741 
May 2 j 1898.] THE TROPICAL 
cotyledons rise half-way out of the ground, when the 
watering should not exceed once daily (gradually de- 
creased, after planting out, to once in two days). This 
watering should be done with a rose- tipped can, and 
where available a spray is preferable. A mild day should 
be chosen for the transplanting during which at least 
one inch of the stem should be buried with the roots 
and the earth lightly pressed in. Begin in the 
afternoon and work on till sun down, so as to give the 
young plants all night to recover from the shock, and 
if they sicken, (as they will do for the first three or 
four days), sprinkle them with water containing nearly 
O'OOl per cent, of nitre which is a wonderful pick-me-up. 
When the plants begin to flower, lessen the water- 
supply and altogether stop when the bean-pods mature. 
When the plants of the running or climbing 
varieties are nearly five inches high, supply them 
with climbing fences made of any kind of slender 
twigs that may be cheapest obtainable in a dry con- 
dition ; but on no account resort to bamboo fencing 
which is apt to become a breeding pea for innum- 
erable destructive insects and is particularly liable 
to a funguous disease which is fatal to bean plants. 
Regularly overhaul the bean beds for slugs and 
caterpillars, and if the roots aro at all denuded, earth 
them, taking care not to wound the roots. If the 
immature (i.e. young) beans are required for table, go 
over the beds carefully and snip off (do not pull) those 
only whose legumes are at least three-fourths ready 
for seeding, and do not water the plants on that 
day. 
Harvest is betokened by the leaves beginning to 
fall off and the legumes, losing their chlorophyll, 
becoming pale and dry rapidly ; and if ungarnered 
they will burst and discha-ge their contents on the 
ground. This must be guarded against by sending 
men into the fields with large huckster baskets into 
which are thrown the plants as fast as they are rooted up. 
Those plants whose pods are not fully matured 
are left standing for two, three or more days till 
they do mature, and a practised hand will lose very 
few beans during the process of ‘jerking’ (i. e. up- 
rooting) the plant out of the ground. 
Those beans that are required for a future sowing 
are allowed to “tree ripe,” i. e. get thoroughly dry 
on the living plant before they are gathered. 
Now remove the huckster panniers to a place where 
the floor is properly taped (plastered with cow-dung 
mixed with clay) and swept clean. On this empty 
the contents of the panniers till a heap of nearly 
two feet high is obtained. Then this heap is to be 
turned over four or five times for two days or more 
under a hot sun, so as to dry it and help to burst 
the pods. The thresh the bean seeds out with flails 
or by making cattle or men run to and fro over 
the heap and then winnow off the shreds of husk. 
Storiny . — The beans thus harvested may be packed 
in two mautrd {i.e. 160 lb.) sacks, which, until they 
are wanted for market, should be kept on some 
elevated and dry place to guard against the ravages 
of rats and protect them from getting damped and 
spoiled. Or they may be immediately bulked in iron 
tanks whose mouths should be sealed down to keep 
out weevils and other insects. 
The seed-beans should be thoroughly dried and then 
placed in bottles or earthen jars, which after being 
closely stoppered and sealed ought to be stowed away 
(till sowing time) in a moderately warm but dark place. 
The bean straw may be used as cattle fodder and 
the roots and harder portions of the stems should 
be thrown into a pit, covered over with about a foot 
of earth and daily moistened with water and stable 
fluids, so that, by the time next ploughing season 
comes roun-J, they will have decomposed into an 
extremels valuable and highly fertilising top-dressing 
for the next crop, which should preferably be of 
oats or barley. 
Pay particular attention to the nature of the soil and 
the proper rotation of crops, always remembering that 
the same kind of crop should not be raised on the same 
ground for two or more successive seasons, — no matter 
how rich the original soil — without fresh manuring. 
Roger S- Chew, m.d., c.m., m.s.c. 
AGRICULTURIST. 
LIBERIAN COFFEE AND INSECT PESTS. 
