586 
fHP TPiOPlCAL'^AQRIOULTURIST, 
[February i, 1892. 
6. Owing to the facility with which Cacao cau he 
grown under the shade of bananas, the extension 
of Cacao planting in Jamaica should proceed ijuri 
iju.tfiii with that of fruit culture. The little attention, 
however, so far devoted to properly curing the produce 
is a matter of grave concern to those interested in 
the Island, and it is to be hoped that tlie measures 
now in course of being taken to remedy tlie defect 
will produce results of a more hopeful character. 
I have, &c., 
Edw. Wingtield, Esq C.B., Colonial Office, Downing St 
(Sgd.) D. MoRitis. 
Mi-s.si:i. M'ilnoii, Siiiithett £ Co., to Boi/al Gardens, ICeir. 
41 Mincing Lane, London, B.C., 25th June, 1891. 
Sir, — We duly received your letter of 11th instant 
requesting us to supply for the Government of 
Jamaica, commercial samples of the various sorts 
of cured Cacao which come into the London 
market, and we have much plesure to advise you 
that we have despatched four samples, the best of 
the respective kinds to your address, viz : — 
No. 1. Fine Ceylon, value 154/ per cwt., from 
Aloovvihare Estate. 
No. 2. Fine Trinidad, value 98/ per cwt., from 
Locounseo Estate. 
No. 3. Fine Grenada, value (ja/ per cwt., from 
Tufton Hall Estate. 
No. 4. Fine Guayaquil, value 90/ per cwt., from 
Arrila Prima Estate. 
We have not included a sample of Caracas, as 
that growth is generally cured in the earth of 
the country and attempts made in various places 
to prepare Cacao in that manner have almost in- 
variably ended in a disappointment. A small 
proportion of Jamaica Cacao imported here has 
undergone fermentation to a greater or less degree, 
but the bulk is of very ordinary quality, the only 
West Indian Cacao taking rank below it being St. 
Domingo from Jeremine, whilst that from Samana 
in the same Island is superior to Jamaica It 
has however all the characteristics of good Cacao — 
although wanting in size, and if properly harvested, 
fermented or sweated, and then dried in the sun 
until the bean becomes crisp to the feel, so that 
the shell is fairly loose, and the interior dry and 
of an even chocolate brown, not violet colour 
when broken, it should connnand the general atten- 
tion of Trade. Great care should be taken to protect 
it from rain whilst curing. It must be noted that 
manufacturers cannot pay much attention to 
small parcels, and that to insure a ready sale not 
much less than a ton weight of even colour and 
quality should be shipped, the larger the lot the better. 
We are, &c., 
(Sgd.) Wilson, Smithett & Co. 
D. IVIouRis, Esq. 
ANOTHER COFFEE PEST. 
In view of what has already been so succesfuUy 
attempted in the experimental gardens of Mergui, 
and also with reference to the prospect of the 
increased cultivation of the coffee plant in the 
Boutliern districts of this province, it may not bo 
without some interest, even to general readers, to 
become acquanited, in some slight degree, at least 
with an insect pest that has only recently been 
found to work great mischief and loss in the 
coffee plantations of distant Guatemala. We are 
indebted to tlie interest taken in this matter by 
our Consul in that state, Mr. Arthur Chapman, 
who has embodied in his last annual report, the 
report of the scientist, M. Vendrell, a member of 
J'.elg'"'" "-'"^ Spanish Agricultural Societies, and 
who nuide his investigations, ))y order of the local 
Govenunent; of (iuateniala, in the plantations in 
the I)epartmcnt of Amatillan where the disease 
oiuHtd liy tlie insect pest, liad resulted in exten- 
Bive ravages in tlie coffee plantations. 
Coffee IS one ot the chief articles of growth in 
Gualeriiala, where also the cochneal insect is 
ohtiiined, in imiiiense quantities U>r export, on the 
■unitrouB members of the Cactus triblc, so common 
ou the virgin soil ol tbat country. And, it is not | 
a little strange, that the pest, so much complained 
ab'jut as a "new and hitherto unknown trouble" 
should be so much like the cochneal insect which 
IS such a prolific source of local wealth The 
insect, called a "chinch" or "bug" by the ag-ricul- 
turalists, IS declared by M. Vendrell to be "a 
standing menace to the coffee industry," and is 
tlierefore well deserving of attention by 'all coffee 
planters. The genus to which the pest belongs— the 
Coccidc-'— not only includes many species which are 
highly injurious to plant-life, but not a few which 
have come to be of use to man. Among the letter 
are the tvclmeaL already referred to, the lac, wheli 
is found in such abundance in our Shan ' State • 
the munna growing where few forms of civilised 
j life are to be found, though in some places largely 
replaced by exudations from such trees as the 
ash and tamerisk; and lastly the ('liineae War 
insect so remarkably peculiar in its habits as well 
as m Its produce of wax in parts of China, like 
Si-chuen. 
As general characteristics of the genus we may note 
the want of wings in the females, the degeneration 
of the suctorial proboscis posterior wings in the 
males, and the peculiar life-history of both sexes. In 
the early stages of their growth they are in form 
like miniature tortoise-shells, and may be i^een run- 
ning all over the ijlants tliey affect. Soon, the 
females become impregnated, and then they settle 
down to the work of maternity on the branches and 
leaves, burning their suckers deep into the tender 
tissues in order to imbibe the nourishment thev 
require from the juices of the plant. Henceforward 
the females do nothing but feed and In-eed ; and the 
latter _ process is so \vonderfully prolific that the 
ova of a single female, looking at certian seasons 
like a pinch of dry dust, number very often millions. 
When in this state the wind blows this living dust about 
in all directions, and not uufrequently the careful 
gardener finds a favourite rose or plant, which the 
evening before he had left quite clean and healthy, 
covered in the morning by multitudes of these' 
insects seeming to have come into existence ma'-'i- 
cally. The matured females often become qufte 
plump and fat, looking like berries, but more 
generally they form distinct excrescences, some 
round and plump, others flat like scales. At the 
present time in Hangoon a species of these scale- 
nsects may be found on the back of rose leaves. 
They look like black dots, and frequently have a 
margin of white. Under a magnifying glass they 
may be watched with a " good deal of amusement 
and instruction. Tiie pojpular name bv which 
these insects are known is scale-insects." 
The coffee scale-insect, which has lately caused 
such consternation in Guatemala, appears "as small 
galls or excrescences similar to small tortoise-shells - 
on the edges of which are small double points. 
Under a microscope the back shows a central 
crest traversing its length, and also a nuinbet of 
small points covering the whole surface, just like 
what may be seen on some marine shells. Its 
color is variable. When first noticed, unlike" the 
rose-leaf scale, it is of a reddish color, but becomes 
a dark yellow as it grows in size and developes its 
eggs. In its last stage it becomes the color of the 
bark of the coffee plant, and this is so when the 
insecet dries and its outer shell becomes thin 
ligneous and fragile. If the yellowish liquid, con- 
tained in the body of the mature female, be 
examined under a microscope, it will be found to 
contain thousands of little eggs. If a dry insect 
be opened there will be seen a little, very fine 
dry powder of a reddish yellow color which is' 
transported by the wind in somewhat the way in 
which the pollen of flowers is wafted. From each 
egg issues ^ a maggot, and this goes through its 
transformation like the generation which gave its 
birth. 
It is said that when the insect first takes 
possession of a coffee plant, it is barely notice- 
able; but after a time an infinity of small red 
spots appear, in the trunk and branches, and these 
increase in size daily until they attain their 
normal climensioua. Then it is that the coffee 
