M4RCH r, i8q2.] the TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 6^5 
To the Editor, 
"SUBLIME TOBACCO 1" "QUID RIDES?" 
Jau. 24th. 
Sib,— No one will regret more than Ramasamy 
rthe collapse if tobacco cultivation iu Ceylon, for 
to him the 'poiihaclli totuiii was a veritable para- 
dise. There ho could enjoy his otium cum dir/ni- 
late undisturbed by all influences of an intrufiive 
and discomforting character. Hia affection for the 
"' Smokeleaf" estate was unbounded, for besides 
•eujoying the blessings of an easy life, he was 
about the only party who made anything out of 
the concern. How very prominently Matale has 
lately been figuring; as a burial place for many 
British Eovereigos. Firpt wo have the Govern- 
mout dropping, year after year, a goodly number 
of rupees (equivalent to many sovereigns) on a 
badly fed railway. Then we have the lately 
revealed fiasco in connection with the Oeylon 
Tobacco Company. And, last of all, we have 
Iveun told that the Oeylon Land and Produce 
Company have found it absolutely neotssary to 
■write no less than .^;8, 038-10-8 off the value of 
their Matale properties ! There surely must be 
something wrong in all this, and, perhaps, Mr. 
Fairweather's remarks at the late meeiing of the 
Ceylon Tobacco Company may admit of a wider 
application than he maant them to do. Anyhow, 
economy seems to be a more necessary precursor 
to success in Matale than in any other district 
an the island. Let superintendents be bound 
Kj<jwn to produce their crops at the minimum 
•cost, and Matale may yet prove to bo a safe 
district in which to invest the money of a 
sometimes over-confiding public. But, before 
deciding, let investors take a hesitating mental 
glance backward, into those abysses of financial 
death which have engulfed many of u:, and which 
may be opc-n and engulf many moip. They should 
never fail to be guided by a wise foresight in 
making all preliminary arrangements, or to take 
sonndings of t e most minute and careful kind. 
Tobacco growing is never likely to be repeated 
in Oeylon on a large scale. Anyone venturing 
to do so is not likely ever to be in a position 
to invest in the purchase of a carriage, or to 
print on its panels the punning motto recom- 
mended by Theodore Hook to a sucoeesful to- 
bacconist, viz. (JUID RIDES. 
LORANTHUS AND HBMILEIA. 
Sir, — In an editorial - note on a letter in your 
issue of the 29th iustant, you say that the Loran- 
thus " spreads over the stems and brancnos of 
trees, and from the bark cells sucks out the life 
blood, as the luyoelium otHmnilcia vaatatrix does 
in the case of cott'ee leave?, " Loranthus and 
Hemileia may ba both classed as parasites in- 
asTUoh aa they both subsist upon a host, but 
there is this distinction between them, viz., 
Loranthus sends its roots into the wood tissue 
of the host and absorbs the crude sap consisting 
of water with substances in solution that have 
been tiikon up from the soil, not yet manufactured 
into organic material, the manufacturing being 
done by Loranthus itself as ia evidenced by tho 
fact of tho latter containing ohlorophyl or green 
colouring matter. Hemileia, on the other hand, 
absorbs the {elaborated sap from tho bark (or more 
correctly the bust) liaiuc: that is to say, it docs uo 
luanufauturir;; itself at all, but robs iis host of the 
ni'\iiufttctured or prepared food— and hence it needs 
no green colouring matter. To express this distinc- 
tion in another way :— Loranthus does not forage for 
itself, but robs its host of its (the host's) supply 
of raw materials or uncooked food. Hemileia on 
the other hand waits, as it were, till the ra>v 
material is prepared, and robs its boat ol the 
" oooked " food. Thus Hemileia is the greater, 
meaner, more cunning and, withal, more dangerous 
thief ! 
And so some botanists distinguish between theae 
two kinds of parasites as partial parasites (suph as 
Loranthus) and true parasites (suoh as Hemileia), 
—Yours, Ac, T. 
[We are much indebted to our aooompiished 
correspondent for this interesting note, but we ara 
pusesled by the representation of Hemileia feeding 
on the juices of the "bast" of "bark." If so, we 
have learned something utterly new to us about 
the leaf fungus. Our impression was that tho 
spores never penetrated the bark of the coffee 
bush, but entered through the Btomata ot the 
leaves, the mycelium then breaking up the cells 
and feeding on the elaborated juices.— Ed. T, A.] 
FINE vs. MEDIUM i-LUCKING. 
Dear Sir,— A letter by " W. A. B.," a "well- 
known " planter, has appeared in the local "Timea" 
on the above " time-worn subject," (aa the editor 
rightly calls it): and, except for the heading, which is 
in bad taste (apes inea in te), and which is supposed 
to contain a joke, there is absolutely nothing new 
in the way of information conveyed to the reader. 
A few figures are given, which are utterly worthless 
except as a multiplication sum for boya of the first 
standard, as they are not founded upon fact; 
600 lb. per acre cost, say, so much : profit so muob : 
400 lb. per acre cost, say, do do do. 
Therefore, much better get an average of Is for 
your tea if you can: Q. E. D. The fact is that the 
conditions under which tea is grown in Oeylon 
are eo varying and variable, that no general law 
can be Imd down with regard to any of the 
processes of cultivation and manufacture that will 
be applicable to the whole country, or even to 
neighbouring districts. What each individual plan- 
tor must strive to do is to find out his own district's 
peculiarities of soil, climate, &a., to a T, act accord- 
ingly, and allow no rubbish to leave his factory.— 
Yours KAROLY FURDO. 
[Our corrospondent has failed to notice the main 
point in the letter, viz., tho wonderful assertion, 
contrary to the opinion of all experts, that fine 
plucking exhausts tea bushes less than ordinary 
plucking ! —Ed. T. A.] 
Tea tn Persia.— The British Consul at 
Meshed (Persia), in his report on the trade of 
Khorassan for 1890-91, states that the Chinese tea 
imported was all purchased from British traders at 
Bombay. There being a doubt about this last year, 
the vfilue of Chinese tea was exolu 'id from the total 
of British imports in last repor'. The value of green 
tea imported during the year 189J-91 fell by £7,933, 
being only £117,781, as against; £125,714 in 1889-90. 
But the \a ue of black tea imported amounted, on 
the other hand, to £28,2U9, or £11,12G more than in 
1889-90, when the total was £17,143. It may be 
noted here that all tea imported from Bombay by the 
Persinn merchants of Yezd goes direct to Russian 
territory, via Sabzaw;ir. Ot tho green tea about 
£111,016 worth was Chineso tea purchased in 
liomb.iy, against £118,571 last year. The value of 
Indian green tea was £i'i,7l)5 worth, against £7,143 
worth last \ ear. Ot black tou i;2S,2()9 worth wag 
imported, of which C 1 9,706 worth was Indian against 
1 12.000 last year. Of tho green tea about £98,305 
worth passed on to Russian territory,— L. aiid C. 
E,rprcs3, Jan, 22nd. 