H.E. THE Governor, Wisdward Islands, to the 
Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
Grenada, 4th December, 1897. 
Sir.— I have the honour to transmit an extract 
from a letter I received on the 25th ultimo from 
Mr. G. Whitfield Smith, of this Colony, on 
the subject of the injury done here to Liberian 
coffee by a scale insect, some of which, on diseased 
leaves, I enclose for examination and report. I am 
collecting specimens of this insect in all its stages 
for identification. 
2. Heretofore Liberian coffee has been looked upon 
as proof against any blight or insect attack. In view 
of its wide culture in every part of the world, it 
would be indeed a sad awakening to find the contrary. 
3. In 1875 some trees are Liberian coffee, in its 
home, Liberia were affected by the Remilei vastatrix. 
The effect was similar to what is described by Mr. 
Whitfield Smith. As regards the trees here, no 
extensive injury was experienced, nor have I heard 
since of any loss from the like cause. 
4. May 1 invite a reference on this important 
matter to the Director, Royal Gardens Kew. — 
I have, etc., Alfred Moloney. Governer, 
Extract from a Letter prom Mr. G. Whitfield 
Smith to the Governor, dated 24th November, 1897 
— “1 also forwarded some diseased Liberian coffee 
leaves. As Your Excellency will observe, these are 
attacked by a scale insect. When I first noticed 
it, some months ago, it was very scattered and 
seem to do little harm, but of late it has spread 
rapidly, and now seriously affects the health of the 
trees. It occcurs on plants growing in the open as 
well as on those under shade and the trees attacked 
gradually lose their branches. Hitherto Liberian 
coffee has been considered proof against insect pests, 
and I thought Your Excellency would like to know 
of this, especially as there is a chance of the dis- 
ease becoming a serious evil if it finds a suitable 
object of attack in the Liberian coffee.’’ 
Director, Royal Gardens, Kew, to C. P. Lucas, 
Esq., Colonial Office, London. 
Royal Gardens, Kew, 12th January, 1898. 
Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt 
of your letter of December 30th (2739/97) enclosing 
copy of a despatch from the Governor of the Wind- 
ward Islands with specimens of diseased leaves of 
Liberian coffee. 2. On examination here it was 
found that these leaves exhibited no trace of ‘‘ coffee- 
leaf disease” (Hemileia vastatrix) or of any other 
fungus. 3. I observe that in the 3rd paragraph of 
his despatch Sir Alfred Moloney makes the follow- 
ing statement; — “In 1875 some trees of Liberian 
coffee, in its home, Liberia, were affected by the 
Hemileia vastatrix. The effect was similar to what 
is described by Mr. Whitfield Smith,” i.e., ap- 
parently to that exhibited by the diseased leaves 
accompanying the despatch. 4. As the matter is of 
great importance I may say at once that the effect 
is not in the least similar. The Coffee-leaf disease 
is a fungus which speedily destroys the tissues of 
the leaf and causes it to fall prematurely. The 
Grenada Liberian coffee, on the other hand, as Mr. 
Whitfiled Smith correctly states, is “ attacked by a 
scale insect.” As a matter of fact, two distinct 
kinds have been detected : — (1) The circular scale, 
Aspidiotus articidatus, which is also found on the 
West Coast of Africa (Ligos) ; (2) the long narrow 
scale, chiefly on the ribs of the leaves, Ischnaspia 
iViformis, which is very common in the West Indies 
and is also found in England. 5. These scale in- 
sects, though no doubt injurious, are not to be 
compared for a moment as a source of danger to 
coffee cultivation to the coffee-leaf disease. You are 
aware that the progress and distribution throughout 
the world of this scourge to coffee cultivation has 
been watched by Kew with assiduous cave. Origina- 
ting about 1869 in Ceylon it spread to the Malayan 
Archipelago in 1876, to Fiji in 1379, to Mauritioua 
in 1881, to Naljal iff 1831 ^“Kew Bulletin,” 1893 
