772 
ITIE tROPlCAL AGJaiCULTURtST. [May 1. 1902. 
Blight on Young Shoots," " Root Disease 
of Tea," " Cacao Canker and otl)er Diseases, ' 
'■ Grevillea Disease,"— for which a special 
circular is later on to lie issued,—" Finger 
and Toe Disease of Cabbages, etc." " Fungi 
causing Kotting of Timber," " Fungus on 
Kubber," [tliis refers to fungus which giows 
upon samples of Para Hubber— it iloes not 
seein to be of nuich importance], '' Other 
Diseases of Plants," " ' Bhiestone ' as ;i Weed- 
killer," "Grass Seeds for Pastures and Lawns," 
" Cacao Cuttings," " Measurements of Cacao 
Pods," with illustrations, which Mr. Cai'ruth- 
ers had previously frunished to our monthly ; 
"Selection of Seed in Cacao Planting," "PoUi- 
nationof Cacao," and "Tours and Planters' 
Association Meetings." These all show that Mr. 
Carruthers has a good many subjects under 
his observation and we may make sure now 
tha,t no new trouble or what may appear 
to a planter to be a new disease, will be 
allowed to escape the notice of the Myco- 
logist. In the matter of greatest importance, 
diseases aitec'ting tea, Mr. Carruthers reports 
that tea has been throughout the year 190i 
less alTected by leaf disease than during 1900. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
A Lucky Orcihd Fukckasil— An orchid 
grower at KenilwortJi has had a piece of good 
luck Some lime ago he boaght foi' a few shillings 
from' a dealer abroad an orcliid in sheath. This 
turned ont to be a rare specim<in ot the Odonto- 
elos.sum Crispum. He gave it the name of " Mabel 
Whateley," and ihe plant gained the award ot 
merit at the last show of the Iloyal Horticul- 
tural Society in London, He has ju.st succeeded 
in disposing of his treasure for the sum of £220. 
—Home paper, March 11. 
Thk Indian Tic a Expansion CoMMirTEE.— 
We quote the chief details from this Com- 
mittee's latest report, which shows that 
subscriptions and the sale of pice packets 
continue satisfactory As compared with 
64 327 rackets issued in December last, 
lli 640 packets were issued in January and 
135 038 in February. This is a notable increase. 
Similarly the number of one pie cups of 
tea sold almost doubled itself within the 
three months in question. The sale of the 
nice packets and the brewed tea, we notice, 
does not yet cover cost, so the workuig ex- 
penses of the Commission have been some- 
what increased. The Commissioners, how- 
ever hope that these methods will prove 
a valuable means of fostering the habit of 
tea drinking amongst the people of India. 
An outside opinion of the Commission's work 
that is very encouraging recently appeared in 
the British Medical Journal. " When one 
comes to consider," says that journal, " the 
awful death-rate among the Indian poor 
from such diseases as cholera, bowel com- 
plaints, and malignant fevers, all of which 
owe their origin to the drinking of impure 
a,nd unV)oiled water, one is .struck with the 
life-saving prospect of a scheme such as that 
of popularising thrj drinking of tea, since 
IcM-making entails water boiling, and this 
l^illa all germs that produce disease." 
Malari.vl Fevhu.— An Indian conteniporary 
writes :— It is satisfactory to see tiiat the Italian 
(jovemnient and Italian men of science are ener- 
getically following u|) the nneslion of the connexion 
between mosrpiito bites and the S))read of malaria. 
They are now specially working at; thp question of 
whaD I'ractical measures can be taken to destroy 
niosqiiitops. It has been discoveied that ihere is 
a pnrticular aniline dye wliicli, even when very 
dilute, will kill the iarva' of mosquitoes. There 
is also a powder made from the flowers of the 
Pijrcthrinn Roseum which is said to be very 
efficient against inosquiioes when burnt in a room 
or distributed through Ihe air by mean.s of Itellows. 
Experiments in a slightly different direction have 
been conducted by Professor Urassi during; the 
past summer, with a view to ascertaining what 
drugs are niost ehicient in destroying the malarial 
poison. He selected one of the most malarious 
places in Italy— Ostia, at tlie mouth of Tiber— and 
administered to a nnnd)er of persons pills composed 
of quinine, arsenic, iron, and a further ingredi- 
ent which is somewhat unscientifically described 
in t he Consular Keport as "bitter herbs." The 
result>^ seem to have been satisfactory, and Dr. 
Gia^si is preparing a full report on them, wliieh 
will be published in English g well as Italian. 
The Tea Indu.stry.— Speaking at the Society 
ofArts 'm a paper by MrP H Skrine on " Bengal" 
some interesting remarks weie made by Mr. T. 
Dnrant Ceighton who said that the two subjects on 
which lie wished specially to speak weieteaand 
famine. No doubt the reader of the paper wai? 
accurate in saying that Mr W H Verner was the 
hrst person to introduce tea into Jalpaiguri, but 
in justice to himself he (Mr Beighton) wished to 
say that who when he joined that district of 
the Duars as Deputy-Coinnussioner in 1876 the 
number of tea gardens was only six or seven, 
hut fhiring his incunibency they increased to 
50 or 60. The present condition of the industry 
was very serious. Over-production had glutted the 
markets of the world, particularly the British 
markets, and the planter.? had not the power 
of combination of which he should like to see 
tiiem possessed. They should borrow a little of 
that aptitude from the other side of the Atlantic 
for the making of trusts. The tea planters of 
Ceylon and the tea planters of the Tea Asso- 
ciation of Calcutta ouaht to combine and take 
some steps in the direction of effectively limiting 
the output especially of low grade teas and of 
setting rid of some of the evils which un- 
doubtedly now affected the conduct of the 
business. He wished to enter his emphatic pro- 
test against any further burden being put upon 
tea. Of all the industries which had flourished 
since our rule had commenced, that of tha tea 
plantations had been upon the whole of the 
greatest good to the over-weighted population of 
that country. No doubt, when tlie gardens were 
first opened up, there was a certain amount of 
deadly malaria, but after that he believed there 
was no healthier occupation or an occupation 
more conducive to long life and pro.^pcriry of 
the coolie, his wife and family, ali of whom found 
remunerative employment, than employment in 
tea gardens and tea estates. There was the 
further great advantage that it removed the 
population Ironi congested areas and permanently 
settled them where their labour was required 
for the development of the country, 
