February i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



563 



^ 



To the Editor of the Ceylon Observer. 

 WANTED TO KNOW. 



Munzerabad, IStli Dec. 1S83, 

 Dear Sir, — Would the corrpspondent from Upper 

 Maskeliya, who writes from tlicuce in Trcpical Agri- 

 culturist, page 442, answer the following ijuestions : — 

 (1), Name of estate where a cooty cuuld only "pick 

 live trees per diem"; (2) year when it (iccuired.as "brave 

 and halcyon days " is a trifle vague ; (3), number 

 of trees per ncre on particular estate ; (4), how many 

 berries there is in a bushel. A roush estimate will 

 be sufficient. I have been told hy (Jeylon planters that 

 coolies will pick a bushel with ease by midday, so 

 that, we m'ly eafely say that <7js eooly picks two bushels 

 "from live trees per diem." I shall be much obliged 

 for HU6Wei3 to same, eo that the usual picking off an 

 acre in the " brave nnd halcyon days " may be known. 

 Let us hope that the cardamom poochie will not in- 

 flict much dannge. A poochie eats a small percentage 

 in this district, and, no doubt, your correspondent 

 " Aberdonensia '' will kindly forward inf irmxtion re- 

 garding Iloolki "cardamoms." Should imy of ynir 

 correspondents tend cardamoms to London in bnxes, let 

 them beware of partially-seBSoned wood.— Yours faith- 

 fuUy; LOONIE. 



PAPER-MAKING FIBRES. 

 Warwick Laue, Paternoster Row, London, 19th Dec. ISS3- 



Sir, — Can any of jour readers inform me if Ceylon 

 produces a fibre in sufficient abundance to become a 

 marketable commodity for paper makers? 



The requireiijents are that the fibre must not require 

 more chemicals to separate it from its envelope of silver 

 and woody matter than is required for Esp:irto. 

 f^econdly, that the .supply must be constant, and in 

 sufficient quantities. Thirdly, the price on the Thames 

 or the Tyuc must not exceed that of Esparto, say £8 lOs 

 per ton for very clean fibre to iG for inferior. 



Bamboo is on its tri;il, but it is exptct(d that the 

 quautity of chemicils required to convert it into pulp 

 or " hilt stuft" tit for the paper makers, will be found 

 tjo large and costly, to admit of its economical 

 employment. — Your obedient servant, 



J. VERNON WHITAKER. 



[Bamboo being excluded, we believe we can :ir;swcr at 

 once on behalf of our readers and say that no fibres from 

 Ceylon can be placed cu the Thames or the Tyne at 

 even twice the prices named. — Ed. C. 0] 



('EYLON GAMBOGE. 



Lunugala, 3rd Jan. 18S4. 

 Dear Sir, — Kindly let me know through the. medi- 

 um ot your columns, whether the gamboge I here- 

 with send you is of any value, and if there is any local 

 market for it in Colombo ; also the easiest and 

 che.apest way of extracting the gamboge, and how to 

 prepare it. — Yours truly, A. (i. C. 



Note by W. F. 



Your correspondent should hive told you the name 

 of the tree he prt^cured the gamboge from, or sent .a 

 specimen ot the tree for identification. His specimen 

 dis-olves only partly in water, and, instead of a deep 

 yellow, a pale nidky one i.s the re.=ult. 



The specimen is, therefore, not likely to be from the 

 only plant in Ceylon which produces a gamboge of any 

 value. 



Of the genus Onrrinin, with which that of Xantlio- 

 chymus has been incorporated by Sir .Joseph Hooker, 

 we name the following plants indigenous to or growing 



in Ceylon, all of which produce a yellow gum-resin 

 rom incisions in the bark or unripe fiuits: — 



1. Garcinia mangostana, linn , the famous mango- 

 steen fruit, a native of the Indian Archipelago, but 

 now common in Ceylon, especially at Kalutara. The 

 gum from this plant is of no value. 



2. G. camhogia. Desrouss. This is the common 

 goraka, with ribbed fruits of various forms, sizes, colors, 

 and degrees of sweetness, some of them nearly equal 

 to the mangosteens. The gum from this tree, though 

 described by Mr. VV. P. Ferdinands in one of your 

 issues and in the T. A, as the gamboge of commerce, 

 is worthless as a pigment, because it does not dissolve 

 in water, but will in turpentine, and then forms a 

 yellow varnish, which might be used for brass or 

 copper vessels. 



3. G. echinocarpa, Thwaites. The madol-gaha of 

 the Sinhalese, — and hence Madul-sima — from the fruit 

 of wliich an oil is extracted by the Sinhalese and is 

 used in lamps, but it is thick and not g"iod. A common 

 forest tree from the Western Province across the island 

 to Madulsiwa. 



4. G. viorella, Desrouss. This is the gokatu or 

 kana-goraka of the Sinhalese, and the only tree in Ceylon 

 which produces a gamboge which can be used as a 

 pigment anii in medicine, and was sent from Ceylon 

 in former times as real gamboge; but the tree 

 from which the real gamboge is procured is a 

 native of Siam, and, though supposed to be the same 

 as G. monlla, it h,a8 now been separated by Sir J. 

 Hooker, and called G. Hanhurii in honor of the 

 late Daniel Hanburv, who published a figure and de- 

 scription of it. For an exhaustive account of this 

 plant, and a summary of information on the subject 

 of the gamboge-producng plants of India and Ceylon 

 and the modes of collecting the gamiioge, see the 

 article No. 33 in Me/iicinal Plants, by Hentley and 

 Trimen, vol. 1, copied into your Tropical Agri- 



iilluriM for 1882-83, i>p. .'i.SOl. 



The gamboge is procured from incisions made in 

 the bai'k of the tree, and is collected after it has dried 

 to some consistence on the baik. 



5. O. terpnojihi/Ua, Thwaites. This tree produces 

 a hard and heavy timber, and is known as the 

 kekatiya of the Sinhalese, but produces gum of no 

 value as gamboge. It is a common small tree from 

 the Western Province to the central parts of the 

 island. 



(5. G. leanthofJiymux, Hooker, fil. formerly A'an- 

 thochymtia piclorius, Rox., and X. tinctoriun, ]). O. 

 This is a small pyramidal handsome tree with a 

 dense mass of long dark green leaves quite common 

 as a cultivated plant near Colombo and elsewhere 

 in the island, and known as the rata (foreign) 

 goraka. Its yellow fruits are eaten when ripe and 

 make a fairly good tart. Though the specific names 

 of Rox. and D. C. would indicate that its gum 

 was used as a pigment, Rox. said of it that it yielded 

 a large quantity of indiflferent gamboge. 



7. G. apicaln. Hooker, fil. This is a common plant 

 in the Northern and North-Western Provinces, and is 

 a very abundant small tree or large shrub in the 

 penina la of Jaffna and well-known there under the 

 Tamil name kokoti, and which the late Dr. Gardner 

 pronounced to be the real gamboge tree, hut this is of 

 course a mistake. This plant was described as X, 

 onalif alius Rox. and X. spicatus, W., and A. Towards 

 Chilaw it is found as a considerable sized tree. 

 There are several small ornamental trees of this plant 

 growing in the Circular Walk from seeds sent to the 

 late Dr. Elliott by the late Mr. Dyke, Government 

 Agent ot the Northern Province, about 30 years ago. 

 These plants appear to be quite dicEcious. This 

 plant is the ela-gokatu of the Sinhalese, and Thwaites 

 savs that the tenacious gummy matter which exudes 

 from the trunk is of no value. VV, F, 



