February i, 1892. | 
tHE TROHCAL AQFllOULtURIST. 
GAEDEN NOTES. 
(From the Procecdivus ofthi-'Af/ri-HoiticultHml 
Socictii of Madra.'f.) 
AnAucAKiAs. — A number of j'oung Araucarias were 
planted out, in October, on each side of the main 
walk from the entrance gate, and with the exception 
of three specimens of A. hidwilUi, look very healthy. 
Attempts have been made, on former occasions, to 
grow .1. hiihri/m, in pots and in the open gi-ound, 
but have failed. Mr. Whiteside informed the Com- 
mittee that he had made several attempts to grow 
Aiancaria hidirlUii in his garden, and that, when_ it 
was removed from the pots in which it viias thriving 
and planted in the open ground, it invariably died 
in a few weeks. On the other hand, Antnearia ex- 
erha did very well in the open. 
Bamboos. — Mr. J. S. Gamble, Conservator of 
Forests, recently identified the following species of 
Bamboo, which are growing in the Society's Gar- 
dens : — 
Bainhma amndinacea. — India and Burmah. 
,, vava. — China. 
,, ruhjarin var. aiirea. — China. 
('eiihalo.stachi/tuii Aavesceih'i. — Burmah. 
Deiidiocalaiiins liainiltonii. — Sikkim, Bliutam, Assam. 
„ (jif/avteiin. — Penang. 
,, nffictu^. — India and Burman. 
Ochlavdiu trarancoiica. — Tinnevelly. 
Tei'iiostachiiniii iriijlitii. — W. hills of India. 
The plants of Deiidiocalaiiiim haiiii/foiiii and Teino- 
sfachi/iiii) iri</hfii were raised from seed received from 
Calcutta and Trivandrum re.spectively. The giant 
Bamboo, Deiidrocalaiim-i (/ii/a/iiteus, has been recently 
introduced into the Public Gardens at Trivandrum 
(Travancore) from Ceylon, and is flourishing in the 
moist climate. 
liecitha trafancorica. — Seedlings of B. imvanaorica 
(Elephant grass) were received from Mr. Rhodes 
Morgan in lS8(j. One of these is now 10^ feet high 
and !S feet bread, and is much more effective as an 
ornamental plant than the ordinary Bamboo. 
DiUcnia sjyeciosa has flowered recently for the first 
time in the Gardens. The plant is 16 feet high. 
Victoria iiegia — The Honorary Secretary reported 
that, while visiting Ceylon recently, he took over 
Avith him, at the request of His Excellency Sir A. 
Hamilton Gordon, some young plants of Victoria 
reijia, for the new tank in the Fort Gardens, Colombo. 
Two of these plants were, at the date of his de- 
parture from Ceylon, two months later, growing 
rapidly in the tank, which is supplied with running 
water, and looked perfectly healthy. Some seeds of 
Victoria rcgia, which had been sent to Cej'lon ear- 
lier in the year, germinated a short time before his 
arrival on the Island. 
The ]'ictoria rer/ia in the Society's Gardens, which 
was removed last year from the tank near the Palm 
House to the tank in the nursery, is in a very flourish- 
ing condition. In December, out of sixteen leaves, 
six measured 7 feet 8 inches in diameter. 
Sir Charles Lawson observed that the leaves of 
the I'ictoria reijia near the Palm-House seem to have 
diminished in size under the influence of the slightly 
brackish water, with which the tank is supplied. 
The tank in the Nursery Garden is supplied with 
rain water, and the greater size of the leaves, as 
compared with those in the otlier garden, is noticeable. 
Imsect Pests. — Mr. Tliurston exhiliited specimens 
of the following species from the Madras Presidency : — 
1. SiKistii.i iirciiiiiis, one oftlie nc!<iicriidn-, wliich is 
reported to do great danuvge to the paddy plants in 
tlio J!alasore L)istrict, Bengal, tliougli Mr. L. de 
Niceville is inclined to doubt the fact. 
•i. Laiiijiitli's cl/)i.s, one of the /.i/ciciiidtr, which is 
said to do so much damage to tlie Cardamoms in 
(;eylon that from 5 to 10 per cent, of the fruit 
capsules are perforated liy the insect. And Mr. Owen 
estimates the damage done by it to be sometimes as 
much as SO to 90 ywr cent, to young plantations. 
ii. I'ajnlio crillioiiiii.i, one of the Vapilionichc, which 
has been reported l)y Mr. Cameron of JJaugaloro to 
attack lemon trees. The insect also does much 
(laniage to youujj bucldod onvugos. 
