B.  /,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
515 
low  the  hounds  as  he  had  done  in  Gloucestershire  for 
many  years  after  retiring  from  Ceylon,  and  still 
more  that  he  should  recover  so  well  from  the  shock 
and  breakage  of  bones  caused  by  his  fall. 
IN  CHKI-TEHHAM. 
For  several  years  back  Mr.  White  has  resided 
in  a very  comfortable  mansion  surrounded  by 
a fine  garden  in  Cheltenham.  He  continues  to 
be  the  most  regular  of  men  in  all  his  arrange- 
ments. After  breakfast,  from  9 to  12  noon,  nearly 
every  day  he  gives  to  his  correspondence  and 
to  anyone  calling  on  business,  and  then  he  has  bis 
midday  walk,  seldom  going  out  of  an  afternoon, 
though  fond  of  visitors  coming  in  to  “ tea  ” or 
dinner  with  him.  Nothing  delights  Mr.  White  more 
than  to  encounter  Ceylon  men  and  talk  over  old 
limes,  and  lately  he  enjoyed  in  this  way  at 
Mrs.  Mackie’s  residence,  meeting  Messrs.  Wm. 
Kollo,  Humphreys  and  Tilly.  Were  it  not  for 
the  heat  of  the  Red  Sea,  Mr.  White  would 
even  now  visit  Ceylon,  so  much  would  he  like 
to  see  the  dear  island  again,  where  he  laboured  so 
long  and  well.  Kut  of  this,  we  fear,  there  is 
little  hope.  We  were  not  aware  till  the  other 
day  that  Mr.  White  had  become  a Koman 
Catholic— a fact  that  must  shock  his  nephew, 
Lord  Overtoun  (John  Campbell  White),  the  well- 
known  Liberal  supporter  of  Evangelical  Protes- 
tant Missions,  and  a great  philanthropist.  But 
our  Mr.  A.  C.  AVhite  is  not  wanting  either 
in  good  works,  according  to  his  light : he  is 
the  most  liberal  supporter  of  his  Church  in 
Cheltenham  ; but  he  goes  further  and  in  deeds 
of  kindness  and  charity  which  are  confined  to 
no  Charch,  few  men  are  so  open-handed  ; and  the 
Treasurers  of  the  Hospital,  Convalescent  Home, 
and  ocher  deserving  charities  in  Cheltenham  have 
reason  to  bless  the  day  that  the  wealthy  Cey- 
lon estates  proprietor  settled  in  their  midst. 
Our  latest  news  through  a friend  is  that  Mr. 
White,  though  over  80,  continues  to  look  young 
for  his  age,  with  his  erect  ligure,  and  steady 
walk,  a favourite  little  dog  being  his  companion. 
What  tales  he  could  unfold  of  his  “ days  of 
old,”  fifty  years  ago,  on  die  hills  of  Ceylon, 
when  he  laboured  and  watched 
The  coffee  shrubs  in  springing  up 
The  forest  going  down  ; 
— and  of  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Colony  since, 
until  now  as  proprietor  of  Mount  Vernon  in 
tea,  he  has  a property  far  more  valuable  than 
ever  it  was  in  its  days  of  virgin  soil  in  coffee. 
Altogether  no  tale  in  romance  can  be  half  so 
strange  as  that  of  the  coffee  cinchona-tea  Colony  ; 
and  no  one  has  stuck  by  it  more  faithfully 
and  continuously  in  good  and  evil  report  (for  heavy 
losses  had  to  be  experienced  from  time  to  time, 
even  in  recent  years)  than  the  subject  of  our  notice, 
Mr.  Alexander  Campbell  White.  May  his 
shadow  never  grow  less ! 
Agricultural  Pests  : 
WITH  METHODS  OF  PREVENTION. 
BY  MISS  E.  A.  OIIMEROD 
(Late  Consulting  Entomologist  to  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Society  of 
England). 
[Special  for  “ Tropical  Ayriculturii>tf) 
II. 
PESTS  AFFECTING  FROM  CROPS  AND 
ANIMALS. 
G.tD  FLIES,  WAUBLE  AND  BOT  FLIH  ?,  FOREST  FLIES,  &C. 
