278 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct, 1, 190L 
occur ©n the journey dowa to Calcutta (or Colombo) 
and t he second instalment could be wired for 
and bulked immediately after the despatch of the 
first. There would thus always be tea at hand, 
without the expense or risk of storing the whole 
reserve, I rather regret having made any sug- 
gestions beyond the essentials of the Scheme, to 
have a sufficient fund and a reserve of tea. At 
present the Scheme most likely to be adopted is 
a Cess of from J to pie, i.e., a fund of 2 to 4 
lakhs of rupees and no tea in reserve. 
My Scheme is a fund of 20 lakhs from India 
and 15 or so from Ceylon and a reserve of 10 
and 7 million lb. of tea and a special Board of 
Control. The largest Scheme proposed is of 150 
lakhs of rupees as a fund and an unlimited re- 
serve of tea. We have certainly a large choice of 
schemes. A. COOKE. 
RUBBER-GROWING ON A SEWAGE 
FARM IN BURMA. 
Rangoon, Sept. 5. 
(The Editor, " Tropical Agriculturist.") 
Dear Sir, — I send you today some papers 
giving an account of experiments con- 
ducted here with a view to utilising sewage 
in the raising of a crop other than a food- 
stuff— the outcome of a strong local agitation 
against the methods of the Chinese market 
gardeners— a successful but unsavoury culti- 
vator, whose energies, it is thought, might be 
better employed in other directions. 
An article on the Castilloa tunu and liule as 
rubber-yielding plants (you may remember 
our correspondence on this question of last 
October) has appeared in the new Parisian 
journal '*d' Agriculture Tropicale," with a 
note on the subject from your correspondent, 
M. Godefroy Lebeuf. I enclose a translation 
if you care to insert it in your paper. The 
question is an interesting one, and seems 
now in a fair way to a solution. 
I hope, before leaving Burma finally, to see 
something done towards the introduction of 
Castilloa on a larger scale. The climate of 
Rangoon is much more suited to it than to 
Hevea, but Burma is fortunate in the ijosses- 
sion of climates suited to all species of 
rubber-yielding plants, and of a goodly num- 
ber of indigenous varieties as well. We have 
some guttas and pseudo-guttas to which at- 
tention has deservedly been drawn of late. 
There is no reason why the province should 
not become a great caoutchouc-yielding coim- 
try in time. — Yours faithfully, 
J. A. WYLLIE. 
[We are much obliged to Major Wyllie 
(Indian Staff Corps, &c.) for the useful 
and interesting papers he sends us, which 
will appear in full, in due course, 
in our monthly Tropical Agriculturist. A 
plan is given of the "Kambe Rubber and 
Sewage iParni " which can be seen at our 
office by any one interested, and it seems to 
indicate land very much like that found in 
the low-lying suburbs of Colombo. There are 
fields alongside the Kelani Valley railway 
which might well be utilized as a " Rubber 
Garden and Sewage Farm " after the example 
set in Burma.— Ed. T.A.] 
TOBACCO-GROWING IN CEYLON AND 
B. N. BORNEO. 
Kandy, Sept. 7. 
Dear Sir,— Your foot-note to my letter of 
5th (see page 256) scarcely does justice to my 
side of the argument re Cultivation of Tobacco 
wrapper leaf in Ceylon and British North 
Borneo. 
Mr. VoUar was successful in his tobacco 
wrapper leaf cultivation, because he was 
first in the field and his leaf was purchased 
locally, mostly by three tobacco experts from 
Sumatra who at first starring were deceived 
by the apparently good quality as far as 
work of leaf was concerned. They found 
out their mistake when they sold the stuff 
in the European tobacco market. Mr. Vollar 
also made money by the manufacture of 
leaf for others who however dropped very 
heavily when they sold the made leaf. 
Mr. Vollar, like the wise man be is, 
pocketed what he made and gave un tobacco 
wrapper leaf cultivation. The others also 
gave up the cultivation without pocketing 
any money. 
I grant that there may be risks attending 
the transfer of men with limited capital or 
unlimited for that matter to countries be- 
longing to other Governments than British, 
but British North Borneo is British. — Yours 
faithfully, W. D. G. 
[It is quite news to us that Mr. Vollar's 
famous crop of wrapper leaf tobacco was 
sold by him locally and not in Europe, and 
we thank our correspondent for his fuller 
information.— Ed. T.A.] 
COCONUT PALMS AND ENEMIES. 
Colombo, Sept. 9. 
Dear Sir, — I send you some leaves off coco- 
nut plants on a new plantati-m along the 
Kelani Valley line. They are afifected with 
what is evidently a parasitic disease which, 
however, is localized. The natives attribute 
it to the " evil eye " and state they have 
not seen it before in those parts, but the leaves 
of the young plants are being freely attacked 
by it. It would be interesting to know what 
the parasite is and what would prevent its 
further devastations. — Yours faithfully, 
X. 
P.S. — In the specimen ysent the cocoon-like 
structures on the back of the'leaf may be distinctly 
seen. [We have sent the leaves on to Peradeniya 
tor examination by Mr. Carruthers.— Ed. T.A.] 
COCONUT PALMS AND ENEMIES. 
Sept. 11. 
Dear Sir, — With reference to the letter 
" Coconut Palms and Enemies " (see above), 
the leaves have been attacked by cater- 
pillars of some small moth. The symp- 
toms lead me to believe that the pest is the 
same that has given so much trouble in the 
Batticaloa district from time to time, (vide 
Annual Report R. B Gardens, 1900, p. H7. 
first para of Entomologist's Report). But 
as the insects had deserted the leaves sub- 
mitted to me, I cannot definitely determine it. 
I should be glad of fun her specimens, with 
the living caterpillars, sent in a closed box, 
