Aug.  t,  1895.]  the  TR0PIC\L  AGRICULTURI.^'.T, 
truly  wonclevful ; but  as  tho  winter  months  ap- 
proached, its  numbers  began  to  grow  less,  until 
(luring  November,  December,  January  and  Febru  try 
hardly  one  was  to  be  seen;  and  the  several  blights 
on  which  it  fed  commenced  to  .increase  again.  .\t 
the  present  time  the  is  ag  lin  increasing, 
and  wherever  any  of  the  bliglit  is  seen,  the  larva 
of  the  C'njptolmmm  is  seen  feeding  upon  it.  I h ive 
spoken  to  Mr.  Muller  and  Mr.  Scott  when  they 
were  in  Honolulu  and  stated  to  them  the  above 
facts,  and  asked  them  to  have  a little  patience  until 
the  summer  set  in,  when  there  would . be  good  work 
done  by  the  CniptohmuHs.  I believe  with  Profe.ssor 
Koebele  that  this  will  be  the  case. 
Your  resolutions  seem  to  imply  (though  I trust 
such  was  not  your  meaning)  that  I,  as  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture,  had  selected  and  sent  to  your  dis- 
trict the  (.'ri/ploltfuiiis  lady-bird  independently  and 
without  tile  sanction  and  advice  of  Professor 
Koebele.  If  such  is  your  wiy  of  tliinking,  I must 
as.sure  you  that  you  are  mistaken.  In  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  entomological  work  of  Professor 
Koebele  vvith  which  I hive  hid  any  connection,  I 
liavp  relied  upon  and  implicity  followed  his  instruc- 
tions in  every  particular. 
b^ou  have  done  well  to  express  conftdence  in 
Professor  Koebele.  but  you  are  decidedly  wrong  in 
believing  that  he  is  in  ignorance  of  the  state"  of 
affairs  in  Kona.  Just  so  far  as  T have  been  in- 
formed by  the  people  of  Kona,  so  has  he  been  in- 
formed, and  a copy  of  your  resolutions  will  he  sent  to 
him  by  the  next  mail.  He  is  now  in  Japan,  a 
country  which  he  reports  as  being  much  infected  with 
scales  lyid  blights,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  he 
might  find  an  insect  to  supplement  the  work  of  the 
Cl  i/iiloltriiiiia  beetle. 
Had  my  duties  pcrmitti-l  me.  I would  hive  visited 
Kona  and  consultel  with  your  coffee  planters  con- 
cerning blights  and  other  matters  but  I hav((  been 
quite  unable  to  leave  Honolulu.  Coust.uit  vigilance 
is  nece.ssary  in  order  to  prevent  the  introduction  of 
pests  and  blights,  some  of  which,  if  introduced, 
would  destroy  the  coffee  indu-itry  in  short  oi-dei-. 
I can  assure  you  that  as  soon  as  possible  after  the 
arrival  of  Professor  Koebele  he  will  visit  your  district 
and  do  avhat  is  po.ssible  to  relieve  you  of  the  blight 
on  your  coffee. 
Trusting  that  you  will  soon  be  able  to  see  the 
Oi'i/ofolfrmus  at  work  on  the  Pulvinaria,  and  assuring 
you  tluat  anything  that  is  in  the  power  ofthewadter 
to  help  your  industry  will  be  done,  I have  the  honor 
to  remain. 
TE.\  S.VLES  IN  BD.MllAY. 
As  we  announced  the  other  day,  an  auction  s.ale 
ot  Indian  teas  took  platm,  on  Saturday,  at  the  office 
ol  Me.ssrs  Griiidlay,  Groom  A Co.,  of  this  city 
Some  of  the  tea-planters  in  Dohra  Dunn,  Kanora,  and 
Kiimaoii  have  arrange  1 with  Messrs.  Grindlay,  Groom 
A Go.  to  hold  periodical  sales  of  their  teas  in  Bom 
bay,  and  the  tirst  such  sale  took  place  at  noon  on 
Saturday,  when  four  hundred  and  twenty-nine  cases 
were  put  up,  vvith  the  condition  that  the  vendors  had 
a reserved  bid  for  each  lot,  and  that  the  article  woulii 
not  Ice  sold  under  their  fi.xed  prices.  The  first  lol 
consisted  of  forty  cases  of  orange  pekoe  from  tin 
Gehra  Dunn  Tea  Company,  for  vvliich  the  higheU 
ofier  made  was  six  annas  and  ten  pies  per  lb.  ^^Tlere 
upon  It  wis  bought  in  at  seven  annas  per  lb.  Gnon 
tlii.s  the  wholesale  dealers  called  the  attention  of  the 
tipnts  to  the  fact  that  in  Calcutta,  where  such  sale.- 
woie  regularly  held,  the  consignments  of  teas  were 
sol(l  vyithout  aiiv  reserve,  and  that  such  a coarse 
should  be  tollowed  here  so  as  to  develop  and  p-omote 
the  new  business.  But  as  the  .agent.s  were  defe  -mine  1 
to  hold  to  t leir  reserve  prices,  the  dealers  left  th’ 
room  I n a holy.  However,  on  the  sale  being  pro- 
ceeded  with,  only  five  boxes  of  orange  pekoe  fx'om  the 
Kaipur  tea  e.state  were  purchased  by  a Persian  shop- 
keeper at  eight  aunas  and  one  pie  per  lb.,  leaving 
four  hundred  and  twenty-four  eases  unsold.  In  Cab 
cutta  a large  trude  in  tea  is  done  for  export  to  England, 
Australia,  and  other  countries  by  the  vendors  selling 
their  stsck  without  reserve.— Ti//ie.s  of  India. 
