642 
[March i, 1892. 
have touched the shares in the Company he had 
accepted in part payment for certain estate pro- 
perty ha had sold to it " with a pair of tongs." 
Those who saw Sir William ' Gregory on that oc- 
casion tell me that he looked dreadfully ill and worn ; 
and he himself confessed that his attendance at 
the meeting was strongly in opposition to the 
counsel of his doctor. 
Mr. J. L. Sband did not take the mana grass 
tea box with him, but it has been shipped this 
week per " Manora " for conveyance to Ceylon 
to be delivered to him there. You will therefore 
soon be afforded the opportunity of judging for 
yourselves of the value of the mana-grass board 
for manufacture locally into attiolts of this 
nature, and of its possible applicability to even more 
extended purposes. 
Mr. Elwood May has just sent home another 
speoimon of the advertisements of his Tea Company 
that he has had inserted, under the arrangements 
formerly detailed to you, in the American papers. 
This one is contained in a paper called The 
Staijc, a journal which is devoted to a rtcord 
of all connected with theatrical matters, and is 
undoubtedly one of the best specimens of specialist 
newspapers wo have evrrseen. The advertisement 
is very much in Mr. May's customary style. For 
Oiie of its headings it has " Ceylon Tea Aids 
Nutrition of the Nerves.'' It givfS at length a 
highly eulogistic letter written by Mr. J. A. Bourchier, 
M.D , of New York, a specialist in diseases of the 
nervous system, in which he says ihat, after ex- 
tended trial, he recognizes the enormous value of 
Ceylon Tea in dietetics, and that he is able to 
permit its use in the case of numerous di;orders 
in which he had previously forbidden the drinking 
of tea at all. He further wrote: — "Ceylon tea 
aids nutrition of the nerves, and thus is not only 
free from injurious effects, but is beneficial as a 
beverage." The advertisement also quotes from 
Dr. Yorke-Davies's book entitled " Food for the Fat" 
published in London some time back, in which the 
use of Ceylon tea is recommended. These quota- 
tions are followed by a notification that Ceylon 
tea furnishes " a cup thit cheers with after cheer 
is what an actress needs. She will find this in 
our Pure Ceylon Tf as, Blend, Tiffin and Bungaloe." 
The advertisement concludes with the announcement 
that the capital of the Company is 1,1 00, COO dollars, 
but it does not state how much of this is paid up. 
* 
ExpoEi OP Tea feom Japan. — During 1S91 Japan 
exported between three and four million more pounds 
of tea than in 1890. 
Introduction of the Birch Tree into 
C'kylon. — Some time ago wa mentioned that we had 
been favoured by our good friend Mr. Gammie of 
the Sikkira cinchooa plantations with seeds of a 
Himalayan birch, which ho described as rapid 
in growth and as yielding a wood excellent for 
fuel purposes. During cur recent visit to Abbots- 
ford we found some plants so well advanced that wo 
cut a couple of twigs from one, which, as specimens, 
we sent to Dr. Trimen. In response the Director 
of the Royal Botanical Gardens writrs : — 
Pcradeniy.a, .Jan. ■1th, 1892. 
"I am so glad to see the J5iich, the first in ('eylon. 
1 BuppoHO it in Betula utif in ; tha niune refers rather to 
Hjo hark, which is greatly used, than to tho wood 
il.ough that is good also. I hope the ' Birks ' of 
AhhotHford will thrive as those of Abeifeldy." 
Not having Mr. Gaunni'i's letter to refer to, 
we cannot recall the specific name he gave, 
but Dr. Trimon'a gue is may be correct ; 
although, on referring to Gamble's Manual 
of Indian Timbers, we cannot find ulilia 
amongst the Betulas described by him, which are 
Aacuminata, Wall., alha, Linn., Hhojpattra, Wall.. 
cyUndroitachys, Wall. Jaquemontii, Spach., and 
pap7jracea, Willd. The oniy one of these described 
as of fast growth is Betula cylindrostaclujs, which 
grows on the Darjeeling Hills and is usen only for 
fuel and charcoal purposes, for which it is very good. 
It is described as an extremely handsome tree with 
drooping branches. In this latter charaoteristio 
it resembles the exquisitely beautiful birches of the 
Scotch Highlands. As yet our specimens show 
no si^ns of the drooping tendency, but we hope 
they will take it on when further advanced. Mean- 
time, some of the Eucalypti, " red gums " especially, 
grown on Abbotsford and other upcountry estates 
are very beautiful substitutes for birches, in their 
drooping branches and fine foliage. If, as Dr. 
Trimen indicates, our birches are the first grown 
in Ceylon, it is something tor Abbotsford to be 
proud of. There are English oaks, one of which has 
borne acorns, and soedUng Assam oaks {Quercus 
serrata), to keep them company. 
Electricity in Oystkb Culture.— It might be 
thought that electricity would be about the last ad- 
junct to employ in studying the culture of the succulent 
bivalve. An application of it, however, has recently 
been made by Mens. Lacase-Duthier, the well- 
known authority on oyster culture. He makes use 
of the electric light in examining the stages of de- 
velopment through which the spawn passes. A glass 
cylinder is mounted in a cylindrical skeleton cage 
which serves as a support ; into this glass the water 
containing the spawn is placed. At the bottom is a 
plane, silvered reflector ; the cover forms a parabolic 
reflector, in the centre of which is fixed a small 
incandescent lamp. The reflectors and the sides of 
the glass cylinder act in such a way that hut few rays 
of light emerge from the apparatus directly ; hence 
the liquid is suffused with a soft illumination wiiich is 
adniirably suited to the examination of the contents. 
This little apparatus, or a modification of it, is now 
being employed in various researches into the life 
processes of ferments and the culture of microbes, the 
illumination by the incandescent electric light being 
much more suitable for the study of these low forms 
of life than that from other artificial sources. — 
Electrical lieiiev:. 
The Diamond-back Moth Caterpillar may be an 
object of interest to entomologists, but market gar- 
deners regard it with unconcealed suspicion. Last 
July, swedes, turnips, and cabbages in various districts 
of the eastern parts of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and 
Norfolk, and Scotland were infested to an extent which 
excited great apprehensions on the part of the growers 
and attracted the attention of the Board of Agilculture. 
Mr. Charles Whitehead, f.l.s., was commissioned to 
prepare a special report upon the pest, and this has 
just been issued as a Departmental Paper. Mr. White- 
liead shows that as long ago as 1859 this moth was 
known by turnip-growers to be very mischievous, while 
during the last ten years it has made its appearance at 
many places in numbers which indicate an enormous 
multiplication of the species. Sir Jacob Wilson pointed 
out to the Royal Agricultural Society last July that 
although there had been every prospect of a large crop 
of turnips in Northumberland, the attack of the pest 
during the previous week or fortnight had reduced large 
tracts to a waste desert. Swedes seem to be a fa- 
vourite crop, but cabbages have suffered still more. 
Mr. Whitehead concludes a comparison of the remedies 
that have been tried, by pointing out that the applica- 
tion of the mixture of soot and lime in good time with 
the Strawsonizer is the best ; but paraffin, quassia, 
and carbolic acid are efficacious to some extent. 
Nitrate of soda and other stimulants have too been 
found useful in forcing the growth of infected plants. 
I'revention, however, is better than cure, and farmers 
should make a note of the important fact that it is 
most important to cut down in the spring cruciferous 
weeds, such as "charlock," hedge mustard, and prickly 
saltwort, which serve as breeding places for the first 
brood of moths. — Daily Graphic. 
