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THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [April  i,  1897. 
LADY-BIRDS  AND  BUG. 
Sir, — Your  correspondent  “ Black  Bug”  in  his  letter 
to  yon  of  the  28th  January,  (this  was  written  before  re- 
ceipt of  our  last  issue. — Ed.)  which  appeared  in  your 
issue  of  the  (ith  instant  brings  up  a point  in  con- 
nection with  Lady-birds  (Coccujeth'da?)  which  has  more 
than  once  occurred  to  me.  So  many  estates  in  S.  India 
are  more  or  less  heavily  shaded  that  the  fact  of  Lady- 
birds living  or  not  living  under  shade  may  be- 
come a serious  question.  I have  watched  the  habits 
of  Cocciiiellidie  very  carefully  during  the  past  year 
and  a half  and  have  found  them  under  shade.  That 
they  are  sun-loving  insect  is  only  too  true,  but  1 
am' inclined  to  think  that  as  I have  found  them  to 
do  they  will  not  hesitate  to  attack  their  prey  under 
shade,  although  they  will  return  to  the  unshaded 
and  sunny  tree  on  the  estate  to  live  and  breed. 
From  what  I can  gather  I believe  that  the  coffee 
in  Hawaii  was  not  to  any  extent  shaded,  and  where 
large  trees  did  occur  they  were  citrous  and  as  much 
infested  with  coccidae  as  the  coffee.  Mr.  E.  E. 
Green's  opinion  on  this  point  would  be  interesting, 
I am  not  a Collector  and  have  not  studied  Coleo- 
ptene  in  general;  but  I fancy  I could  find  more  than 
five  varieties  of  cocciuellida*  on  the  coffee  in  this 
district.  Would  ‘-Black  Bug”  care  to  have  speci- 
mens and  would  he  identify  them  for  me  If  so  I 
shall  be  glad  to  correspond. 
I quite  agree  with  “ Black  Bug  ” that  it  is  impro- 
bable that  many  varieties  of  Lady-birds  would  for- 
sake their  natural  food  to  blunt  their  teeth  on  Black 
Bug  (presumably  “ Black  Bug  ” means  Lecanium 
Cofee  and  not  Lecanium  nigrum),  but  this  wont  hold 
good  w’ith  green  bug  (Lecanium  viride]  which  is  a soft 
shelled  scale  and  would  probably  not  only  be  a more 
plentiful  but  an  easier  prey  for  the  Lady-birds  where 
it  is  to  be  found. 
With  regard  to  your  “ occasional  note  ” in  same 
issue  on  Black  Bug. 
I shall  be  very  much  surprised  to  hear  that 
Ckilocorus  Nigritus  have  been  found  preying  on 
Black  Bug  {Lecanium  Coffee).  It  is  quite  likely  that 
another  variety  of  cocciuellidse  may  beat  work,  though. 
I hope  the  Kotagiri  planter  will  have  given  you  the 
details  you  ask  for  in  your  next  issue.  Would  he 
also  kindly  send  some  specimens 
I have  just  had  my  attention  drawn  to  a letter 
of  Mr.  E.  E.  Green’s  in  the  Ceylon  Observer  of 
the  6th  instant.  In  this  Ltter  Mr.  Green  sug- 
gests that  the  reason  of  the  slow  increase  in  numbers 
of  Ckilocorus  Xigritus  is  due  to  its  natural  enemies 
in  this  country  and  suggests  an  exchange  of  the 
different  specimens  of  Ladybirds  with  Ceylon  with 
the  view  of  experimoutiug  with  them  iu  countries 
where  their  own  parasite  may  not  be  found. 
This  is,  I think,  an  admirable  suggestion,  aud  I 
shall  be  moat  happy  to  exchange  some  of  our  coc- 
cinellidm.  Just  at  present  unfortunately  both  the 
Green  Bug  and  the  Lady-birds  are  dormant,  but  in 
another  month  specimens  should  be  fairly  easily 
obtained.  r,  t 
I am  only  afraid  that  Ceylon  and  S.  India  are  too 
nearly  allied  to  make  it  impossible  that  parasites 
may  be  found  iu  both  countries  or  at  any  rate  that 
the  specimens  one  exchanges  may  be  so  nearly  allied 
that  the  parasites  will  not  hesitate  in  transferring 
their  attention  from  the  exported  to  the  imported 
Ladvbirds. 
However,  as  Mr.  Green  says  the  experiment  would 
be  inexpensive  and  easily  carrried  out,  aud  I think 
(aud  hope)  may  result  iu  practical  mutual  benefit, 
Pillavaly  Estate,  Howard  Newport, 
Hon.  Sec.,  L.  P.  P.  A.,  Dindigul. 
Madura  Dist.,  1.5th  Feb.  1897. 
— Planting  Opinion,  March  6. 
