May  I,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
793 
^orirespcmlcDCi?. 
To  (he  Editor. 
AGRICULTURE  IN  ZANZIBAR. 
Friends’  Industrial  Mission, 
Pemba,  Zanzibar,  Feb.  24. 
Dear  Sir,— I am  in  receipt  of  your  Tropical 
Agriculturist,  and  offer  my  best  thanks.  I will 
endeavour  from  time  to  time  to  let  you  know 
what  is  going  on  here  and  what  I am  able  to 
do  in  the  way  of  agriculture.  At  present  I have 
no  land  and  do  not  expect  to  have  for  some 
months.  Meanwhile  I shall  use  my  eyes  to 
fche  best  of  my  ability.  Agriculture  here  is  in  a 
condition  next  door  to  hopeless— not  the  fault 
of  soil  or  climate,  but  of  the  so-called  agriculturists 
who  are  the  slaveowners.  We  await  the  “Anti- 
Slavery  Crisis”  and  its  result. — Yours  truly, 
THEODORE  BURTT. 
[The  abolition  of  slavery,  announced  the  other 
day,  will  delight  Mr.  Burtt. — Ed.  T.A.} 
JAVA  AND  JAPAN  TEAS. 
London,  March  19. 
Dear  Sir,— It  appears  I was  wrong  in  thinking 
that  the  Exchange  on  Java  bills  was  based  on 
the  market  price  of  silver.  I was  misled  by 
the  information  I got  out  of  Whitaker,  when 
looking  for  the  weight  and  value  of  the  various 
silver  coins.  I find  that  the  Exchange  for  de- 
mand bills  on  Batavia  is  11  90  florins  for  the 
pound  sterling,  or  nearly  par — the  sovereign  being 
worth  both  in  Holland  and  Java  1210  florins. 
It  is  very  fortunate  for  Ceylon  that  this  is  so, 
and  it  fully  accounts  for  the  slow  progress  Java 
Iras  made  in  producing  tea,  for  at  a par  exchange, 
it  would  not  pay  at  present  prices  for  the  or- 
dinary run  of  tea, 
01  course,  I knew  where  the  Japan  tea  went 
to — but  it  is  Ceylon  that  is  the  intruder  and 
competitor  on  the  Japan  in  the  American  market. 
— Yours  truly,  C.  S. 
CEYLON  TEAS  IN  NEW  ZEALAND. 
CARELESS  PACKING— QUARTZ  MIXED  WITH  TEA- 
DISCREDITING  OUR  TEAS— SHAME  ON  THE 
CULPRITS  ! 
Dunedin,  March  22. 
Dear  Sir, — We  enclose  herewith  a sample  of 
Ceylon  produce  which  we  bought  for  tea.  The 
writer  has  had  25  years’  experience  in  the  tea 
trade  in  Mincing  Lane,  London,  and  in  the 
Colonies,  and  has  never  come  across  this  kind  of 
leaf.  Will  you  kindly  inform  us  what  it  is?  The 
consumption  of  Ceylon  tea  in  New  Zealand 
is  very  much  greater  than  Indian  tea  and  it 
is  a great  pity  that  such  careless  packing  has 
taken  place,  and  if  continued,  it  will,  no 
doubt,  be  detrimental  to  the  future  prospects  of 
Ceylon  teas. 
Besides  the  quartz  we  forward,  there  were 
small  lumps  of  dried  earth  and  pieces  of  matting 
in  the  package.  We  could  give  you  the  name 
of  the  estate  if  required.  We  are  large  import- 
ers of  Ceylon  teas  of  all  grades  and  shall 
instruct  our  Agents  in  Colombo  to  fight  shy  of 
this  estate.  —We  are.  Dear  Sir,  yours  faithfully, 
pro.  ARTHUR  BRISCOE  & CO., 
J.  H.  BROOMHALL. 
[We  certainly  think  the  name  in  such  cases 
should  be  communicated  to  the  Planters’  Asso- 
ciation and  Chamber  of  Commerce  ; and  if  any- 
thing like  wilful  carelessness  were  proved,  gen- 
eral publicity  as  a puni.shment  should  follow.  It 
is  a very  serious  matter  to  discredit  our  teas  in 
countries  where  we  aim  at  driving  out  inferior 
Chinese  teas.  The  enclosure  sent  us  contains 
quite  an  appreciable  quantity  of  Ceylon  a uartz  ! 
