202 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept. 
1896. 
Such  a table  of  calculations  drawn  up  in  accor  - 
dance  wi'h  the  present,  enhanced  rates  of  payment 
will,  I venture  to  think,  prove  eminently  ustfnl. — 
Yours  faithfully,  KOGATUS. 
AN  INSECT  ENEMY  OF  TEA. 
Woodisloe  Estate,  Wenda,  Au<^.  12. 
Slit,  — I <ain  .sondinff  you  this  ilay  a parcel  con- 
taining a few  worms  witli  some  tea  leaves,  as 
they  were  found  on  the  bushes.  These  I found 
attackinpc  my  tea  bushes  and  destroying  them 
to  some  e.vtent. 
Therefore  would  you  be  kind  enough  to  observe 
these  destructive  insects  and  suggest  a remedy 
against  this  me  my  of  (he  tea  hush,  through  your 
valuable  journal  or  otherwise. — Yours  truly, 
H.  D.  MARTIN. 
[Our  entomological  authority  writes: — “ I iiave 
e.'camined  the  tea  leaves  you  sent  me  yesterday. 
The  ‘ poochies’  rolled  up  in  the  tip  of  .some  of  them 
are  cateri)illars  of  a minute  moth.  In  large  num- 
bers they  would  do  harm  to  the  tea  bushes.  The 
upcountry  friend  who  sent  tliem  to  you  must 
know  more  about  it  than  we  can  by  a mere 
e.xamiiiation  of  the  injured  leaves.” — Eo.  C.O.] 
AN  INSECT  ENEMY  OF  TEA. 
Woodslee  Estate,  Weuda,  22nd  Aug.  1896. 
Ok.'ii:  Sih, — I am  very  thankful  to  you  for 
the  interest  you  have  taken  in  examining  the  poo- 
chies I sent  yon  the  other  day  and  giving  insertion, 
in  your  i)ai>er,  to  the  opinion  of  your  entomo- 
logical authority  about  the  same.  Sorry  I am 
unable  to  make  any  better  observation  of  tlie 
insects,  as  I cannot  pretend  to  know  the  natural 
characteristics  of  these,  in  order  to  suggest  a 
favourable  remedy  to  destroy  them  altogether, 
before  they  can  increa.se  in  large  numbers,  in 
wliich  case  “ they  would  do  harm  to  the  tea 
bushes.”  But  as  far  as  I can  observe  the  insects, 
they  don’t  seem  to  be  very  rapid  in  their  propaga- 
tion. Tlicreforc,  I think,  tliis  enemy  will  not  he 
able  to  destroy  tlie  tea  bush  to  any  appreciable 
extent.  Still,  I get  them  picked  daily  otl  my 
bushr's  and  destroy  them,  this  being  the  only  way 
I could  adopt  in  |)utting  an  end  to  this  iii- 
scet  eiicmu  of  tea. — Yours  truly, 
II.  D.  MAUTIN. 
.iy 
Till-:  C()COA-BUTri*:i:  Duty.— There  seems  (says 
the  Chemist  ami  Druijuist  of  July  18th)  to  be  a strange 
confusion  about  the  cocoa-butter  duty.  On  July  2nd 
the  House  cf  Commons  resolved  that  a duty  of  2d 
per  lb.  should  be  levied  on  it.  On  Thursday,  July 
9th,  after  a further  debate,  it  passed  a resolution 
deciaiing  that  ‘‘a  duty  of  Customs  of  Id  shall  be 
charged  on  that  product  of  the  cocoa-bean  which  is 
generally  known  as  cocoa-butter,”  the  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer  declaring  that  Messrs.  Fry  & Sons 
and  other  dissenting  linns  had  declared  their  acqui- 
escence in  that  moditied  duty.  The  presumption  was 
therefore  that  cocoa-butter  imported  between  July 
2nd  and  July  9th  was  dutiable  at  the  rate  of  2d 
per  lb.,  and  that  imported  after  July  9th  at  the  rate 
of  Id  per  lb.  But  upon  making  inquiry  at  the  Cus- 
tom House  this  (Thursday)  afternoon,  we  were  in- 
formed that  no  ollicial  order  imposing  a duty  had 
yet  reached  that  department,  and  that  any  cocoa- 
butter iup'orted  at  this  moment  would  still  bo  ad- 
mitted dut\-frec>,  uidess  indeed  an  order  to  the 
contrary  should  be  received  from  headquarters  before 
the  lot  was  cleared.  How  to  reconede  this  state- 
ment with  the  House  of  Commons’  resolutions  we 
fail  to  understand.  Is  it  possible  that  the  official 
order  giving  effect  to  the  resolution  has  become  lost 
somewhere  in  the  Circumlocution  office 't 
DRUG  REPORT. 
(From  the  Chemist  and  Dnajgist.) 
Loudon,  Aug.  (3th. 
C.VMimoii  (Crude).— The  L(Uwlon  market  is  quiet.  At 
the  end  of  last  week  tliere  were  .sellers  of  Formosa  for 
Augusi.-October  shipment  at  95s  per  cwt.,  c.  i.  f.  terms, 
l)Ut  quotations  vary  a good  deal.  At  auction  today  149 
pickages  of  Forino.sa  camphor,  itupo  ted  via  Hamburg, 
sold  at  a decline  of  7s  od  to  10s  per  cwt.  compared 
with  tlie  last  auction  ratci,  but  at  about  steady  prices 
compared  witli  tlie  private  quotations.  The  first  99  cases 
of  the  parcel  realised  110s,  and  for  the  remainder  107s  (id 
per  cwt.  was  accepted. 
