April  i,  iS-;;.  ] 
Ti-IE  TROPICAL  AGRICJL  rORIST. 
665 
The  maggot  does  not  care  for  cold.  It  will 
mend  its  earthen  case  it  it  is  broken  ; and  even 
if  it  is  buried  by  the  giills  on  t’.io  c.abbage  stalks 
being  dug  in,  it  appears  to  thrive  as  well  as  if 
thsy  were  still  growing.  Therefore,  it  is  a great 
object  to  get  rid  of  all  nurseries  of  future  attack 
by  burning  or  other  vise  destroying  old  stems  with 
galls,  instead  of  throwing  them  to  a rubbish-heap 
or  digging  them  in  ; and  a ch.rnge  of  crop  is  use- 
ful, by  presenting  food  that  they  e.rnn  .t  eat,  or 
find  useful  1 1 lay  eggs  in,  to  the  g.all  weevils  that 
may  be  waiting  in  the  ground. 
In  many  of  the  v.'eevil  attacks  which  we  have  been 
studying,  treatment  of  the  surface  of  the  rronnd  is 
a great  point;  as,  for  instance,  where  they  shelter 
under  rulibish,  or  down  stubhlo,  to  clear  away  these 
slielters,  and  put  on  dressings  which  will  be  thor. Highly 
obnoxious  to  the  weevils,  is  good  treatment-  WUiere 
the  Weevils,  or  their  grubs,  are  in  the  ground,  it 
obviously  is  well  to  turn  them  out  011  the  surface, 
or  bury  them  by  treucliiiig  so  d eply  chat  they  can- 
not come  up;  and  also,  so  to  dig  in,  or  otherwise 
apply,  chemical  manures,  as  to  make  the  soil  un- 
pleasant at  least  to  the  pest,  and  so  good  for  llie 
plant  that  it  may  grow  away  from  attack. 
The  turnip  flea  beetles  are  well  Icuown  tor  their 
e.iping  powers.  They  live  daring  winter  uu.der  clods,  or 
ia  dry  stone  walls,  or  any  conveuicut  slioltev  and 
cjme  out  with  sunshine  in  spring.  Then  they  feed 
on  any  plant  of  the  cabbage  kind;  charlock  is  an 
especial  favourite,  until  tlie  young  turuio  plants  are 
come  up.  Presently  they  lay  their  eggs  (if  oti  turnips) 
on  the  under  side  of  the  i-ough  leaf,  and  from  these 
tne  grub  eats  its  aw.iv  into  the  leaf,  within  which 
it  feeds  for  about  six  daj’s.  It  thou  comes  ou’’',  buries 
it.self  in  the  ground,  tind  turns  to  the  chrysalis,  from 
which  the  beetle  appears  in  about  a fortui  fiit,  ready 
to  begin  a new  attack. 
The  first  point  in  prevention  is  to  t iks  care  there 
is  as  little  winter  shelter  as  possible.  Lumps  of 
m inure  and  clod.s  of  earth  on  the  field;  heaps  of 
stones  and  rubbish,  such  as  are  often  allowed  to  lie 
in  corners  of  fields;  large  collections  of  d ad  leaves 
on  the  borders  of  woods;  and  dry  dykes  or  open 
stone  walls — are  all  winter  shelters. 
Another  point  is  to  let  there  be  as  few  weeds  as 
possible  to  keep  the  “'Fly  ” alive.  If  it  does  not 
find  suitable  food  it  will  die  or  remove  itself.  It 
has  a power  of  perceiviug  whore  its  food  is;  aud 
such  plants  as  charlock,  or  tho  white-fiowering  .Jack- 
by-the-edge,  or  shepherd’s  purse,  will  ail  help  to  keep 
it  alive  till  our  turnips  are  ready.  Thus,  we  may 
lessen  the  amount  of  coming  attack;  hut  the  grea't 
p nut  to  depend  on  for  carrying  the  turnip  crop  through 
‘■fly’  attack  is  judicious  preparati  m of  the  ground — 
plentiful  supply  of  enrichment,  including  a,  good  amount 
of  artificial  manure,  and  liberal  supply  of  seed. 
The  “fly”  does  most  harm  to  tne  turnips  whilst 
they  ate  still  in  the  seed-leaves;  therefore,  all  means 
should  be  used  to  give  a good  start,  aud  run  the 
plant  on  in  0,  hearty  growth.  For  this  purpose  the 
land  should  bo  well  prepared  beforehamk  Where 
climate  allows,  autumn  eulcivatiou  is  best.  Thus  the 
surface  soil  is  broken  down  by  the  winter  frosts, 
and  there  is  a good  tilth  on  the  surface,  with  absence 
of  the  clods  which  shelter  “ fly  ” and  cause  a dry  tsp, 
instead  of  tlie  evenly-evaporating  surface  which  suits 
the  young  turnips.  When  thus  cultivated  beforehand, 
the  laud  does  not  require  jiloughiug  again  in  sprin°’; 
scarifying  is  enough;  and  thus  the  supplies  of  moisture 
which  have  gathered  below  the  surface  during  the 
wiutei  remain  undisturbed;  whereas,  if  the  ploughs 
are  put  in,  the  soil  is  turned  uj)  to  a muc'n  greater 
depth,  and  instead  of  a mellowed  surface  witii  good 
moisture  below,  we  p irt  with  tho, stores  whifii  in  a 
dry  season,  would  liave  made  all  the  dii'f  jrouco  of 
life  or  deith  to  the  crop.  The  turnip  pluitis  of 
such^  IX  siioculc-iiit  nciciu’0,  th.it  tliG  point  of  supplyioef 
it  with  enough  inois.uro  is  one  of  tlie  main  tilings 
in  all  methods  cf  starting  it. 
