THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[August i, 1851 ; 
143 
iuQuutr} to tlio task. Bxpeiieuoo takes the place o* 
acieiioe, aud ha is able to ptudaou a duer Uavoured 
tea tliau has yet beeu prooaoed in India. A uoie- 
.Torthy lea u.« lu lUe lea trade of IStlO lias b-eu tbal 
suuie ui tUo iiuseian aud British uiu.cuauts at Han- 
kow tiaTB sent skilled ageuts to the tea-hrers m the 
iuterioi W tuBoh them how to seleol leaves and fire 
the tea, so as spectaliy to suit the Mosoow market. 
The chops thus produeed have sold so welliuKussia 
that Mr. Uardner autioipates that this year this oper- 
ation will be extondad. But it is only a question of 
time bon soon tba Hussiau tea trade will tollow the 
example ot the Boglish trade and draw its supplies 
from India and GeylOu, which are already busily nnr- 
mag the market, x'o eouceutrale atteutiou ou the im- 
provement oi quality wih not save the trade to Uhiua, 
for India aud Ceylon axe also atndyiug the taste oi 
the donaumera and every year the superiority oi China 
iu the matter of flavour is diuiiuiahed. To tree the 
trade from iia burden of taxatiuu is the unly ooutse 
China uan adopt ior her owu salvation as a tea-ex- 
porting country j tins doue, impiuvamont iu thequalit; 
ot the article would naturally fuUow the demand. At 
present the position of the Chinese lea prodneer is 
much the same ae that of atradesraan in embarrassed 
oimamslBuees who, being hard pat to it to make 
ends meet, oauuot alfutd Co improve the quality of 
bis wares.— ifotipfcbn^ JJaiiy ^’etct, 
COFFEK JJOHEll. 
CLVWfS QOtTEOi-HA.GUS (DONNING). 
By WibhUii ffUNUiiS, ju, 0, 1,, 
uiijB aoMooiA'ChAu cfisMisx Id hbbsbb. JUsiUBBOM iSi 00. 
Ui OUQRd. 
{UluUr *pt4Jiai arranyttiMM for jpuitioation in t/te 
‘•OeyionUbttrver/' and '''I’ropitaddgrietUturitt.") 
Xtiis iuseot is the ikiva of an elegant bebtle gener- 
ally known as the “ dy," from its likeness. to a borge-lly 
otewasp. Scleutifloaliy ' ft is one of the Culeopteia, of 
the gouus ciytns, aud is represented iu America by the 
hicaety tree bdret, C, pidhir (DhUBlf) and locust 
tree borer 0- rehtnios (h cJisTen). Xhe gensiio name 
JCylotrupti signifying wood borer has also beeu applied 
i this insect ; and if people are hot satisfied with 
DtrWNlho’s name, (Jljfius cofeophoj/ut, I would suggest 
the name Xylotrapts Oofea Jndica, Whish simply 
means Coffee Borer India, and leaves the question 
of suh-oruer and genus open. But planters are very 
little 'interested lu names, and a beetle which has 
wrought such havoc, kilting off estaies ta toto, 
deeimathio' others, auU even in those most free from 
It oaumng an appreciable loss, is to them the “ coffee 
borer ” >n its larva eiate and the " borer dy ” 
when it has ueveloped into a beetle. 
During my four years' residence iu Coorg I have 
been ooliectmg statistice of damage done by “ Borer” 
aud experimentiug with remedial agents. 1 have 
been snocasstul beyond anything 1 hoped for, not 
only in uuraveUmg the hutory of the beetle but 
also in applying remedies; it is easier to deal with 
than ieal'diaeaae, Uemileia vaetatrix. 
Itjis possible in from three to five years to reduce 
the esses ot Che treea ou the estates uy treating the 
tree" for leaf-disease and borer simultaneoasly, by 
Irom fitly to seveuty-dve or eighty per oent, calcu- 
lated uh the present losses. Mure it is osclesa to 
expect, as a great many trees die out from over- 
hearing aud otuer oaoaes. 
Xho loiiowing is au approximate statement of the 
trees tipped out, and entered as “ Borer ” in Booth 
Coorg itom estaies under Knropeau mausgemeot; — 
Year. 
Kaiuiall 
inches. 
Crop 
ewt. 