C.VMPHOR  (ilEi'i.NED).— Unchanged.  At  auction  today 
there  were  ii  packages  of  .Japane-‘<'  refined.  For  1-lb. 
sablets  a bid  of  Is  4d  per  lb.  wa.i  rejected,  and  I oz. 
quares  Is  7d  would  have  been  taken,  b it]  he  e 
were  no  buyers  ; j-oz.  squares  were  bouglit  in  at  1st 
8d  per  lb. 
Oils  (Essentui.).— Clove  oil,  owing  to  a further  de- 
cline in  the  raw  material,  has  again  been  slightly 
lowered,  the  present  quotation  from  the  English  manu- 
facturers being  from  Is  lod  to  ?s  per  lb.,  according  to 
quality.  On  the  other  hand,  there  has  been  an  advance 
in  English  Oil  of  cinnamon,  which  now  stands  at  7s 
to  7s  (3d  per  oz.  Citronella  oil  dull  of  sale,  at  Is  4d  to 
Is  6d  per  lb.  on  the  spot,  according  to  p.tcking.  Lemon- 
grass  oil  2jd  spot,  and  2 23-32d.  per  oz.  c.  i.  f.  Cinnamon- 
leaf  oil  is  extremely  scarce  ; bids  of  4*1  per  oz. 
have  been  rejected  this  week.  Patchouli  oil  extremely 
scarce.  The  English  distillers  ask  Is  lOd  per  oz.,  and  for 
Fisher's  Singapore  oil  as  much  as  Is  8d  is  asked. 
Seeds  (Various). — Thirty-five  packages  damaged  dull 
Coriander  seed  from  South  .4merica  sold  cheaply  at  5s 
per  cwt.  ; fair  Malta  cumin  seed  was  bought  in  at  36s 
to  37s,  and  for  fair  bright  East  Indian  aunatto,  a bid 
of  2^(1  per  lb.  was  refused. 
V'axilla. — Eighty-three  packages  were  offered  today 
and  mostly  sold.  Good  qualities,  which  are  scarce, 
realised  steady  prices,  2Js  Cd  to  26s  per  lb.  for  fine  six 
inch,  Mauritius,  15s  6d  to  19s  for  mixed  sizes.  A large 
proportion  of  the  supply,  however,  consisted  of  very 
badly-cured  mouldly  Seychelles  vanilla  imported  via  Bom- 
bay. The  shipment  of  this  has  apjiarently  been  unduly 
hurried,  and  the  result  was  that  it  has  sold  at  the  low 
price  of  3s  6d  to  7s  3d  per  lb. 
Various  Uruos.— Cubeb.s  are  quite  neglected.  Seventy- 
four  packages  at  auction  were  bought  in  ; fair,  partly 
stalky,  from  Singapore  at  35s;  ordinary,  very  small  dmsty 
and  stalky  mixed,  at  25s  per  cwt.  A case  of  two  45-lb. 
tins  of  very  astringent  Kino  from  Bombay  was  bought 
ill  at  12s  per  lb. 
« 
Rue.v  FiltRK. — Capital  lias  the  following  re- 
marks .about  rhea : — It  is  a stintless  nettle  tliat 
will  grow  in  .almost  any  soil  that  is  not  inun- 
dated. It  is  indigenous  to  Assam  .and  can  be 
traced  away,  we  believe,  right  tlirough  Burma 
and  the  >Slian  States  into  China.  That  it  has  been 
long  known  in  China  is  beyond  a doubt  ; but  the 
curing  of  it  lias  not  received  much  attention  at 
John  Chinaman’s  liands,  although  rude  ajipliances 
liave  been  in  use  for  scraping  the  gum  from  the 
fibre  for  many  years,  and  these  crude  implements 
can  be  seen  at  tlie  British  Consul.ate  if  any  one 
is  anxious  to  see  tliem.  In  Assam  the  so-called 
Assame.se  silks  .are  largely  mixed  with  rhea.  The 
great  v.alue  of  the  lilas.se  is  that  it  retains  its 
lustre  and  shines  just  as  the  silkworm  silks  does, 
until  it  has  been  several  times  subjected  to  the 
treatment  of  the  Indian  dhobie  ; wear  out  though 
it  won’t  but  siniidy  loses  its  lustre,  and  those  who 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  wearing  Assam  silk  suits 
can  distinguished  the  rhea  lilasse  which  has  been 
mixed  by  the  tiny  knots  into  which  it  forms 
after  several  thrashings  of  the  Hindu  washer- 
man. 
/ G1A”'ED  skin,  biles,  SCALDS,  bruises, 
U2  C U TS,  S TINGS,  N E U llALG  IC  and  RH EU- 
MATIC  BAINS,  SOKE  EYES,  EAR-ACHE, 
TlIROAd’  ('OU)S,  and  SKIN  AIL.MENTS quickly 
''lisrof'’*^'  CALVERTS  CARBOLIC  OINTMENT- 
Large  Bots  l.’Lpl.  each  (English  rate).  Sold  at 
Chemists,  Stores,  Ac. 
F.  C-  CALVERT  & C0-*  Manchester. 
