JAMAICA. 



BULLETIN 



OF THK 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Vol. III. MARCH. 1905. Part 3. 



CITRONELLA GRASS IN CEYLON. 



Director, R. Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, to Director, Public Gardens and 



Plantations, Jamaica. 



Peradeniya, /th Dec. 1904. 

 Dear Sir, 

 I see in your October Bulletin a reprint of Mr. Sawer on 

 Lemon and Citronella grasses from the Chemist and Druggist. 

 Let me call your attention also to my reply in the same paper of 

 1 0th September. He is wrong about the Ceylon grasses, and it is 

 difficult to hunt down an error that gets a start in a home paper, 

 when one cannot reply in the next issue. 



Yours faithfully, 



JOHN C. Willis. 



Director, R. Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, to Editor, Chemist and Druggist. 



Peradeniya, 15th Aug., 1 904. 



Sir, 



With reference to the interesting article by Mr. C. J. Sawer, 

 appearing, on page 179 of your issue of July 30, 1904, permit me 

 to make a few observations. 



In the first place, Mr. Sawer quotes the account of this grass in 

 Trimen's " Handbook of the Flora of Ceylon," Vol. V., evidently 

 under the impression that Dr. Trimen was the author of that vol- 

 ume. This is not the case ; the late Dr. Trimen left no notes 

 on grasses, and only a very poor collection in the herbarium at 

 Peradeniya. Sir Joseph Hooker wrote the last two volumes of the 

 " Flora" (see his remarks in the Preface to part IV), and is re- 

 sponsible for the statements there made : his account of the grasses 

 is very incomplete in detail for the reason above explained. On 

 page 180 Dr. Trimen is again used as an authority to dispute the 