It  is  a.dvised  to  let  the  land  remain  untouched  for 
a few  days  before  drilling,  with  a view  to  the 
surface  not  being  dried  by  exposure  just  before  sowing' 
and  the  effect  of  what  seems  jint  the  opposite  treatment 
— namely",  to  sow  at  once,  when  partly  rotted  manure 
is  ploughed  in,  in  spring— is,  for  the  same  reason, 
to  secure  the  moisture.  But  whenever  it  miy  be 
necessary  to  work  the  land,  one  great  point  is  to 
secure  such  a state  of  under-soil  aud  upper-tilth  as 
will  push  the  plant  on;  and  by  no  means  trust  to 
a more  go 'd  tilth,  if  it  is  gained,  as  is  sometimes 
done,  by  turning  the  land  over  in  the  sunshine  and 
heat  until  wa  fairly  see  the  dust  rising,  and,  as  it 
h -..s  been  well  remarked,  it  is  as  dry  as  if  we  were 
making  hay.  Turnip  fly  delights  in  heat  and  drought, 
and  the  turnips  in  just  the  opposite. 
Liberal  seeding — 31bs.  or  more  per  acre,  answers 
well;  for  if  fly  comes  there  is  a good  chance  of  some 
of  the  plants  e.scapiug,  and  if  it  doss  not  the  surplus 
quantity  may  easily  by  removed.  In  either  case  the 
large  number  of  plants  helps  towards  a he.arty  start, 
as  the  many  small  leave.s  prev-nt  the  moisture  beneath 
evap  ira'ing,  as  it  would  from  bare  earth,  and  thus 
keep  a damp  air  beneath  the  leaves.  Good  seed  is 
also  very  important,  so  that  it  may  sprout  at  once, 
aud  with  vigour. 
To  gii'ii  this  hearty  aud  rapid  growth  through  the 
time  of  tiie  seed-leaves  is  one  of  t'le  reasons  of  applying 
artificial  inauu  'e  before  sowing,  or  drilling  it  together 
with  the  seed.  A few  hundredweights  of  super- 
phosphate, or  other  manure  suitable  to  the  land, 
oven  if  there  is  a good  supply  of  farm  nianiire  also, 
will  run  the  plant  on  rapidly  througli  the  growth  of 
the  seed-leaves;  and  when  the  rough  leaves  are  come 
the  greatest  danger  is  past. 
Where  a crop  hangs  back,  the  water-cart  has  been 
found  useful,  and  al.so  the  putting  in  of  the  seed 
wiih  the  water-dril!;  but  if  the  weather  should  be  dry 
at  the  time  of  sowing,  theie  is  fear  of  tho  small 
supply  of  moisture  put  in  by  the  water-drill  causing 
harm  (by  the  mere  temporary  effjcl)  rather  than 
permanent  growJi. 
When  attack  is  presen*,  various  fertilisers  have 
been  found  to  do  good  by  pushing  tlio  plant  011;  but 
all  applications  intending  to  serve  by  removing ‘‘  fly,” 
or  killing  it,  should  be  used  either  when  the  dew  is 
on  at  night  or  early  morning,  or  during  damp  by  day. 
The  turnip  fly  leaps  away  when  it  finds  attack 
coming;  but  if  the  dew  or  slight  rain  is  on  it,  it 
caiiuot  leap,  because  the  moisture  clogs  the  hind  legs, 
by  means  of  which  it  takes  its  great  springs.  There- 
fore, such  measures  as  driving  sheep  through  infested 
fields,  or  laying  on  special  dressings,  often  fail,  because 
they  have  been  done  at  time  when  the  fly  is  well 
able  to  avoid  receiving  harm.  Turnip  flj  attack  is 
one  of  those  that  it  would  he  well  to  enter  on,  if 
possible,  in  full  detail,  as  an  instance  of  those  which 
only  last  for  a short  time,  and  which  we  conquer  by 
methods  having,  for  the  most  part,  very  little  to  do 
with  the  insect  itself.  We  know  that  the  turnip  is 
chiefly  in  danger  whilst  iu  the  seed-leaves;  we  know 
exactly  what  will  suit  its  growth  iu  this  state,  and 
we  make  ready  the  ground  accordingly;  also  we  clear 
away  weeds  which  would  support  the  “fly”  when  the 
crops  are  not  present  for  it  to  feed  on. 
PROGllESS  IN  THE  PERAK  STAPd-, 
In  the  few  remarks  which  I intend  to  make  on 
this  subject  I do  not  purpose  to  trouble  your 
readers  with  satieties,  or  to  say  much  about  the 
“pig  that  pays  the  riiu” — the  tin  mining  industry — 
though  up  to  the  present  it  has  run  the  whole 
show. 
KOADS  AND  KAILWAYS. 
Oommunications  everywhere  are  the  wheels  of 
progress  ; if  they  are  bad  the  wheels  go  slowly 
round ; and  if  they  are  good,  better,  best,  the  pace 
is  proportionate.  At  present  it  may  be  said  that 
coinmnnioatious  in  Perak  are  “good” — that  is  there 
is  a first-cla.ss  metalled  road  from  T riping,  where 
the  railway  from  Port  Weld  lands  you,  to  Kuala 
Kangs.ar  on  the  Perak  River,  a distance  of  2 ! 
miles  ; and  from  the  latter  place  there  is  a branch 
road  of  20  miles  to  Kota  Tampan  tow.rls  Norsh 
Perak.  The  continuation  of  the  K.  K.  ro.t  ’ across 
hePeiak  River  takes  you  into  Kinta,  the  priu- 
