August i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
I OS 
$oj]t!espcinili3noi0, 
To the Editor. 
SILKWOBM BEAKING. 
Agar’s Land Kstate, June 17th. 
Da*B Sib, — Those who go in for the rearing of silk- 
worms may be glad to know that the wild olive 
or wernlu (Sinhalese name of plant) will do for 
feeding the silkworms on. 1 have had both Tussa 
and Atlas variety feeding on weralu trees at one 
and same time. Although found also on the oar- 
•laraora bushes and placed on weralu trees, the 
variation in their diet does not seem to cheek their 
growth, or kill them off. The Atlas variety are only 
found on the cardamom bushes. I have never 
the Tussa variety on these bashes. 
the Tussa silkworms are found on 3 different 
variety of trees up here, Weralu, Dhang, or Nawa 
^alum (Tamil name of tree), as well as on a shrub 
that grows in Cinnamon Gardens and produces a 
pale violet flower with few petals; grows near swamps, 
^hrshy places, and has a black fruit [when ripe) 
Which discolours the tongue when eaten, like ink. 
f have found the Tussa silk caterpillars on all these 
trees, 1 am sorry I cannot give the botanical 
names of these plants, but can send branches of 
them to any one inquisitive as to what food to feed 
°ti. I have 8 different kinds of moths 
which seem to batch from cocoons of the silkworms. 
Ist the Atlas, 2nd Tussa, 3rd which 1 am not 
j “ targe white moth, long swallow tails, 
pink-edged, with half-moon-shapsd spots, one spot 
hn each wing. I should be obliged to anyone in- 
forming me what this moth is called — Yours truly 
JAMBS GBAY. 
Llhe diffioulties opposed to sericulture in Ceylon 
are not, we suspect, so much connected with feeding 
fhe worms, as with plentiful and cheap labour in 
attending to them, reeling off the cocoons, <fco 
Eh, T. A.] 
WEIGHING OE TEAS IN LONDON : COM- 
Mon-sense befoum luged. 
g , June 2lBt. 
your issue of llth Mr. John Hamilton 
na Mr. Bjbort Jones give ue information about 
eighing and taring tea, and wash their hands in 
.A® o* your readers I thank them, 
u/iT ^ permission to ask them to tell us 
= h ^ hf® tared at all and how toast 
about avoiding it? if i mark my tea "nett 100 
luit'h has the weight of the package to do 
tv... k ' ■ 1 .. *'^® *®h aud 8*'^o the package into 
‘ «® ^00 ‘o. tea in the^hest, 
ik must bo so, and pay 
fr\v» (HI lU U ki. I . lllUSV Du oUj nUti Uoiy 
anil "'^y juggle with the empty packaae 
and deprive me of another pound or two 7 If my 
ro“ .‘',‘‘® professed 100 lb. 1 T1 bear a 
»f need be.— If India and Ceylon 
ment "tn memorialized the Govern- 
nonnV?k ‘0 weigh to half a 
pound, they would soon compel the buyer to carry 
WUh r, “V®. ““®® siruple justice. 
With an extra pound for his pains 1 -Yours &a., 
A TEA GBOWEB, 
noTTi. 
Dp.o d -r ^ London, June 6th. 
tn .k “ Your Overland numbers with news 
April and 6th May oontain some 
«orte»pondeno8 regarding tarei and losa in weight 
14 
on teas shipped to this market which are couched 
in naturally indignant terms ; but natural only 
because the writers, smarting under losses of tea 
as shown by account sales received from their 
agents, are ignorant of the way in which such losses 
may and do arise. The explanation of these losses 
might well be left to the respective agents of your 
anonymous correspondents bad not you, sir, given 
apparently the sanction of your influential journal 
to charges and statements, which no doubt the 
writers themselves, it they knew the facts and saw 
things for themselves, would be first to allow were 
unwarranted. It is perhaps repeationg an old story 
to show bow losses in weight may be incurred. The 
custom of tbo trade in weighing is to weigh to the 
lb. only and in doing so to give the turn of the 
scale both in weighing gross and taring, against 
the shippers and in favour of the buysrs. The 
Ceylon and Indian Aesooiations in London have 
endeavoured to get this custom modified and weights 
taken to the half lb., but so far without suooess, 
As it stands now the teas are first weighed groes 
and it then a paokage is only one ounce short of 
the full lb, 16 onnoes are thereby lost thus : 136 lb. 
16 oz. gross would be called 135 lb. Then the teas 
are turned out to be tared, and in weighing the 
tares if the package weighs only one ounoe over 
the full lb. again 16 oz, is lost: to the shipper thus 
36 lb. 1 oz. would be called 87 lb. No that 
nearly 3 lb. may be lost on a paokage, equal to 2 
per cent on ohests or 4 per oent on balf-ohests, in 
addition to the trade allowance for draft. The 
trade is so strong that it can maintain this system 
against sellers ; and all that planters can do is to 
adjust their gross weights and tares so that the 
minimum loss may be attained. This requires close 
ears and attention, and it is difficult to achieve 
beoause of the variableness of the tares. That it 
can be done with some exaotness has been proved 
by shipments from one estate wbiob I know, which 
for the whole of last year showed a loss of only 
a quartet per oent beyond the trade allowemoe for 
dratt. With regard to the dock company or com- 
paniea it is a mistake to assert as a "Froprietor " 
does that they form a " monster of monopoly.” 
There are numerous wharves competing with the 
docks for tea or other produce ; and as a proof that 
charges are not over-remunerative, 1 may mention 
that a wharfinger who has a good connection with 
Ceylon merobants lately thought of adding a Tea 
warehouse to his other business ; but on looking 
into the matter found that there was little in- 
ducement in the way of profit, though be bad plenty 
of promises of support. Nhippers and merchants 
may employ inspeotors to see their tea weighed 
and tared. At a fact this duty is generally left to 
the brokers who have representatives at the waie- 
boiises. The refuse and sweepings whioh the dock 
oompanies and wharves sell from time to time, 
and whioh relatively to the bulk of the trade are 
of infinitesimal importanoe, wonld not be thus 
treated if the importers oonsidered that they were 
worth mote than the auty and dock charges. 
A long petience, extending to nearly 2U years in 
London, enables me to assert with oonfidence that 
botn docks and wharves in Loudon do thair work 
well and honestly. Thera is no diffioulty in the 
way of any planter visiting London, satisfying him- 
self on this point. The Ceylon Assooiation in 
London two years ago thoroughly examined into 
and silted out the whole matter of Taring and Lose 
in Weight, with the result that though it was 
oonsidered that ttia system of weighing above referred 
to was in itself unfair, it was fairly carried out by 
the dock oompanies. To assert as a " fluflerer ’’ 
does that •* a ooneiderable peroantage of tea is being 
habitually stolen in (he Loudon Warehousee ” ii to 
