Jan.  r,  i8g6  ] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
457 
THE  AUSTKAUAN  LADV-BIItDS  RECEIVE 
KIND  NOTICE  IN  HAWAII. 
SuccEs-s  ON  Coffee. 
Mr.  J.  Marsden,  Coniiiiis.siouer  of  Agriculture 
in  Honolulu,  writing  to  u.s  on  October  28tb,  re- 
ports : — 
I mail  you  under  separate  cover  the  August  number 
of  the  Flanfers'  Monthly,  in  which  you  will  find  an 
account  of  the  good  work  done  hy  the  Cryptalaemus 
Lady-bird  on  the  Coffee  blight  in  Kona,  Hawaii. 
We  are  the  more  eager  to  .see  lady-birds  at  work 
in  Ceylon. — The  extract  referred  to  is  as  follow, s 
Kailua,  North  Kona,  Hawaii,  Aug.  8, 18i).5. 
Editor  “Planters’  Monthly”: — 
Some  eight  months  ago  I wrote  to  you  concerning 
the  lady-bird  which  had  been  introduced  to  prey  upon 
our  coffee  blight,  expressing  doubt,  as  to  its  utility, 
and  until  May  of  the  present  year,  my  remarks  seemed 
to  hold  good,  as,  up  to  that  time,  very  few  specimens 
in  any  stage  could  be  found,  and  the  increase  of  Ptil- 
vinaria  was  simply  terrible. 
In  his  reply  to  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
local  Associations  on  April  5th,  Mr.  Marsden  informed 
us  of  the  habit  of  Crytolcemus  ? taking  a winter  rest, 
and  some  weeks  afterwards  an  increase  of  the  lady- 
bird was  apparent  on  guavas  gi’owing  in  the  vici- 
nity of  coffee,  on  which  the  origninal  colo- 
nies had  been  liberated,  but  principally  at  a point 
about  three  miles  on  the  Thurston  road  at  an 
elevation  of  about  1,000  feet.  Spreading  from  this 
place  they  have  travelled  in  all  direction,  and  are 
now  to  be  found  from  the  beach  up  to  2,000  feet 
on  the  mountain  side,  their  distribution  having 
been  materially  aided  by  large  quantities  of  pupoe 
having  been  collected  and  carried  to  various  parts 
of  the  district.  So  far  they  seem  to  breed  more 
rapidly  at  low  elevations  and  show  a preference  for 
blight  upon  any  tree  but  the  coffee.  Jt  is,  however, 
gratifying  to  note  that,  having  cleared  out  the 
blight  on  other  vegetation,  they  take  to  the  coffee,  as 
a last  resort,  and  keep  on  until  that  too  is  clean. 
The  work  of  Vedalia  Cardinalis  on  the  cottony 
cushion  scale  in  California  has  hitherto  been  regarded 
as  an  exceptional  instance  of  the  complete  extir- 
mination  of  an  insect  pest  by  a predaceous  enemy  ; 
and,  in  a recent  letter  from  the  Washington  De- 
partment, a doubt  is  expressed  as  to  the  wisdom 
of  relying  too  much  in  that  direction.  The  work 
of  CryjJtolipinus  Monsfr-teusers  in  the  Pulvinaria 
psidei  will,  however,  so  far  as  present  indi- 
cations show,  be  just  as  remarkable  as  that  of 
Vedalia  in  California,  if  it  remains  as  indus- 
trious as  it  is  at  present. 
Now  that  the  dreaded  White  Aphis  has  been  com- 
pletely exterminated  by  Ilileyii,  the  hopes  that 
Crypt  nice  THUS  will  inflict  a similar  fate  upon  Pulvinaria 
is  making  our  Kona  coffee  planters  jubilant  and  Prof. 
Koebele,  as  w'ell  as  Mr.  Marsden,  will  occupy  a warm 
corner  in  their  hearts.— Yours  faithfully, 
William  G.  Wait. 
THE  NEW  QUININE  FACTORY. 
The  opening  of  the  new  English  quinine-work  at 
Stamford  Hill,  which  we  announced  in  our  issue  of 
last  w'eek,  is  not  likely  to  have  a serious  effect  up- 
on the  market-position  of  the  .Irug.  It  is  irue  that 
the  entire  output  of  the  facto. y fo.  the  preseu  mouth 
is  said  to  have  been  sold  aiead  , Pui  ti-e  woiks  ai  e 
described  as  only  of  “ mode  < te  I'.ip '.’'i'v  ’ The  chief 
point  of  interest  in  the  situ  tio.i  is  th  t the  new  factory 
is  the  only  one  in  Europe  not  bound  by  the  “ .agree- 
ment,” “convention,”  or  “understanding” — call  it 
what  you  will — which  has  existed  for  more  than  a 
year  among  the  older  makers,  and  has-given  a healthy 
tone  to  the  quinine-market.  The  Imperial  Quinine- 
works  may  set  out  on  their  career  with  the  best  pos- 
sible intention  against  price-cutting,  but  theirs  is  an 
unknown  brand,  and  the)'  will  naturally  have  to  pay 
Ipr  their  comparative  bbsciuity  as  a manufacturing 
concern  by  accepting  a lower  price  for  their  article 
than  betteir-known  makers.  We  have  nm  reason  to 
doubtthe  accuracy  of  the  statements  that  were  publicly 
iPftde  last  week  with  regard  to  the  excellence  bt  the  new 
quinine,  but  it  takes  a long  time  to  convince  the  average 
consumer,  especially  a British  cue,  who  is  proverbially 
loath  to  leave  his  time-honoured  sources  of  supply. 
