874 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIS  f. 
[June  i,  1897. 
vhich  I have  shown  to  have  been  the  cause  of 
the  abandonment  of  one-third  of  the  then  cul- 
tivated area  and  which  had  such  a fatal  influence 
on  crops,  virtually  disappeared  in  this  district 
since  1893.  It  is  in  January  1892  that  I noticed 
here  the  first  serious  attaclc  ot  about  30  trees  in 
a lump,  by  an  insect  whicli  I then  identified  as 
“ Tomici  Perforans  ” — with  a))ologies  to  Mr. 
Barber  for  my  audacity  to  still  use  what,  to  Ids 
eats,  is  a “sonorous,  aristocratic  name,  to  make 
it  look  learned.”— Before,  the  attack  was  sporadic 
and  seldom  fatal ; but  this  time  these  trees, 
which  were  among  the  best  in  my  garden,  vigor- 
ous and  healthy,  of  12  years  of  age,  growing 
in  deep  alluvial  soil,  fairly  shaded,  nearly  all 
succumbed.  Criollos  they  were,  but  since  then 
among  the  large  yearly  increase  ot  trees  attacked, 
there  was  the  same  proportion  of  hybrids  and 
many  Forasteros. 
In  his  interesting 
appeared  in 
and  sarcastic  letter  which 
...  your  issue  of  12th  inst.,  Mr.  Barber 
pleads  the  case  of  “Tommy”  as  he  prefers  to 
call  the  beetle. 
He  has  evidently  read  “The  Agricultural 
Pests  of  India”  by  Surg. -Gen.  E.  Balfour  and 
assimilates  the  information  therein  contained  : 
Tomici. —The  species  of  the  genera  Ilylcsinus, 
Scolytus  and  Tondcus  are  small  beetles,  but 
numerous  and  eommon.  Tomici  chiefly  affect 
bamboos  and  are  very  destructive  to  them.  The 
Hylesiid  also  attack  the  band^oo,  but  not  _ so 
vigorously  as  their  smaller  brethren,  the  Tomici, 
and  both  are  detected  by  the  powdery  e.xcre- 
rnented  matter  which  they  and  their  larvic 
throw  out.  One  small  species  of  Hylesinus 
in  great  numbers  attacks  the  dead  w'ood  of  the 
cheer  pine,  and  when  hatched  underneath  the 
bark,  they  bore  in  all  directions,  the  tendency, 
however,  being  to  leach  tlie  centre  of  the  log. 
They  do  not  attack  living  trees  nor  logs  that 
have  had  their  bark  stripped  off.  Tondcus  per- 
forans monograpfius,  in  1860,  attackeil  the  beer 
barrels  in  the  Commissariat  stores  of  Burma  and 
Lower  Ben<ral,  and  the  contents  oozed  out  from  a 
multitude  of  pores,  causing  great  loss.  The  sol- 
diers gave  the  insect  an  apt  name— tliey  called  it 
Tippling  'Tommy.” 
I have  had  a similar  experience  here  in  1882 
with  two  hogsheads  of  wine  stored  in  a locked 
place,  .\fter  two  weeks  I found  one  empty,  and 
of  the  other,  i had  oozed  out  through  a great 
many  drillings  made  by  Tommy.  I now  cowdung 
he  wood  on  arrival. 
Mr.  B.  writes  that  “ the  question  at  issue  will  be 
whether  Tommy  has  of  a sudden  changed  his 
natural  instinct  in  the  matter  of  his  diet  from 
decaying  bark  and  wood  to  fresh, cp'ecnjScvppy  plants, 
etc.  Itis  clearthatMr.  B.’smultifarious  occupations 
have  not  allowed  him  to  investigate  the  case 
with  his  usual  acumen,  for  he  would  have  found 
that  his  client  Tommy  not  only  attacks  cacao  trees, 
without  visible  tare,  but  also  the  very  sapi>y 
Dadap  tree.  , , ^ ^ 
He  further  states  :—“  When  the  planter  first 
notices  the  weevil  (sic)  he  also  notices  the  fact 
that  the  tree  has  changed  its  condition  and 
per  saltern  he  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  “ an 
enemy  (Tomicus)  hath  done  this  thing.”  Well,  if 
not  Tomicus,  find  the  enemy  ! He  exists,  for  it 
cannot  be  supposed  that  under  20  years  of  age 
the  cacao  tree  should  be  decrepit  here  when 
it  only  attains  majority  at  that  age  in  other 
countries.  , - c i.  -< 
From  his  above  statement  I infer  tliat  it  may 
be  uew^  to  Mr.  B.  that  a metamorphosis  does 
precede  the  appearance  of  the  beelle.  It  is  the 
grub,  which  issues  from  the  microscopic  egg 
deposited  in  the  bark,  which  does  the  greatest 
damage.  It  is  only  when  the  grub  is  at  wmrk 
in  tlie  w'ood  that  its  presence  is  disclosed.  How 
much  lime  the  grub  is  at  work  I leave  to  the 
scientist  to  discover.  To  my  knowledge,  planters 
have  given  wp  the  liojie  to  find  a remedy,  because 
having  ap]Jied  some,  they  found  soon  that  the 
disease  broke  out  under  the  application ; but  this 
was  no  jnoof  of  its  inefflcacy  for  the  eggs 
had  been  laid  or  had  hatched  at  the  time  of  the 
application  or  even  the  grub  had  begun  drilling. 
