422 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTUKIST. 
[Dec.  2,  1S95. 
150KKK  JN  'I'EA. 
On  Sepl.  lit.— Messrs.  Macncll  ttCo.  wrote  to  the  Asso- 
ciutioii  enclosing  copy  of  a letter  received  from  Mr.  11. 
A.  Hole  Manager  of  their  Dooclpntlce  Garden  Cachar, 
regarding  damage  done  to  an  indigenous  bush  by  a 
borer.  The  enclosure  was  in  the  followim.'-  terms':— 
I am  today  sending  yon  by  parcel  post  the  shoot 
of  an  indigenous  bush  killed  by  a borer.  There  are 
two  grubs  within  the  shoot;  I shall  much  like  to 
know  what  they  are.  1 never  before  saw  any  bori'  g 
insect  that  attacked  tea.  Here  it  is  comparatively 
common,  as  you  will  perceive,  attacking  the  strongest 
and  healthiest  shoots  of  indigenous  bushes,  causing 
the  shoot  to  wither  and  eventually  rot  off  just 
where  the  bore  commences.  The  grubs  live  on  the 
t ith  of  the  shoot.  The  borer  does  not  commence 
from  the  ground.  The  shcot  I enclose  rotted  across 
about  ‘2  feet  from  the  ground,  the  pith  of  the  lower 
portion  being  intact.  I think  many  cases  that  are 
put  down  to  white-ants  are  really  the  work  of  this 
borer. 
The  above  correspondeirce  and  the  shoot  were  for- 
warded to  Dr,  Watt  re(piesting  that  he  would  kindly 
favour  the  Association  with  his  opinion.  In  reply- 
ing if  Dr.  Watt  says  : — 
I have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  ymur 
No.  32t)  O dated  ttth  instant,  on  the  subject  of  a 
Borer  caterpillar  iir  a sample  of  Assam  indigenous 
tea  sent  to  the  Association  by  the  Mairager  of  a 
Tea  Gardeir  iir  Cachar.  I regret  to  say  that  the 
worm  in  question  had  so  shrivelled  up  or  possibly 
been  so  attacked  by  arrts  on  trairsit  that  it  was  uir- 
recognizable.  From  the  appearance  of  its  operations 
I should  however  presume  it  to  have  been  the 
Red  Borer,  iieuzera  Coffete,  an  insect  that  I have 
repeatedly  found  doing  much  harm  in  certain 
gardens.  You  will  find  a figure  both  of  the  cater- 
pillar and  moth  in  Mr.  Cote's  “Account  of  the  In- 
sects and  Mites  which  Attack  the  Tea  Plant, ’’  p.  8. 
2.  I would  invite  you  to  kindly  ask  the  Manager 
to  cut  off  a few  more  twigs  containing  the  borer, 
and  to  place  these  in  a wide-mouthed  bottle  with 
spirits  of  wine  sufficient  to  at  least  half  fill  the 
bottle.  In  this  way  the  insect  can  be  conveyed  to 
me  in  a state  that  will  admit  of  its  final  deter- 
mination. 
;3.  I would  also  desire  you  to  be  so  good  as  to 
ask  that  certain  observations  be  recorded  regarding 
the  insect.  We  do  not  know  (assuming  that  it  is 
Zeuzera  Coffeas)  how  many  generations  of  that 
insect  there  are  during  the  year.  This  could  be  best 
ascertained  by  completely  enclosing  an  affected  bush 
with  wire  gauze  and  allowing  the  insect  to  have  its 
way  with  that  particular  plant.  The  number  of 
times  moths  emerge  should  be  carefully  recorded. 
Some  writers  say  that  the  moths  emerge  from  the 
cocoons  in  February,  others  that  there  are  moi-e  than 
one  generation,  while  other  species  of  the  same 
family  of  insects  are  known  to  live  for  two  or  three 
years  in  the  larval  stage  before  they  pi'oduce  co- 
coons and  perfect  insects. 
■1.  It  would  obviously'  be  unwise  to  recommend 
any  treatment  till  wc  discover  the  full  life  history 
of  the  insect.  During  my  tour  through  Assam  I 
urged  on  the  attentioir  of  planters  the  necessity  of 
their  co-operation.  We  arc  not  likely  to  adviinco 
the  question  of  how  to  cope  with  the  pests  of  the 
tea-plant  till  we  possess  more  trustworthy  parti- 
culars than  we  at  present  have  regarding  each 
blight  and  pest.  W'ere  each  planter  to  give  even  five 
minutes  every  alternate  day  or  so  to  the  study  of 
one  out  of  the  many  insect  pests  we  very  soon  would 
Eosscss  the  desired  particul.irs.  The  borers  would  be 
est  studied  in  the  way  I have  indicated.  A few 
of  the  insects  that  escape  should  bo  collected,  killed 
as  carefully  as  possible,  so  as  not  to  rub  off  gll  the 
plumage  by  which  alone  they  arc  recognised.  The 
others  left  to  couple  and  lay'  their  eggs.  Cocoons, 
caterpillars  and  if  ijossible  eggs  as  well  as  perfect 
insects  are  necessary  for  a final  determination.  The 
preserved  moths  should  be  placed  in  a small  box 
along  with  cami)hor.  The  date  of  emergence  should 
be  recorded,  and  the  experiment  extended  for,  say, 
two  years  in  order  to  ece  how  many  times  a year  moths 
(ti'e  produced. 
