486 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Jan. 1, 1902. 
JAPAN TEA : KECORD LOW EXPORT. 
Kandy, Nov. 27- 
Sir, — I herein enclose extiact from the Mew 
York Journal of Commerce for tlie inforumtioa 
of those interested.— Yours, etc., A lr*H[LFP, 
Secretary, Thirty Caniiiiittee. 
C Enclosure.) 
Ma,il advices received from Smith, Baker & Co., 
dated Yokohama, October 3rd, siy: Siuie aboat the 
middle of August the carreno prices of tea in Japaa 
have been beljw the cost of pi'oduction, and but little 
tea has been picked meantime. The available stock 
has dwindled to a small supply, and vpill soon be worth 
more for home consumption than for export. Wiih this 
issue we are approaching the close of the buying season 
more near enough to predict with a fair measure of 
occuraoy what the total export of Japan teas will be as 
compared with last year, and we believe the shortage 
will approximate one and three-fourths millions pounds, 
in other words, that the total export will not exceed 
thirty-six million pounds. So small an export has not 
been recorded in fifteen years. The reason of this is 
becoming more apparent and clear with each season's 
declining export. The cost of production in Japan 
has steadily increase i from year to year for the last 
decade, and the value of tea in America and Canada 
at points of distribution has not advanced in like ratio. 
Consequently the tea industry in Japan does not pay 
is well as in former years, nor as well as other 
industries to which labour and land in Japan can be 
pplied. Yokohama — Arrivals, 190,634 ; settlements, 
185.054; ; stock, 5,580. Hiogo— Arrivals, 90,823 ; settle- 
ments, 89,303 ; stock. 1,520. Arrivals at both ports, 
281,457 piculs, again,-,t 298,312 do. same time last year, 
nd 330,153 piculs in 181)9. Settlements at both sports 
274,357 piculs, against 294,507 do. same time last year 
nd 321,716 do. in 1899, 
ON THE USE OP ACETYLENE GAS 
LAMPS IN TRAPPING INSECT 
PESTS. 
Peradeniya, Dec. 2. 
Dear Sib, — Some interesting experiments 
in trapping insects by means of Acetylene 
gas lamps have recently been conducted by 
Messrs. G Gastine and V Yermorel, in 
France. They have published the results 
of their work in a small pamphlet, of which 
the following is a resume : — 
For several years the vineyards in the Beaujolaia 
have been infested by a destructive Pyralid moth. 
Many vine-growers had tried without success to 
check the pest. The authors of the paper at- 
tempted its destruction on the vineyard of Liergues, 
in July last, by means of illuminated traps. The 
lamps used were served with Acetylene Gas : the 
burner, with a naked flame, being fixed in the 
centre of a metal basin with a diameter of about 
18 inches. Ihis was partly filled with water covered 
with a film of petroleum : the burner projecting a 
few inches above the level of the water. The 
small generator was charged with 150 grammes 
(about 4J oz.) of Calcium Carbide, which quantity 
kept the light in action for six or seven hours : 
the flame being of a lit' le over one " carcel."* 
The generator supported the basin and was fixed 
on a post at a convenient height. The lamps 
were lighted between 8-30 and 9 p.m., and burned 
ill day break. During the dusk it was found that 
ew moths were captured. The big catches com- 
menced after dark, when clouds of the moths 'were 
fctedattra by the brilliant light. Some were singed 
by the flame itself, but the greater number preci- 
* " Carcel " is the French unit of artificial illumi- 
nation, and is equal to the light emitted by a 
standard lamp with a flame 40 mm. high and 
bucaing 42 grammen of colza oil au boar. 
pitated themselves directly into the basins. "When 
the insects are very uum-rous, a greater propor- 
tion of oil should be ined to ensure their cap- 
ture. The trials commenced on the night of 
13th — 14th July, with two lamps. One basin was 
accidentally overturned : the other captuted 4,050 
of the m iths, besides an assortment of other in- 
sects, till another night as many as twenty limps 
were employed, a total of (54,0^0 muths being 
accounted for, giving an average of 3,200 for each 
lamp. T'-e biggest catch ia n, single bisiu was 
5,000. From the iSlh to .3lst July, 170,000 of the 
moths bad been destroyed in this manner. The 
average proportion of the sexes was 42 per cent 
females and C-S per cent males." 
It is evident that such wholesale destruc- 
tion of the moths must have a marked 
effect in checking the pest. This method 
of catching noxious insects deserves a 
thorough trial in Ceylon. It would be parti 
cularly applicable in such cases as " Tort 
rix"|l, "Nettle-Grabs" 2. Red-slug"3, and other 
pests due to the caterpillars of moths. 
Whether it would be equally effective 
against helopeltis, " Shot-hole Borer," and 
other miscellaneous pests, can only be 
proved by separate experiment in each 
case. I have tried small oil lamps, with 
out result upon either helopeltis or shot 
hole borer. But insects that take no notice 
of a small li.ght, may be readily attracted 
by a more powerful one. A special appa- 
ratus, with which I hope to conduct ex- 
periments against our various winged insect 
pests, is now being constructed for me. 
E. ERNEST GREEN. 
Govt. Entomoloc+ist. 
THE NEW PROCESS FOR FERMENTING 
TEA. 
FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE 
ISOLATED ENZYME. 
FROM THE DISCOVERER, MR. NEWTON. 
Kurseong, Nov. 22. 
Sir,— It was with gi^eat pleasure that I 
read Mr. Bamber's criticism on my pro- 
posed new process of fermenting tea. I 
have always looked up to him as the greatest 
authority on the chemistry of tea manu- 
facture, and his difficulty in finding and 
isolating the tea enzyme in Ceylon goes far 
to corroborate my contention, that the better 
the quality of the tea the more enzyme it 
contains, as in the best class Darjeeling teas 
it is easily demonstrable and there is no 
difficulty about isolating it. 
Mr. Bamber has evidently had very little 
experience with plant enzymes or he would 
not say they increase in quantity after 
plucking, it being one of their peculiarit es 
that they neither increase nor diminish in 
quantity, when separated from their original 
source, although they have the power of 
oxidising quantities of the product to which 
they are adapted. 
In the Chemistry and Agriculture of Tea 
by Mr. Bamber, he savs that the essential 
oil is considerably increased in quantity 
1. Capua coff'earia, Nietner. 
2. Thosea cana, Wlk. : I', recta, Hmpsn. : Xafada 
nararia IMoore, &c. 
3. Heterusia cingala, Moore, 