Now,  the  fact  that  the  new  company,  in  spite  of  the 
alien  origin  of  its  loading  promoters  and  its  chemist, 
appeal  specially  to  consumers  of  English  quinine, 
will  probably  render  it  necessary  for  them  slightly 
to  undersell  their  rivals  for  a long  time  in  order  to 
establish  a sure  footing.  If  the  makers  already  in 
possession  of  the  market  refrain  from  retaliating, 
things  may  settle  down  without  much  trouble  into  a 
condition  in  which  the  new  English  brand  will  assume 
a market  position  analogous  to  that  taken  by  a certain 
quinine  among  German  brands.  But  should  the 
older  makers  be  so  ill-advised  as  to  declare  war 
upon  the  new  comer,  we  may  possibly  again  return  to 
the  price-cutting  days  of  1892,  when  quinine  was 
purchaseable  below  lOd.  per  oz.,  and,  possibly,  to  a 
renewal  of  the  system'of  unrestricted  selling  for  forward 
delivery  at  competitive  prices,  which  was  responsible 
for  the  accumulation  of  such  an  enormous  stock  of 
second-hand  quinine  in  the  hands  of  speculators. 
The  new  factory  starts  at  a time  w'hen  the  older 
manufacturers  were  believed  to  be  contemplating  an 
all  round  advance  in  their  quotations  early  in  the 
coming  year.  From  the  quinine-makers’  point  of 
view  the  mai-ket  has  been  mending  for  some  time, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  there  has  been  no  im- 
provement worth  speaking  of  in  the  second-hand 
quotations,  and  that  the  makers’  prices  have  remained 
unaltered  for  months.  The  second-hand  stock  of  qui  - 
nine  in  London  has  been  reduced  to  manage- 
able proportions,  the  cinchona  .bark  supply  in 
this  country  is  too  small  to  place  any  serious 
impiediment  in  the  way  of  a rise,  and  at  least 
one  of  the  large  German  quinine  works  has  been 
deliberately  kept  closed  all  through  the  summer 
months.  Only  the  Java  producers  remain  hopelessly 
disunited.  Their  exports  of  cinchona  bark  last  month 
reached  the  enormous  total  of  over  1,200,000  lb. 
(1,100,000  Amsterdam  lb.),  and  in  their  present  dis- 
organised condition  they  are  almost  at  the  mercy  of 
the  quinine-makers,  so  far  as  the  price  of  their  pro- 
duce is  concerned.  At  the  present  time  the  quinine 
manufacturers  pay  for  the  quinine  in  the  bark  only 
about  one-fourth  of  the  price  at  which  they  quote 
their  finished  product,  and  if  only  the  second-hand 
stock  of  quinine  were  smaller  than  it  is,  they  would 
nut  be  at  all  badly  off.  For  the  sake  of  the  stabi- 
lity of  the  industry  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  will 
admit  the  new  firm  into  their  comity  with  as  little 
friction  as  possible.  On  the  other  hand,  the  brokers 
who  at  present  act  for  the  new  factory  are  too  ex- 
perienced in  questions  relating  to  cinchona  bark  and 
quinine  to  be  likely  to  provoke  a contest  of  price- 
cutting. — Chemist  and  JJruyyist. 
LIBERIAN  COFFEE  AND  COCOA 
PRICEy. 
Doloshage,  Dec.  8. 
The  last  London  market  reports  contain 
the  announeeinent  that  86  hag.s  Liberian  (Cey- 
lon) line  yellow  fetched  90s  6d  and  brown  at 
86s.  These  price.s  for  small  consignments  are 
excellent,  seeing  th.at  the  average  for  Arabian, 
realizing  from  94s  to  110s,  at  the  same  sale,  w'as 
only  99s.  Resid.es,  small  consignments  of  any 
imvlnet  generally  go  “for  a song.”  When 
Liberian  coffee  growing  was  fir.st  attempted, 
much  was  said  aliout  the  markets  for  it.  It 
will  only  sell  at  New  York  and  low  con- 
tinental markets  A'c.  That  was  fourteen  years 
ago.  It  is  important  to  note  the  colour  of  the 
coffee  that  fetched  most.  Bluish-grey  and  pale 
green  were  the  tints  for  Arabian  coffee  years  ago. 
Cocoa  has  been  reported  as  selling  at  60s.  for 
several  months  past,  but  the  Ceylon  mediums, 
though  not  reported,  have  fetched  from  67s  to  69s. 
and  best  qualities  up  to  77s.  Tlie  last  report  states 
that  there  has  been  a stembf  decrease  of  stock. 
Prices  will,  of  course,  improve.  It  will  be  re- 
membered by  a few  that  the  price  of  coffee  rosf 
