766 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[May 2, 1898. 
attained in rendering it scarce, it is manifest th it so 
long as this scarcity is maintained money will be 
dear, all business be carried on with difficulty and 
the prosperity of this island endangered. 
y That they do not believe that the ^ Indian 
Government anticipated this effect of its policy, and 
they would urge a consideration of the posiuou on 
vouf part in the interests of this Island more 
especially, as, when the action was taken, from 
the ill-effects of which they are now suffering, the 
interests of the producers in India— largely consist- 
ing of uneducated natives unable to voice their owm 
interests— were overlooked. 
8_ That the producing interests of Ceylon, your 
Memorialists would point out, are overwhelmingly 
more important than any other, and these inte^sts 
through the Colony’s ei^orts,— over two-lhirds of which 
are sent to the United Kingdom,— suffer in a disastrous 
wav from an artificially inflated rupee, since so many of 
its products compete with those exported by other coun- 
tries using a silver currency based on ^^^er 
. g That whilst fully recognising the difficulties otthe 
Indian Government, yonr Memorialists are of opinion 
that any tampering with its ourrency must be injurioi s 
to the trade of this Colony, upon the prosperity cf 
Which all revenue, public and private, is dependent, and 
they pray that such steps may be taken, as may be 
effectual to afford them speedy relief. 
— 
INSECT-PESTS. 
i Miss E. A. Ormerod, so well known as one of 
the best authorities on this subject, has just 
issued her twenty-first report on injurious in- 
sects (Sinipkin, Is 6d). It is a book which is of 
decided value to chemists, especially those living 
in agricultural districts, who, if not actually con- 
sulted about the insect pe.sts, are called upon to 
supply the necessary chemicals for exterminating 
them, and should be able to give an intelligent 
idea of the methods of using the various reme- 
dies We have in this report, covering 1897, notes 
on thirty-six insects, and although during the 
year there was no special crop-attack spreading 
widely over the country, the infestations of or- 
chard and fruit crops were unusually troublesome. 
Plum-trees were much attacked by the shot-borer 
beetle (Xyleborus Saxeseni), large crops of straw- 
berries were destroyed by ground-beetles (Ear- 
ncilus rvficornis and Pferostichus vulgaris), and 
on black-currant bushes Phytoptus ribis, the 
currant-gall mite, was unusually active. \\ e learn 
from the article on cockroaches that St. Bartho- 
lomew’s Hospital has been infested with two 
separate species of these insects-the common 
cockroach and the German cockroach-each kind 
living quite apart, the German cockroaches eyen- 
tually being driven out by the .common variety 
or voluntarily migrated. It is with the remedies 
for insect- pests that chemists will be more con- 
c“rned. Kerosene emulsion is frequently recoin- 
nmnded, and as it is a somewhat difficult pre- 
paration to make except by methods well known 
to chemists, it should be a suitable article for 
retail trade. It is a preparation of paraffin, equally 
distributed by being mixed with soft soap 
and water. It is necessary that it should be 
made so that tlie emulsion will not separate, as 
paraffin itself is harmful to foliage. Another 
thin"' recommeiuied as a top-dressing in some cases 
is Icaiiiitc, the supplying of which seems to be 
drifting into the hands of seedsmen. Kaimte 
is a salt of variable composition found in Strass- 
fnrt .saltworks— it is potassium magnesium sul- 
phate combined with magnesium chloride, and 
18 represented by the following formula 
K,Mg(S 0 J.,MgCl 56 H, 0 . _ 
Althou"h a somewhat “heavy” chemical, there 
is no “reason why the supply should not come 
through chemists, Other chemicals used are sul- 
phide of calcium, bisulphide of carbon, and sulphate 
of iron. In the case of tobacco preparations, it 
should be noted that Messrs. Whiffen. of Batter- 
sea, now nun one large quantities of nicotine, 
the Excise aulhorities allowing i hem to use duty- 
free tobacco for the pur|iose, thus putting English 
makers on equal footing tvicli foreign competitors. 
We would recommend chem'sts in agricultural 
districts to read this book ; there is much useful 
information in it, and many suggestions of com- 
mercial value to them for tlie treatment of many 
kinds of insect-pests. — Chemist and Druggist. 
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