TEA INSECTS. The tea plant is attacked by several injurious insects, as the faggot-worm (Enmete Carmerii), one of the bagworms, whose larva carries a case made up of fragments of twigs and feeds upon leaves of the plant. The tea borer (Zeuzere coffete) is the larva of a cossid moth; it bores into the stems of both cof fee and tea plants. Three species of bark-lice (Aspidiotus thew, flaccscens, and transparens) also oc cur commonly upon tea, and the first named is one of the most serious enemies of the growing plant, very noticeable at the time of pruning. Three mites feed upon the leaves. one of them a 'red spider' (Tetranychus bimaculat us), another the five-legged tea mite (Typhlodromus eari ?atlas), closely related to the rust-mite of the orange. It feeds upon the lower leaves. The yellow tea mite (Acarus transluccns) feeds upon the buds and produces the condition called 'sulky.' Consult Watt. The Pests and Blights of the Tea Plant (Calcutta, 189S).
TEAK (Malayan tek)ca, Tamil tckku, teak tree). Two kinds of timber, valuable for ship building and other purposes. Indian teak (Tec tona.grandis) belongs to the natural order Ver benaeele; African teak or African oak (Old fieldia Africana), to the Euphorbiaceve. The for mer is found in the mountainous parts of Mala bar and other parts of Southeastern Asia. The teak forests of India are mostly under govern mental control and yield a considerable revenue. The usual practice is to girdle the trees and al low them to stand for two years to season thor oughly before felling. Teak has been introduced in some parts of India in which it is not in digenous. It is a beautiful tree which rises Rave all the other trees of the East Indian for ests. sometimes attaining a height of 200 feet. Silk and cotton stuffs are dyed purple by the leaves. The timber, which will sink in water un less dry, is one of the most. valuable produced in the East ; it resembles coarse mahogany, is eas ily worked, strong, durable, and not liable to the attacks of insects. It is largely used for furni
ture, some of which is handsomely carved. and for shipbuilding, for which purpose it is exported. The teak generally grows rather in clumps in for ests than in forests of itself. African teak is adapted to the same uses as the Indian teak, though it is not quite as durable.
TEAL (connected with Dutch teling, teal, brood, /den, to breed, and perhaps with AS.
Lilian, Eng. till. OHG. Ger. Ziel, object). One of a group of small beautiful fresh-water ducks, mostly in the genera Nettion and Querquedula. They are migratory, going to the tropics for the minter, and when in the United States are shy and silent, feeding chiefly at night on water plants, seeds, worms, and insects. They make their nests usually at some distance from water, and lay greenish, or in some species cream-colored, eggs. Species of these two genera are known in all parts of the world. The commonest North American species is the green-winged teal (Net tion Carolinense). This fine bird is nearly the same as the 'common' teal (Nettion ereeea) of the northern parts of the Old World. About a dozen other species are met with in Asia, Africa, and South Ameriea, all favorites among gunners and epicures. The blue-winged teal (Querque dula diseors), represented in Europe by the gar galley (q.v.), is very abundant in many parts of North America. It is rather larger than the com mon teal. The head and neck are blackish with a large white crescent in front of the eye. The wing-coverts are sky-blue and the under parts are purplish gray with black spots. The cinnamon teal (Querquedula eyanoptera) is also blue winged. but the general color is rich purplish chestnut and there is no white on the head. This is a South American duck. which is also common west of the Rocky _Mountains as far north as Oregon. Two other species belong to South Amer ica. Consult authorities and Plate under DUCK.