72 
4. Oriiptorliiinclnin manfjifera, the Mango Weevil. 
.5. _ Larvae of a noctual moth A.cho'a mdiccrte, which 
is said to attack Castor-oil plants, and reported by 
the Collector of Ganjain to attack sugarcane, paddy, 
and brinjals. 
6. Ne7Mra viriduJa, the green Bug, which is re- 
ported by Mr. Cameron as occurring on potato halma 
in Bangalore. 
Much information on these and other pests will 
be found in the Indian Museum ' Notes on Indian 
Insect Pests.' The Committee considered that it is 
very advisable to keep a collection of Insect Pests 
which are injurious to plants and trees for inspection 
in the Society's office. The Honorary Secretary 
will be glad to receive specimens accompanied by 
notes thereon. 
Branching Palms.—" In the Journal of the Liunean 
iSocieti/, 1871, Vol. XI., Dr. Shortt published an ac- 
count, with illustrations, of some branched Palms 
from Southern India, the species mentioned being 
tlie Palmyra Palm or Borassus, and the Cocos. Our 
present illustration (fig. 40) is taken from a photo 
kindly sent to us by Mr. T. H. Storey, the Superin- 
tendent of tha Sujjan Niwas Gardens, Oodeypore, 
Rajpootana. The species represented is the Wild 
Date, Phoenix silvestris. Mr. Storey tells us the oc- 
currence is quite rare, he having seen hundreds of 
miles of Date trees, but only this one group of 
Ijranched Palms growing in a jungle, about 80 miles 
from Oodeypore. Mr. Storey continues: "There is 
a large beetle (identified for us by Prefessor West- 
wood, as Scaraho:vs ( Ori/efes J rhinocero.i) which is 
very destructive to the Palm family.' It bores a hole 
right through the centre of the tree, and cuts all 
the leaves off. I think this beetle may be the cause 
of the Date Palm's branching. I have in the garden 
one tree which has been attacked, and it is now 
throwing out a side-shoot." We have no doubt 
Mr. Storey's conjecture is correct, and that the 
branching is an attempt to remedy the evil conse- 
quences of the injury inflicted by the insect." — Gar- 
dener. Ohroiiide, September 7, 1889. 
The Committee observed that in some instances, 
the parts of the flower, instead of attaining the 
normal condition, assume the form of leaves. Some 
years ago Dr. Shortt sent to Surgeon- General Bidie 
an example of this in a Coconut, which has, un- 
fortunately, been lost. A good example of a branch- 
ing Palmyra Palm is, or was a few years ago, grow- 
ing in the Assistant Collector's bungalow at Bamnad. 
Mr. Whiteside informed the Committee that, some 
years ago, he found, in the Polur taluk of the N. 
Arcot district, a Palmyra tree which had three 
branches, the stem of the tree being encircled by 
the roots of a healthy young Banyan tree, the seed 
of which had, doubtless, been deposited by a bird. 
He had the tree photographed, but the plate was 
unfortunately broken when on its way to Madras to 
be developed. 
Mango Weevil. — (Cr>iptorhiineliv,s mamjifera). In a 
note on a communication from the curator of the 
Perak Museum on the subject of this pest, ' Nature ' 
observes (August 22, 1889) that " it is believed that 
it lays its eggs in the flower or very young fruit, 
for in the ripe fruit there is no external mark to 
show where it gained an entrance, and it is not un- 
til the perfect insect eats its way out of the mango that 
it is possible to tell whether any particular fruit is 
sound or diseased. Some varieties of the mango en- 
joy complete immunity from the attacks of this 
insect, and it has been noticed that even particular 
trees of varieties which are not so favoured always 
escape. This fact seems to hold out a hope that, 
by careful selection, good varieties of the fruit 
could be raised, which would not be subject to the 
attacks of this destructive pest. Tlie character which 
renders the fruit unsuitable for the weevil is, and 
probaVjly always will renuiin unknown, as ouv senses 
mi\y not be keen enough to detect the jwticular 
taste or smell which prevents the fen\aie from laying 
lu^r eggs in the fruit of the naturally protected trees." 
[As a rule nuxngoes grown iiv Ceylon seem to be 
tree from insects. Wo c^vi\ only " remember some 
giowu at Jaa'wv bei%' infested— lip, T.A.] 