The  trials  of  the  supposed  prophylactic  remedies 
must  be  made  therefore  in  a very  methodic  w’ay. 
1 have  remarked  that  the  beetles  born  in  the 
trees  are  of  a very  difierent  appearance  to  those  wdiich 
tunnel  the  branches  (the  latter  being  the  .same 
as  the  Tippling  Tommy)  but  their  greater 
sturdiness  might  be  due  to  development. 
As  to  Mr.  Barber’s  view'  that  the  insect  is 
not  the  cause  of  death  to  the  plant,  but  one  of 
the  consequences  of  it  ” (the  italics  are  his),  I 
maintain  tliat  the  insect  being  always  present 
before,  at  and  after  decease  of  the  victim,  the 
circumstantial  evidence  points  to  him  as  being 
the  murderer  if  no  other  cause  of  death  can  be 
brought  forward.  And  would  Mr.  B.  acquit  the 
man  who  would  jilead  that  the  victim  he  slew' 
w'as  decrepit  ? 
1 join  issue  with  Tomicus’s  champion  in  asking 
for  light,  practical  light,  and  scientific  light,  but 
the  latter  cannot  be  given  in  the  form  of  a 
diagnosis  but  only  after  a serious  and  long  study 
by  a trained  entomologist.  1 do  certainly  think 
that  Mr.  Green  would  be  the  man. 
The  damage  done  is  already  very  large  on 
many  plantations  and  the  increase  has  no  check. 
In  this  district  (Kuruneg-ila),  I know  several 
places  where  tea,  Liberian  coffee  and  coconuts  are 
being  planted  in  view  of  a complete  destruction 
of  the  cacao. 
Craving  your  indulgence  lor  my  ungrammatical 
English. — I am,  dear  .sir,  yours  truly, 
A.  VAN  UEB  LOORTEN. 
THE  COCONUT  PALM  IN  THE  GODAVARI 
(KISTNA)  DISTRICT. 
Sir,— About  the  period  that  you  discovered  tliat 
the  first  of  my  Christian  names  w'as  not  Ananias 
after  I had  been  rein  rking  that  Godavari  coco- 
nut trees  produced  200,  300,  and  rarely  500  nuts 
per  tree  per  annum,  surprise  was  expressed  that 
the  small  inferior  nut  should  be  planted  at  all  in 
this  jiart  of  the  w'orld.  Could  you  kindly  tell  me 
in  w'hat  way,  though  smaller,  this  nut  is  inferior  ; 
as  local  tradidon  lias  it  that  the  smaller  nut  is 
more  flavoursome,  and  the  only  iiuality  in  favour 
of  the  larger  nut  is  the  far  larger  quantity  of 
juice  (milk).  I should  like  to  know  what  is  the 
Ceylon  market  value  of  the  large  nut,  for  it  seems 
to  me  that,  if  only  70  large  nuts  can  be  grown  per 
nnum  against  300  small  nuts,  unless  the  large  nut 
has  more  than  four  times  the  market  value  of  the 
mall  nut,  the  smaller  one  is  more  profitable.  I 
have  said  four  times,  but  probably  it  should  be  six 
or  seven  times  owing  to  the  larger  extent  of  land 
occupied  by  the  greater  number  of  trees  to  produce 
an  equal  number  of  nuts,  not  to  espeak  of  the 
nurture  of  a greater  number  of  trees.  — 1 am,  dear 
sir,  yours  faithfully, 
A.  N.  LUSHINGTON  (Kistna  District.) 
[Ceylon  coconuts  this  year  have  mostly  run 
about  R30  per  thousand  — what  are  Mr.  Jm’shing- 
ton’s  prices?  Ifut  is  it  not  the  case  that  in 
sjieaking  of  200  nuts  and  upwards  |ter  tree  per 
annum,  ajiart  from  tlie  smaller  size,  Mr.  Liishiii,;- 