5.  For  most  of  the  larger  insect  pests  of  the  tea 
plant  I believe  as  effectual  a nietliod  as  any  to  battle 
with  them  would  bo  to  train  a few  children  to  catch 
the  moths  in  ordinary  insect-collecting  nets.  I have 
seen  as  many  as  8 or  1(1  niaunds  of  the  common 
brown  caterpiller  (Andraka  trilochoidesj  gathered 
daily  in  one  garden.  A ftw  weeks  later  thousands 
of  the  harmless  looking  moths  were,  however, 
allov\ed  to  llutter  about  all  over  the  garden, 
and  deposit  thousands  upon  thousands  of  eggs.  I 
do  not  say  the  planters  should  stop  collecting  the 
caterpillar;  by  no  means,  but  if  it  pays  them  to  do 
so  why  not  complete  the  process  by  catching  the 
moths  as  well.  The  firs;  step  toward  any  such  whole- 
sale warfare  against  the  larger  insect  pests  is.  1st, 
to  know  both  the  caterpillar  and  the  moth  : 2nd,  to 
know  the  months  of  the  year  when  these  should  be 
looked  for.  In  the  case  of  borers  it  is  obviously  the 
more  rational  course  to  catch  the  moths,  since  the 
collection  of  the  caterpillar  very  often  means  the 
destruction  of  the  bush.  The  pre-ence  of  the  borer 
may  at  once  be  detected  by  the  saw-dust  like  powder 
seen  escaping  from  holes  on  the  stem  or  branches, 
or  accumulated  around  the  base  of  the  stem,  and  1 y 
the  leaves  of  the  tree  all  turning  brown  simul- 
taneously' and  withering  up  along  one  branch  or  set 
of  branches  that  spring  from  a distinct  portion  of 
the  bush.  These  should  be  instantly  cut  off,  an  1 
burned,  as  they  can  do  no  good,  and  may  become 
the  nursery  for  hundreds  more  of  the  same  enemy 
TKA  BLIGHTS. 
AVc  [Indian  F/nnfcrd  Gazette)  liav(3  to  ac- 
knowledge receipt  of  the  follow  ing  correspondence 
which  will  l)e  of  intere.st  to  our  readers:— 
Fj'om — Messrs.  Macneill  A Co.  Calcutta,  fSept.  7. 
In  a letter  which  we  have  received  from  the  Manager 
of  our  Kalline  Garden  in  Cachar  he  writes  us  as 
follows  ; — 
“ In  Etujlishman  of  28th  August  a letter  from  Dr. 
Watt,  read  at  Assam  Branch  of  Tea  Association,  con-' 
tains  very  valuable  information  under  the  heading  of 
‘An  Enemy  of  Pure  Jhat  Teas,’  and  solves  a matter 
that  has  puzzled  me  for  two  years.  Part  of  our  very 
best  tea  has  had  the  appearance,  he  mentions  it  had 
a close  resemblance  to  red  s[)ider  but  you  could  not 
find  the  red-spider  on  the  leaves  as  on  Jiybrid.  I 
am  fairly  sure  it  is  the  parasitic  mite  he  writes  of. 
These  bushes  have  to  a lai'gs  extent  recovered,  but 
I should  say,  10  per  cent  of  them  have  given  little 
or  no  tea  for  2 years.  I would  feel  much  obliged 
if  you  could  get  me  any  further  details  or  particulars 
of  Dr.  Watt’s  experiments  or  discoveries,  and  also 
if,  when  on  this  subject,  you  could  get  me  a pam- 
phlet or  leaflet  of  his  on  the  subject  of  introducing 
nitrogenous  microbes  into  our  soils  by'  means  of 
leguminous  pbmts  (a  late  German  discovery).  Mr. 
J.  S.  Hulbert,  of  the  Assam  Company,  had  been  in 
communication  with  him  about  it.’’ 
We  shall  be  much  obliged  if  you  can  put  us  in 
the  way  of  getting  from  Dr.  Watt  the  further  infor- 
mation which  our  Manager  asks  for. 
Following  upon  this  communication  the  Secretary 
of  . the  Indian  'Tea  Association  communicated  with 
Drv  Watt,  Reporter  on  Economic  Products  to  the 
Go  eminent  of  India. 
Dr.  Watt  replied  as  follows;— 
In  ve))ly  to  your  No.  filU— U.,  dated  10th  inst.,  by 
which  you  forward  to  me 'an  extract  from  a letter 
•received  by  you  from  Messrs.  Macneill  A'  Co.  on  the 
subject  of  a blight  observed  at  Kalline  in  Kachar, 
I have  the  honour  to  say  that  the  blight  in  ques- 
tion is,  doubtless,  the  new  disease  to  which  1 have 
drawn  attention. 
The  report  on  my  explorations  in  Assam  (at  least 
in  a preliminary  form)  I trust  may  appear  very 
shortly,  and  will  afford  full  particulars  of  the  kind 
desired.  In  that  report  I am  to  recommend  that 
the  bushes  sho>ild  be  syringed  in  March  and  April 
with  either  a decoction  of  Adhatoda  \hsica  or  kero- 
sine  emulsion.  From  my  experiments  I believe  the 
simple  insecticide  W'e  possess,  in  the  wild  plant 
Adhatoda,  will  very  jiossibly  bo  found  ouiupletuly 