Teainthic  Future.— a tea  proprietor  writes: 
What  do  you  think  of  pre.seiit  prices  for 
tea  properties  ; are  tliey  likely  to  last  another 
year  or  two  ? Over-))rodnction  and  low  prices 
rather  alarm  one.”  And  with  some  reason  : it 
is  very  dillicult  to  say  what  the  next  year  or 
two  may  produce  ! 
THE  MAHA  UVA  ESTATE  COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
The  annual  ordinary  geneial  meeting  of  the  above 
Company  was  held  at  the  Company’s  Oliices,  No.  7, 
Oueen  Street,  Fort,  Colombo,  on  the  13tli  March. 
The  following  is  the  Report  : — 
ACREAGE. 
Tea  in  full  bearii  g - - 299  Acres. 
,,  ,,  partial  bearing  - - 200  ,. 
„ not  iu  bearing  - - 118  „ 
Collee  amongst  Tea  (190  acres) 
Cardamoms  - - - - 80  ,, 
Grass  - - - - 15  „ 
Total  Cultivated 
Jungle  and  Waste  land 
Total  of  Estate  - 928  .Acres, 
The  Directors  have  pleasure  in  submitting  to  the 
Shareholders  the  Accounts  of  the  Company  for  the 
past  year. 
The  following  are  particulars  of  the  Crops  and 
prices  secured  in  1,S9(1,  as  compared  with  1895 
1896. 
1895. 
Net 
Net 
Crop. 
average 
Crop. 
average 
price. 
price. 
lb. 
R.  c. 
lb. 
R.  c. 
Tea 
• 155,020 
— 49 
105,472 
— 52 
bus. 
bus. 
Coffee 
369 
16  12 
2,453 
16  80 
lb. 
lb. 
Cardamoms  - 502 
1 60 
615 
1 18 
The  increase  in  the  yield  of 
Tea  is  very  satis- 
factory, 
being  18,020 
lb.  in  excess  of  the 
estimate 
for  last  year.  275  acres  of  the  oldest  Tea,  which 
extent  cannot  yet  be  considered  as  in  full  bearing, 
gave  an  average  yield  of  463  lb.  per  acre. 
In  the  last  Annual  Report  it  was  mentioned  that 
the  Directors  proposed,  during  the  past  year,  to 
issue  the  balance  of  the  authorized  Capital  of  the 
Company,  viz.,  30  Shares  of  the  nominal  value  of 
R500  each.  This  was  done  in  Juno  last  at  a pre- 
mium of  R400  per  share,  and  the  amount  so  realized 
appears  at  credit  of  the  1896  Profit  and  Loss  Account, 
wnich  shews  an  available  balance  of  R-13,156-06.  The 
Directors  recommend  that  the  Share  Premium  re- 
ferred to,  viz.,  R12,000,  be  transferred  to  Deprecia- 
tion Account.  An  interim  dividend  of  4 per  cent  on  the 
Capital  at  1st  January  last,  viz.,  R285,0U0  was  declared 
on  8th  August  last,  absorbing  Rll,4t)0.  In  terms  of 
the  Directors’  ciicular  of  26th  March  last  the  Shares 
issued  in  June  are  to  rank  for  Dividend  at  the  rate 
of  one  half  of  the  total  dividend  for  the  year.  The 
Directors  now  recommend  that  a final  dividend  of 
5 per  cent  be  paid  on  the  Capital  as  at  1st  January 
last,  viz.,  E‘285,000  making  9 per  cent  for  the  year, 
and  that  a dividend  of  4J  per  cent  be  payable  on  the 
last  issue  of  shares,  viz.,  R15,000.  After  payment 
. of  these  dividends  a balance  of  R4,831'06  will  remain 
to  be  carried  forward  to  the  current  year’s  account. 
The  Capital  account  outlay  during  the  past  year 
amounted  to  R14,746'55,  being  for  cost  of  acres  14.3.22 
land  added  to  the  acreage  of  the  Estate,  for  additions 
to  Buildings  and  Machinery  and  for  outlay  on  young 
and  new  clearings. 
During  the  current  year  about  200  acres  planted 
with  tea  in  1893  will  give  some  crop.  The  Crops 
estimated  for  1897  are  170,000  lb.  Tea,  300  bushels 
Coffee  (a  prelimin  ary  estimate),  and  1,000  lb.  Carda« 
moms  against  an  expenditure  of  R51,323  for  delivery 
of  same  into  Colombo.  The  outlay  on  Capital  account 
is  estimated  at  R8,360,  mainly  for  upkeep  of  the 
acreage  not  yet  iu  bearing,  and  additional  line  ac- 
commodation. 
On  the  departure  from  the  Island  of  Messrs.  C. 
Young  and  G.  W.  Cariyon,  Messrs.  E.  J.  Young  and 
A.  Thomson  were  respectively  appointed  to  the 
vacancies  iu  the  Directorate  thus  occasioned.  In 
terms  of  the  Articles  of  Association  Mr.  A.  Thomson 
now  retires  by  rotation  but  is  eligible  for  re-election. 