—Ed.  T,A.-\ 
ENExMIES  OF  CACAO. 
Greenwood,  March  25. 
Dear  Sir, — With  reference  to  the  letter  of  the 
Hon.  T.  N.  Christie,  re  Cacao  Disease,  I wish 
to  point  out  that  in  your  morning  issue  of  26th 
November  1894,  you  published  a letter  from  me 
with  the  heading  ^‘Enemies  of  the  Cacao  Tree” 
in  which  I mention  : 
TO  THE  BARK  AND  ^yOOD. 
“‘Tomici  perforans,’  a small  beetle  one-lOth  of 
an  inch  long,  inserts  its  eggs  in  lower  part  of 
stem  when  the  bark  weeps  and  decays,  getting, 
a claret  colour  in  well-defined  patches.  The  »rub 
tunnels  the  trunk,  the  beetle  the  branches.  Few 
trees  survive  their  attack. 
“ I daresay  that  it  would  pay  cacao  planters 
to  ofler  a good  premium  for  the  best  way  to 
prevent  the  destruction  made  by  the  little  beetle 
‘ Tomici  perforans  ’ alone  ; for  'it  is  yearly  the 
cause  of  the  destruction  of  a large  number  of 
trees.” 
I now  wish  to  add  that  I still  consider  that 
only  a proi)hylactic  remedy  can  be  successful  and 
that  the  destruction  of  the  infested  trees  do 
little  good  as  “Tomicus”  is  to  be  found  in 
other  dead  as  well  as  live  wood  in  Large  quantities. 
I have  two  species  of  mature  c.acao  trees 
which,  although  having  been  planted  as  supplies 
amongst  the  old  Criolbs,  (of  u-hich  few  .are  re- 
nnaining),  have  never  been  touched  by  Tomicus 
nor  by  the  black  grub  borer,  and  aie  flourish- 
ing in  the  open. 
It  is  the  reason  for  which  I have  not  aban- 
doned all  hope  for  this  cultivation  in  Ceylon  • 
they  will  probably  prove  to  be  towards 
“ Tomicus”  what  the  American  vine  stock  has 
proved  to  be  towards  “ Phylloxera.”  It  mi<>ht 
be  for  the  same  cause  that  the  cultivation  of  the 
Criollo  kind  has  been  formerly  abandoned  in 
Trinidad  and  the  West  Indies-'-anyhow,  for  its 
great  liability  to  disease. 
In  your  issue  of  Feb.  15,  you  mention  in  an 
article  “ Visit  of  a Java  estate  proprietor”  that 
Mr.  Van  Sohn  says  : “The  cacao  cultivation 
generally  is  not  at  all  promising  in  Java  any 
more  than  in  Ceylon.  Its  worst  enemy  in  Java 
is  a Boring  Beetle,” 
It  would  be  very  interesting  to  know  if  it  is 
the  same  “ Tomici.”— Yours  truly, 
A.  VAN  DER  POORTEN. 
TEA  AND  OTHER  CULTURE  IN 
MAURITIUS  : MR.  E.  H.  EDWARDS 
AND  MR.  CORSON  TO  THE  FRONT. 
Cureinpe,  Mauritius,  April  2. 
Dear  Sir, — I send  you  a cutting  from  “ The 
Planters  and  Commercial  Gazette”  which  may 
be  of  interest.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  decry  the 
island  where  I spent  nearly  twenty  of  the  hap- 
piest years  of  my  life,  and  where,  after  years  of 
roaming,  I would  willingly  end  my  days,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  advantages  for  Tea 
Culture  in  Mauritius,  are  very  great.  Land  is  in 
most  instances  cheaper,  and  the  soil  is  un- 
doubtedly better  than  in  Ceylon,  while,  owiim  to 
the  rapidly  declining  sugar  industry,  labor  in 
becoming  abiindant. 