Per cent of 
trees on 
Boerage, 
18B5 
62-31 
5 
.. 8'3 
1886 
• • 
57-82 
3J 
.. 6-9 
1887 
• « 
71-00 
H 
.. 7-0 
1878 
• • 
60-66 
n 
.. 8'8 
188U 
4 • 
B5'9b 
n 
.. 8'9 
1880 
« • 
OObS 
3 
.• 8'6 
Neither the average crop nor the rainfall appear 
to have muoh to do with borer failures. Bat wuen 
the details are examiued a very close sunuectiou 
is found to exist between the weather and both crop 
and borer, 
I cannot in the brief spaoe allowed, fully discuss 
ibc meteorological features of the question iu this 
paper, but will just say that when the number of sun- 
spots were at the may. ........ the crops were good, as 
the number deoreased so did the crops, aud as they 
ni the innreiue, crops will probably prove 
good tiU the maximum is aguiu passed. £Our corres- 
pondent alone is responsible for tbis theory. Wnat is 
certain is the melauohuiy fact that ocups have gone 
down iu 6 years from 6 w 3 cwt. per acre.— Bn. T. A.J 
Bor the purposes of this paper we will consider that 
the averages of the various styles ol planting give 
fifteen hundred trees per acre original planting. 
It takes fully tnree years lor supplies amongst old 
coffee to oonie into bearing, and I would not be far 
off the mark if I said fifty per cent fail in South 
Coorg. 
However to carefully understate the case we will 
suppose all to oeme ou. Xheu the land out of bear- 
ing per acre of cultivated coffee was in 
1887 
Equal to 
22 2 per neat. 
1888 
33-7 
1889 
II 
24-7 „ 
1890 
25-2 ,. 
AU this ia paymg taxes, absorbing work, aud manure, 
and taxing the beat energies ul our planters to prevent 
it inoreasmg. 
The insect was the subject of Government inquiry 
some years ago, wheu Dr. Biuie investigated the 
matter. He however had not the opportuuity to sit 
oowu and work out the life history, ot probably his 
work would have been as complete as that of Marshall 
Ward CD Leaf Disease. 
In 1887, in the mouth of May, I obtained my 
first specimen of the beetle, and 1 soon found that 
as far as the estates with which I was oouuected 
were concerned ic caused greater destruction than 
leaf disease, in spite of tbeur being under shade. 
I began a oarelul study of the life of the ioseot, and 
though one or two minor pomis are still andeoided on 
the whole of its history is fully worked cut. 
In tha neutral district of the Bamboo the beetle 
appears later than in the hot Eastern, but sooner 
than on the Ghauts. 
My remarks apply to the central district. 
Alter the first or seooud week in June, depending 
on the moDBocn, the beetles disappear. Stragglers 
are to be found all ths yosu: round, but it is not 
till the eud ot August that there is any certainty 
of finding specimens of the autumn flight, and it is 
well on into April befure ths spring host appears, 
Ihe maxima are two ; one at the end ot May, 
one at the end of October ; ths minima ooour in 
January, February and July, 
Iu make the iufiueuoe of ths weather ou the 
beetle’s development clear I append a table drawn up 
jrom personal observatioh 
Month. 
Weather, 
Xemperatore ; 
January 
Dry 
deg. deg. 
60 to 90 Fh. 
February 
•• 
60 to 90 
March 
Showers f 
65 to 90 „ 
April 
Showers 
66 to 90 „ 
May 
ti 
75 to 96 „ 
June 
Mouiooq 
60 to 70 „ 
July 
II 
60 to 70 „ 
August 
II 
70 to 80 .. 
September 
Heavy showers 66 to 90 .. 
October 
» 
66 to „ 
November 
iSbowexsi* 
79 to tia It 
December 
M i'l’ 
66 to 65 „ 
Beetles. 
Very scarce 
I. 
Scarce 
Few 
Bleutiful 
Few 
Very soacoa 
Soarue 
Few 
Flentiful 
Very plentiful 
Few 
Where a note oi interrogation follows weather lematke 
it means the showers are uncertain. Xhete is occa- 
sionally a much greater variation in the temperature 
than tuat given; for instance in May I have kuown 
the thermometer to be over 101 deg, in the shade, 
fthd 1 have in Jtnattry seen it down to undoi iO deg, F 
