July  i,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
55 
would  certainly  like  to  see  them  j^etting  higher 
prices,  but  still  they  should  not  lose  sight  of  tlie 
circumstances  he  had  mentioned.  The  Company 
was  in  a good  position.  The  preliminary  expendi- 
ture had  been  written  off  in  d instead  of  5 years 
as  originally  contemplated,  and  they  had  also 
carried  forward  a good  sum.  He  de.sired  specially 
to  accentuate  the  fact  of  tlie  new  clearings 
being  so  good,  and  tlie  shareholders  ought  to  bear 
in  mind  that  they  have  now  an  additional  area 
of  102  acres  of  Liberian  coffee  and  cacao,  planted 
also  with  coconuts,  and  that  not  in  the  used-up 
soil  of  a re.suscitated  coffee  estate,  but  as  their  visit- 
ing agent  could  affirm  some  of  tlie  very  linest.soil 
in  the  district. 
Mr.  Fox  said  that  the  clearings  of  cacao  and 
Liberian  were  most  satisfactory,  and  the  soil  ex- 
ceptionally line  and  all  tliat  could  be  desiretl. 
He  mentioned  the  line  coconut  plants  also.  Al- 
luding to  the  very  line  cro[is  of  Liberian  coffee 
that  were  originally  yielded  from  the  older  and 
much  poorer  soil  in  the  portions  of  “Lil.eria” 
that  adjoin  the  railway  line,  he  remarked  that 
much  more  could  be  expected  from  the  new 
fields  of  rich  soil  than  was  got  from  the  older 
and  poor  land  wliich  cannot  be  compared  for  a 
moment  to  the  clearings,  though  they  had  yielded 
handsomely  in  former  years  as  regards  quantity, 
wdtcn  unfortunately  the  real  value  of  Liberian 
had  not  been  recognised  and  prices  were  very  low 
conqiarcd  to  )iresent  values. 
Mr.  UoRDON  Pvi’Li;  asked  regarding  the  shade 
01  the  new  clearing.^,  and  wdiether  it  was  dotri. 
mental  to  J.iberian  coffee,  and  an  interesting  dis- 
cussion arose  as  to  the  metliods  of  lopping  Ihbe- 
rian,  and  general  working  and  labour  and  the 
season  of  tea  pruning  ; and  after  suggesting,  that 
consideration  should  be  given  to  the  opening 
of  30  or  40  acres  more  laud  next  year, 
Mr.  Pyper  proposed  the  adoption  of  tlie  Direc- 
tors’ report  and  accounts,  and,  seconded  by  Mr. 
H.  tS.  Mix,  it  was  carried. 
Divjue.\]).  — It  was  moved  that  6 ]ier  cent  be 
now  paid  making  the  complement  of  11  per  cent 
for  the  year. 
Dikuctors. — Messrs.  Fox  and  F.  M.  Laurie 
w'ere  jiroposed  to  bo  re-elected  by  Mr.  IA  uer, 
econded  by  Mr.  Kix. 
Auditor. — Mr.  John  Guthrie’s  re-election  was 
moved  from  the  Chair  and  carried. 
Sux’KRiNTENDiiNT.— Mr.  E.  S.  Fox  considered 
tliat  Mr.  Kynaston’s  efforts  and  management  of 
estates  merited  the  tlianks  of  the  shareholders  ; 
and  this  being  seconded  by  Mr.  Lauriio,  the  resolu- 
tion conveying  the  same  was  carried. 
With  a vote  of  thauks  to  the  chair  the  meeting 
erminated. 
« 
ANOTHER  NEW  TEA  COMPANY. 
THE  PENRiro.S  ESTATE  COAIPANV,  UMJTED. 
The  last  new^  tea  estate  company  is  the 
Penrhos  Estate  Company,  which  is  to  be  foimed 
to  purchase  the  Penrhos  and  Hentleys  and  Deha- 
naike  estates  in  Ambagamuwa.  Penrhos  and 
Hentleys  belong  to  Mr.  W.  B.  Kimrsbury,  and 
tbe  whole  group  is  to  be  formed  into  one 
Company.  The  purchase  amount  is  said  to  be 
about  T1 1,000,  and  Messrs.  Lee,  Jledges  & Co.  are 
the  agents.  A contemporary  is  told  that  the 
capital  is  already  subscribed  more  than  twice  over. 
MADRAS  CINCHONA  PLANTATIONS. 
The  Fort  St.  George  Gazette,  recently  contained 
an  announcement  of  the  appointment  of  Mr.  W. 
M.  Standen  as  Director  of  the  Government  Cin- 
chona Plantations  in  Madras,  and  that  of  Mr.  D, 
Hooper  as  Government  Botanist,  .subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Secretary  ot  State.  Tlie  Government 
of  India  has,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Madra.-^,  sanctioned  Mr.  Standen’s  ap- 
pointment on  a salary  of  lUoO,  rising  to  R750  with 
free  (juarters.  Mr.  Standen,  as  a cinchona  planter 
of  experience,  is  considered  the  best  person  to  con- 
duct the  working  of  the  plantation  and  its  produce. 
