. Thus India took a"'<^y "o 
less than 2.32,000 lb., and Germany 90,000._ 
Cinnamon is the first of the products^ m 
the Export Tables— if we exclude Green Lea, 
of wiiich America takes seven times more 
than she does-in which the mother country 
is distanced by the stranger -Germany helping 
herself to twice as much as she ("early a 
million lb.) and America 685,621 to her 486,676. 
In Coconut Oil she maintains the old lead, 
having had last year 42^^.000 cwt. out of 
665 000, America coming second with iu/,wu 
cwt. Why India, which in 1898 took even 
more than the mother country has been 
steadily falling off, with only 20.000 cwt. to 
her credit this year, is difficult to explain. 
Of Copra, the United Kingdom had only an 
infinitesimal share- 8 000 cwt., out of 721,000 
exported, the largest customers having been 
Germany (2.56 000 cwt.) and Russia (223,000). 
In Desiccated Coconut, on the other hand, 
she has been facile princeps. having taken 
nearly 12 million lb. out of Vih million ; but 
in Poonac again she is nowh^irp, Belgium 
and Germany having almost divided our 
whole outturn of 300,000 cwt, between them, 
with 142,000 and 149,U0O respectively. Of 
Uoc(muts in the shell the mother country 
took 9 millions out of 13, and in Plumbago 
114 000 cwt. out of 478,000— tlie largest share 
having gone to America (243,000 cwt.) and 
74 000 cwt. to Germ.my. The one prominent 
fact which is established by the figures 
which we have been discussing is the growing 
commercial activity of Germany, America 
and even Russia bv which the Island industries 
have benefited. Wdl they prosper simil irly 
under a system of host le tariffs in which the 
Colonies will identify themselves with Great 
Britain ? We doubt it. 
THE MOSQULTO-BLIGHT OF TE.\. 
FRKSH INVESTIGATIONS BY MR. 
HAROLD H MANN, B. Sc. 
The " Mosquito-Blight of tea— which by 
the way is a misnomer— has been tlie siihj. ct 
of scioctific investigation at the hands of 
Mr. H. H. Mann, B. Sc., Scientific Officer 
to the Indian Tea Association, and a brochure 
on the results recorded during 1903 has just 
been published. It is a document full of 
hope and interest, and indicates how fields 
rav.iged by this tea pest had been successfully 
tackled, and, from a condition which in some 
cases fi.reshadowed probable abandonment, 
brought again the old condition of things 
and restored the fruitfulness of early days. 
'J'he insect, which works the havoc, is a 
plant bug belonging to the Capsidce, and 
spends the whole of its life in the tea bush. 
It will attack other jungle plants, but ia 
none has it been observed to hibernate— 
the tea bush being its selected home. Its 
living eggs have been found in the mid rib 
of the rnature leaves in January. The insect 
is hard to find, rarely seen during the day, 
while at night even the use of a bright light 
has failed to attract them. It is in the 
early morning when they principally feed, 
although they also do so at night, and egg- 
laying is now all but established to take 
place early in the day. The cold weather 
in India has the effect of checking the 
increase of the pest, but— as soon as warmth 
returns— the eg^fs, which the adult female 
has industriously laid, hatch out in vast 
numbers and the evil is soon in force. 
The young wingless larvaj do greater damage 
to the plant than the fuU-growu insect, and, 
as it takes from 10 to 14 days from hatching 
to maturity, the process of reproduction 
goes on merrily and fresh broods of l.arvsa 
appear at intervals to resnme their destructive 
work. The most successful effort which Mr. 
Mann has to chronicle— he had others not 
so promising, owing to only a portion of 
.an affected area being treated— was in a small 
out garden in Assam, which had been 
annually so attacked and stricken that in 
1902 the question of its aiiandonment had 
heen seriously considered. As an experimental 
plot, it was' excellentiv suited for a trial, 
being quite isolated. Two miles off there 
was other tea as equally badly stricken as 
the patch under observation ; so there was 
at hand at all times ready means of compari* 
son. To successfully combat the " Mosquito- 
Blight," it is necessiry not only to spray 
.all "the trees with a kerosine emulsion, but 
also to put on children to catch any adult 
insects which may be about, as well aa 
the young wingless larvre, and keep the 
hunt hot through the flushing months. 
Spr.aying alone— though remedial— has only 
a temporary effect, wardinsr off the attack 
for at least six weeks in the height of the 
season, and increasing the yield of tea by 
about a maund an acre; but unless the 
hunting of the insects has been perseveringly 
pone on with the pest soon gets out of hand 
again, and its dis.a'^trous effect^* are imme- 
d?ately manifest. When the spraying and 
hunting have been efficiently done, the 
increase in the yield as compared with 
former years when the pest was allowed 
its own way n mounts to as much as 270 
per cent, and Mr. Mann estimates that ic 
" probalily piid ten times over the money 
laid out." The wingless larvie are more to 
be feaied thnn the adult insect, and .are 
also more ditKcult to find ; but active sharp- 