The  family  of  the  Tabanidcu,  or  Gad  Plies, 
which  are  injurious  as  blood-suckers,  include  some 
of  the  largest  flies  which  we  have  in  this  country, 
and  cause  injury  by  piercing  into  the  skin  (it  may 
be  of  cattle,  or  it  may  bo  of  ourselves)  with  the 
lancet-like  apparatus  which  they  carry  iu  their  pro- 
boscis. In  shape  they  may  be  described  as  like  com- 
mon flies ; but  the  great,  dark  brown  fly,  striped 
across  with  yellow,  known  as  Ox  Gad  fly,  is  some- 
times as  much  as  an  inch  and  three  quax-ters  in  the 
tpread  of  the  wings, 
From  the  circumstance  of  the  Larva,  or  maggot,  of  the 
2'ohanus  JJovinus  having  a distinct  horny  head,  and 
the  pupa  being  naked  and  incomplete  (that  is  to 
say  in  some  degree  resembling  the  perfect  fly, 
will  be  seen  that,  technically,  this  family  is  nearly 
allied  to  those  of  which  the  Tipula  may  be  taken  aa 
a type.  But  the  points  under  consideration  being 
the  animals  or  plants  attacked,  I deal  with  thQ 
Gad  Flies  here,  together  with  the  other  cattle  flies, 
As  in  this  case  it  seems  impossible  to  lessen  attack 
by  destroying  the  maggots,  the  next  best  way  of 
saving  the  cattle  from  annoyance  would  appear  to 
be  moving  them  from  pastures  by  streams,  or  such 
localities  as  the  flies  frequent,  to  more  open  and 
drier  land,  where  the  state  of  the  ground  would 
not  suit  the  gad-fly  maggots,  and  the  flies  would 
not  find  the  trees  which  they  love  to  lurk  amongst. 
In  case  of  dressings  being  desirable  to  ward  off 
infestation,  the  same  that  are  known  to  answer 
iu  the  preventing  attack  of  Warble  Fly  would  be 
useful. 
The  large  family  of  the  (Estridoe,  popularly  known 
at  Bot  Flies,  differ  from  the  Gad  Flies,  entirely, 
in  their  method  of  doing  harm,  inasmuch  as,  . 
generally  speaking,  tlie  mouth  of  the  (Estridoe  is 
obsolete,  only  represented  by  a few  minute  fleshy 
tubercles  ; also  the  maggots  of  this  family  of  flies 
live  within  some  part  of  the  animal  that  is  attacked. 
Prof.  Westwood  notes  three  principal  differences  in 
their  habits  : some  live  iu  tumours  beneath  the 
skin  ; some  attack  the  cavities  of  the  head,  which 
are  reached  through  the  nostrils  ; and  some  are 
gastric  in  their  attack,  by  the  maggots  being  in. 
troduced  iuto  the  stomach. 
The  kind  we  are  about  to  notice  (the  Gastro- 
pliilus  equi,  or  Horse  Bot  Ply)  are  about  the  size  of 
a house  fly,  or  rather  larger,  and  are  somewhat 
gaily  coloured  with  yellowisli  and  dark  markings, 
and  very  hairy. 
In  the  case  of  this  Horse  Bot  Ply,  the  female 
hardly  touches  the  animal,  but,  whilst  lightly  flying 
to  and  fro,  places  the  eggs  on  the  hairs,  until  the 
very  numerous  supply  are  laid.  These  are  fixed  by 
a kind  of  sticky  moisture  on  the  shoulder,  or  on  the 
mane,  inside  tlie  knee,  or  on  any  other  part  selected, 
The  maggot  forms  within  the  egg,  aud  when  it  ia 
ready  to  hatch  (which  may  be  in  a period  of  from 
about  live  days  to  three  weeks),  the  warmth  and 
moisture  of  the  horse’s  tongue  in  licking  the  in- 
fested hair,  causes  the  kind  of  lid  or  cap  to  open 
or  crack,  and  the  maggot  within  sticks  to  the  tongue, 
and  is  thus  gradually  transferred  to  the  stomach. 
Here  the  maggets  fix  themselves  to  the  mucous 
membrane  by  means  of  two  dark  brown  hooks,  one 
of  which  is  placed  on  e.ich  side  of  the  slit  which 
serves  for  a mouth,  and  there  they  nourish  them- 