<;.VS  Lf.ME  AS  A .MAXrilE. 
'"'*;^‘5te  product  in  tlie  manufactnro  of 
fra  low  tim,  r reputation,  and  can  be  bouglit 
ing  away.  In  its  fresh  state  it  lias  an  evil  smell 
and  contains  siilplmret  of  lime  and  other  suTdIiui’ 
compoiinc|s  that  give  off  sulphuretted  hydrogen  ^and 
arc  Uijnrionsto  vegetable  li/e.  It  is  theL  tlfe  farmer 
who  uses  it  must  guard  against,  and  failure  to  do  this 
brings  about  disastrous  results  hnf  v'  ; 
uuderstood  the  danger  may  be  reduced  to  a mminmm 
tor  if  gas  lime  is  exposed  the  oxygen  of  the  ^1110^ 
phere  soon  c estro.ys  the  had  sniefl  bv  cbangffiAte 
sulphuret  of  lime  into  sulphite,  and  iinailv  fuhffiatf 
of  hme  or  gypsum,  m other  words,  by  chaiiu-iiig  it 
from  a positively  poisonous  substance  to  a fel 
known  fertiliser. 
In  a sainple  of  gas  lime  from  which  the  w.iter  (that 
constituted  about  -10  per  rent  of  it)  bad  been  evLno- 
With  safety  as  a inamire.  Dr.  Voelcker  found  the 
following  conipcjunds  ot  liine:-Snlpliate  of  lime 
4bi;  sulphite  ot  lime  15-19;  carbonate  of  lime  -19-40  • 
and  caustic  hme  18-23  per  cent.  A substance 'rich’ 
as  this  in  lime  compounds  cannot  fail  to  he  of  con- 
siderable  service  to  farmers,  and  in  actual  practice 
in  e The  7 nnich  the  same  effect  a.s  ordinary 
hme.  The  crop  on  winch  it  does  tlie  most  good  are 
cloveis  ot  Vfarions  kmcls,  bbans  and  peas,  tares  and 
tins  IS  probably  only  when  it  has  been  incornorated 
with  the  soil  in  a fresli  state.  On  grails  Cd  S 
sliould  be.  spread  111  frosty  weather  at  a time  when 
vegetatmn  is  dormant,  so  that  it  may  have  changed 
to  a mild  foi  ni  before  the  growth  of  grass  in  spring - 
or  batter  still,  it  should  be  made  into  a comS 
with  load-.sciapings.  ditch-scom-inga,  or  other  refuse 
before  being  applied.  It  is  of  grekt  servicr  in  del’ 
troying  moss,  heath,  acid-loving  plants,  and  cerffihi 
other  useless  vegetable  growths. 
On  arable  land  it  should  be  spread  tlivee  or  four 
weeks  before  bmug  p oughed  in.  and  it  may  be  , °ec 
at  the  me  of  two,  three,  or  four  tons  per  acre  It 
IS  said  that  if  applied  quite  fresh  ancl  ploughed  in 
a.  once,  ,t  will  destroy  coltsfoot,  or  other  weeds 
that  may  have  taken  absolute  possession  of  the  soil 
and  cannot  be  removed  by  ordinary  means. 
Miss  Oi-mei-od  and  Dr.  Voelckei-  recoiiiniend  it  as 
an  almost  certain  cure  for  Piiiger-and-toe  ” or 
‘.‘Anbury"  in  turnips.  The  latter  makes  the  Uowl 
iiig  mtei-estmg  statement  On  visiting  the  fields 
dileaL)  W wa\7in  fbove-uamed 
ciisease)  by  wait-like  excresences,  and  forked  and 
twisted  mto  the  most  fantastical  forms,  I no  iced  a 
spot  on  which  the  roots  were  nearly  all  sound  On 
stooping  do-w'ii  and  examining  the  soil,  I picked  un 
some  bits  of  a whiti.sh-lookin^r  substancp  vvl  ?pvrn7 
waiS  thar^n  gas-lime,  and  I learned  after- 
aminat.on  of  the  soil  on  this  field  shovved  toaces 
of  knie,  and  at  my  reconimendation,  the  occunier 
Considering  the  above,  we  can  come  to  no  other 
conclusion  than  that  gas-lime  is  of  value  t^those  who 
can  easily  obtain  it.-.V.  n.  Aoricnltnrip 
-A  gki.EBKATED  old  tuee. 
Lecc-m-nig,  last  week,  before  Hie  Royal  Horti- 
toi  ot  tlie  kew^  Gimlen.s,  iiieiit ionod  the  presence 
oltr  cele1.i-ate.l  .li-a..-on- 
I Ins  was  one  of  the  mo.st  celebrated  ohieets  in 
natural  history.  It  wa.s  li'l-st  des- 
ciibed -being  even  then  a venerable  Iree-by  tlie 
naygatoi-s  in  the  early  part  of  the  bitli  i-entni-v 
and  wa.s  coiisidere.l  by  Humboldt  and  otliers  to 
be  of  extreme  antiquity.  The  specimen  a^  Kew' 
\as  olitained  many  years  ago  and  it  is,  proliablv. 
tlu.  only  portion  of  the  original  tree  now  e.vistin-. 
—London  Times,  May  24.  ” 
