August i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AQRiCULTURIST. 
To the Editor. 
SILKWORM REJlEING. 
Agar's Land Estate, June 17th. 
Dear Sib, — Those wlio go in for the rearing of silk- 
worms mniy be glad to know that the wild olive 
or weralu (Sinhalese name of plan') will do for 
feeding the silkworms on. I have had both Tussa 
and Atlas variety feeding on weralu trees at one 
and same time. Although found also on the car- 
damom bushfis and placed on weralu trees, the 
variation in their diet does not seem to check their 
growth, or kill them off. The Atlas variety are only 
found on the cardamom bushes. I have never 
found the Tussa variety on these bushes. 
The Tussa silkworms are found on 3 different 
variety of trees up hero, Weralu, Dhang, or Nawa 
Palutn (Tamil name of tree), as well as on a shrub 
that grows in Cinnamon Gardens and produces a 
pale violet flower with few petals; grows near swamps, 
marshy places, and has a black fruit (when ripe) 
which discolours the tongue whqn eaten, like ink. 
I have found the Tussa silk caterpillars on all these 
trees, I am sorry I cannot give the botanical 
names of these plants, but can setjd branches of 
them to any one iaquisitive as to what food to feed 
Bilk worms on. I have 3 diflerent kinds of moths 
which seem to hatch from cocoons of the silkworms. 
1st 'the Atlas, 2nd Tussa, 3rd which I am not 
sure of is a large white moth, long swallow tails, 
pink-edged, with half-moon-shaped spots, one spot 
on each wing. I should be obliged to anyone in- 
forming me what this moth is called — Yours truly 
JAMBS GRAY. 
[The difficulties opposed to sericulture in Ceylon 
are not, we suspect, so much connected with feeding 
the worms, as with plentiful and cheap labour in 
attending to them, reeling off the cocoons, &g. — 
Ed. T. 4.] 
WEIGHING OF TEAS IN LONDON : COM- 
M0N-9ENSB REFORM URGED. 
June 21st. 
Sir,— In your issue o£ 11th Mr. John Hamilton 
and Mr. Ribert Jones give us information about 
weighing and taring tea, and wash their hands in 
innooency. As one of your readers I thank them, 
and would like permission to ask them to tell us 
why the packages are tared at all and how to set 
about avoidmg it? If I mark my tea "nett 100 
lbs,," what fias the weight of the package to do 
with it ? I sell the tea and give the package into 
the bargain 1 Jf there are lOO lb. tea in the ohest, 
deduct one lb. for draft, if it must be so, and pay 
for 99 lb., but why juggle with ihe empty pac /eagre 
and deprive me of another pound or two ? If my 
tea is short of the professed 100 lb. I '11 bear a 
reasonable fine if need be. — If lodia and Ceylon 
took up this point and memorialized the Govern- 
ment to order the Customs to weigh to half a 
pound, they would soon compel the buyer to aarry 
on his purchases on the lines of simple justice, 
with an extra pound for his pains !— Yours &c., 
A TEA GROWER. 
NO. XL 
London, June 5th. 
DEiB Sib,— Your Ovivlmid, numbers with news 
to the 30th April and 6th May contain some 
ogrrespondeaoQ cegai'diag tcdrea aad losa in weigbt 
on teas shipped to this market which- are couched 
in naturally indignant terms ; but natural only 
because the writers, smarting under losses of tea 
as shown by account sales received from their 
agents, are ignorant of the way in which such losses 
may and do arise. The explanation of these losses 
rnight well be leh to the respective agents of your 
anonymous correspondents Jiad not ypu, gir, given 
apparently the sanction of your influential journal 
to charges and statements, which no douht the 
writers themselves, if they knew the facts and saw 
things for themselves, would be first to allow were 
unwariauted. It is perhaps repeationg an old story 
to show how losses in weight may be incurred. The 
custom of the trade in weighing is to weigh to the 
lb. only and in doing so to give the turn of the 
scale both in weighing gross and taring, against 
the shippers and in favour of the buysrs. The 
Ceylon and Indian Associations in London have 
endeavoured to get this custom modified and weights 
taken to the half lb., but so far witUput sucoess, 
As it stands now the teas are first weighed gross 
and if then a package is only one ounce short qI 
the full lb. 15 ounces are thereby lost thus : 135 lb. 
15 oz. gross would be called 135 lb. Then the teas 
are turned out to be tared, and in weighing the 
tares if the package weighs only one ounce oviv 
the full lb. again 15 oz, is lost; to the shipper thus , 
36 lb. 1 oz. would be called 37 lb. do that 
nearly 2 lb. may be lost on a package, equal to ii 
per cent on chests or 4 per cent on balf-ohests, i^' 
addition to the trade allowance for draft. Thft' 
trade is so strong that it can maintain this system , 
agamst sellers ; and all that planters can do is to,, 
adjust their gross weights and tares so that the/ 
minimum loss may be attained. This rec^uires close 
care and attention, and it is difficult to achieve; 
because of the variableness of the tares. That it 
can be done with some exactness has been proved 
by shipments from one estate which I know, which, 
for the whole of last year showed a loss of only 
a quarter per cent beyond the trade allowance for. ; ; 
draft. With regard to the dock company or com- , 
panics it is a mistake to assert as a "Proprietor " 
does that they form a " monster of monopoly. . 
There are numerous wharves competing with th^,^ 
docks for tea or other produce ; and as a proof that,, 
charges are not over-remunerative, 1 may mentioB,* 
that a wharfinger who has a good connection witb;,j 
Ceylon merchants lately thought of adding a • Te^jf, 
warehouse to his other business ; but on looking. , 
into the matter found that there was little va.-yj, 
duoementin the way of profit, though he had plent^,,, 
of promises of support. (Shippers and merohani&o. 
may employ inspectors to see their tea weighed^,., 
and tared. At a fact this duty is generally left to- 
the brokers who have representatives at the ware,-.j 
houses. The refuse and sweepings which the dock 
companies and wharves sell from time to \hxm^u 
and which relatively to the bulk of the trade ar.euj 
of infinitesimal importance, would not be tbufttie 
treated if the importers considered that they were 
wortti more than the duty and dock charges. 
A long perienoe, extending to nearly 20 years in,;; 
London, enables me to assert with confidence that 
both docks and wharves in London do their work 
well and honestly. There is no difficulty in the 
way of any plarlter visiting London, satisfying him- 
self on this point. The Ceylon Association in 
London two years ago thoroughly examined into 
and sifted out the whole matter of Taring and LosS'' 
in Weight, with the result that though it waS''" 
considered that tue system of weighing above referred'^' - 
to was in itself unfair, it was fairly carried out by"' 
the dock companies. To assert as a "Sufferer""'^ 
does that " a considerable percentage of tea is being 
habitually etoleu iu the I^ondon Warehouses " ie to 