He  w ill  be  given  one  year’s  time  to  (|ualify  in  the 
processes  involving  the  manufacture  of  cinchona 
jirodiicts,  when  he  will  be  placed  in  charge  of  the 
(]uiniiie  factory. — Fioneer.  June  10. 
INDIAN  INSECTS  OF  ECONOMIC 
IMPORTANCE. 
Number  ti.  Vol.  III.  of  tlio  Indian  Museum  Xote.s 
contains  a very  large  number  of  figures  prepared 
from  time  to  time  in  the  Entomological  Section  of 
the  Indian  Museum  in  illustr.atiou  of  insects  of 
economic  importance  in  India.  Most  of  the  species 
concerned  have  already  been  more  or  less  completely 
discussed  in  the  pages  of  previous  issues  of  these 
interesting  pamphlets,  and  in  publishing  these 
figures  the  Trustees  do  so,  merely  with  a view  to 
facilitate  their  identification,  and  they  have  thereby 
rendered  the  public  a great  service.  The  illustrations 
are  very  w'ell  executed  by  native  artist, s,  to  w'hom 
due  acknowledgment  is  given  for  their  services, 
while  the  writer  of  the  XotcH  does  not  forget  to  ex- 
press his  thanks  for  the  great  assistance  rendered 
by  Colonel  J.  Waicrhouse  and  Messrs.  Dean  and 
Boss.  Among  the  illustrations  which  have  the 
greatest  interest  for  those  in  this  Presidency  we  find 
one  of  the  Biiprestid  Psitoplem  faaluosa,  referred  to 
in  previous  Xotes  in  connection'  with  injury  to  teak 
trees.  It  losemlilcs  ihe  jumping  beetles,  that  de- 
scription which  if  placed  on  their  backs  will  recover 
their  proper  position  by  a series  of  jumps,  some- 
times leaping  two  or  three  inches  into  the  air.  The 
Hesperid  Gangava  Ihijrsis  is  notable  as  a defoliator 
of  young  coconut  palms  in  Malabar.  The  cater- 
pillar of  these  species  Alope  ricini,  a sort  of  woolly 
bear,  occurs  throughout  India,  and  is  a general 
defoliator.  Another  illustration  show's  that  Acri- 
ditiui  an-uginosum,  referred  to  in  various  places  in 
the  SotC!<  in  connection  with  so-called  “ locust- 
invasions  ” in  this  Presidency,  taken  from  speci- 
mens received  from  Madras.  We  arc  told  that 
considerable  individual  variation  is  exhibited  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  w'ing  markings,  even  in  specimens 
forwarded  together  from  the  same  locality.  In  the 
absence  of  colouring,  we  are  unable  to  say  whether 
these  are  the  sa  nc  species  of  locusts  that  invaded 
the  Island  several  years  ago,  but  they  look  rather 
like  them.  The  ones  we  refer  to,  attacked  the 
croton  bushes  at  the  further  end  of  the  Island, 
near  the  Buckingham  canal,  and  were  notable  for 
their  beautiful  colouring,  in  which  a bright  blue  was 
conspicuous.  But  we  find  an  illustration  of  another 
locust,  the  palaearctic,  which  may  be  the  one  we 
refer  to.  Specimens  of  the  latter  were  sent  to  the 
Indian  Museum  in  connection  both  with  the  Mad- 
ras locust  invasion  of  1878  and  also  with  more 
localised  injury  to  standing  crops  in  Gan-jam  in 
181)0.  The  Viiricty  appears  to  be  a far  lessserious 
enemy  to  standing  crops  in  India  than  such  species 
as  Acridiuni  i>ere<iiimuii  and  Aciidium  succinclum. 
Of  coffee  pests  there  are  several  illustrations,  in- 
cluding one  of  an  ant,  which  also  attacks  cinchona 
bushes,  in  Ceylon,  and  is  known  as  C remast og aster 
doliriii,  a very  long  name  for  a very  little  insect  ; 
the  imago  of  the  cosmopolitan  species  Agrafes 
segelum,  which  attacks  young  coffee  plants  ; the 
scale  in.sect,  Lccaiiium  viridc,  with  a plate  illus 
trating  its  life  history.  Among  other  interesting  figures 
is  that  of  an  Asilid  tly  wdiich  mimics  the  bee  'Trigona 
vidua  so  closely  in  size  and  colouration  as  to  be  al- 
most indistinguishable  wdieu  upon  the  wing,  in  spite 
of  its  great  structural  diversity.  The  Asilid  fig- 
ured was  taken  in  the  act  of  devoiu'ing  the  bee.  The 
last  illustration  which  we  can  refer  to,  shows  the  re- 
mains of  a beam  of  wood,  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
