September i, 1S90.] Supplement to the “ Tvopical AgncuUmist,'*’ 
S31 
caterpillar, as also of a great many others, is the 
yellow and black-striped wasp called by the 
Sinhalese Kumbala These wasps, as 
our readers are aware, collect caterpillars for the 
food of their own larvae. Their nests are built 
of mud and are found attached to doors, windows, 
I &c. of dwelling-houses. The nests are composed 
of several cells or chambers, in each of which the 
parent wasp lays an egg, and fills the cell with 
caterpillars. It is considered a very great fault 
by the Sinhalese to destroy one of these nests, 
j not from any superstitious belief, but from the 
; great service these insects render to the agri- 
culturist. 
^ 
DESTEUCTION OF CATEEPILLARS. 
Miss Ormerod, Consulting Entomologist to the 
Eoyal A^icultural Society of England, reporting 
on the infestation of trees by caterpillars, says 
that much attention has been lately directed to 
ascertaining what reliable measures could be 
adopted in order to destroy the hordes of cater- 
: pillars which now appear almost as a regular 
I yearly recurring cause of serious loss to fruit 
! growers. “ It has become more and more plain 
' each year,” she says, “ that although sticky band- 
ing is so far of services, that in many cases the 
' foliage of orchard trees would have been totally 
I destroyed if the banding had not been done, 
I yet still it is only a partial protection against 
j wingless moths gaining access to the trees for 
egg-laying, and is no protection at all from 
the many kinds of attack originated by winged 
infestations ; also it is expensive, needs renewing 
j at intervals, and, without special arrangements 
to insure safety to bark, is detrimental to the 
' health of the trees. Measures were found to be 
I absolutely necessary of a kind which could be 
I brought to bear on any or all sorts of cater- 
j pillars together (whatever their various natures 
or previous histories may have been), and would 
I kill the whole collection of ravaging hordes at 
I once, but without damaging the leafage 
In my own suggestions as to applications I 
|i limited myself to advising trials of “ Paris green ” 
j spray, as with this application we had clear 
' information from the P. S. A. and Canadian 
(loverurnent reports of the exact proportions in 
j which it was to be used, and of every detail 
I concerned, and also of its success, and warnings 
as to requisite caution in use, it being a poison ; 
, for those who did not care to try it (by advice 
I of the llominion Entomologist) 1 suggested the 
j use of washes of soft soap aird mineral oil. ” 
The Experiment Committee wisely made a trial 
I and recorded the results of many applications, 
, and of these the Committee recommended the 
I following for spraying on infested trees;— Paris 
' green paste one ounce to from 8 to 20 gal- 
! Ions of water (strength varying according to 
i nature of tree); London fiuid (that is a mixture 
I of a pre()aratiou sold as “London purple”) one part 
to twenty parts of water. Both of these the Com- 
mittee recommend as effecliveiu destroying the 
caterpillars, while they do no material harm to the 
ioliage. The value of Pai’is green (arsenite of 
' copper) haa been attested by numerous private 
, con-espondents of Miss Ormerod. The syringing, 
j according to the recommendation of the Committee^ 
I should be done when the leaf-bud is first de- 
veloped, before the blossoming period, and then 
again after the blossom had disappeared and the 
fruit was forming. More than one correspondent 
concerned in fruit-farming says that, “Paris 
green is the only thing which we have found 
really efficacious — it has not damaged the foliage, 
but killed the caterpillar.” The spraying is done 
by means of a pump and nozzle. It is noted 
by the Secretary of the Experiment Committee 
that were no such precautions were taken, “ the 
trees were looking desolate — as bad as if tire 
had been scorching the trees.” Messrs. Salmon, 
the well-known fruit-growers, writing to Miss 
Ormerod, says : “ All that we can say about it 
is to its advantage. It has succeeded admirably. 
The trees look healtliier and better, with as much 
(if not more) on, as anywhere else. They are 
beautifully clean. It has not injured them in 
the slightest degree. We shall always use it 
in cases of blight.” 
The above information comes most opportunely 
at this time when caterpillars are threatening harm 
to products in this island. The only objection to the 
spraying remedy in the case of coconut is the 
height of the trees which would require power- 
ful pumps to do the work. One spraying ought 
however to be sufficient when the leaf bud is 
first developed, as no injury is to be apprehended 
to the fibrous drupes of the coconut palm as in the 
case of succulent English fruits. A gentleman 
writing from Batticaloa district mentions that 
smoking the trees by means of large smother 
fires showed an appreciable effect on the cater- 
pillar blight. 
^ 
GENERAL ITEMS, 
Prof. McAlpine of Edinboro ’, botanist to the 
Highland and Agricult ui'al Society, has invented 
an apparatus for testing the germinating power 
of seeds. By the ordinary system, from three 
to five weeks are required before a reliable 
decision can be arrived at, but by this new 
method Prof. McAlpine claims to be able to tell 
111 five minutes not only the percentage of seeds 
that will germinate in any sample of grass seeds, 
but also the percentage of chaff, the percentage 
of seeds affected with parasites, and the number 
of weakly seeds. Already there is a deal of 
testimony from independent sources proving the 
accuracy of the claim. 
ue aie in receipt of the following;— Journal of 
the Eoya,l Agricultural Society of England, part 
second of vol. I, Third series ; Report of the 
btewards and Judges at the Rempton Park Show • 
and No. 6 of the “ Universal Market,” the Inter- 
national Jouinal of Industry and Commerce- 
the new Trmity College Calendar, and the Rich- 
mond College and Jaffna College Magazines. 
>v lily 
discussed at tiie meetings of the Agricultiu^'i 
Improvement Society during the montJi: — -‘The 
Opening of New Lands in Ceylon,” “Is it Advisable 
Agricultiu-ists to Colonise Abroad^” 
ihe Improvement of Poor Soils.” 
We cannot, (says the JJritisk MedicalJourual.) 
hearthat any satisfactory progress has been madein 
