

A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OP THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



-UBRAi 



NEW YO 



BOTANIC 



QARDE 



Vol. XI. No. 254. 



BARBADOS, .JANUARY 20. 1912. 



Pbick Id 



CONTENTS. 



Agricultiuists and Agi-icul- 

 tuial Invbstigatinn ... 



As.'^imilatidH of the Nitmgen 

 of the Air by Fungi ... 



Cacao and Cotton in the 

 Congo 



Calcium Cyananiideand Ni- 

 trate of Lime 



Garabao, Philippine 



Copra in the I'hilippines ... 



Cotton Notes : — 



t'ott<m rroducti<m in the 

 West Indies, 1910-11... 



Egyptian Cotton 



West Indian Cotton ... 



Dejiartment News 



Dipping Fluids, Changes in 

 the Arsenic 



Fungus Notes : — 



A Report on Fungus 

 Disea.ses During the 

 Years 1910 and 1911... 



Gleanings 



Graft Hyluids 



The Use of Latex in Plants. 



^^ "l^^HE actual function of latex in plants is still 

 E^tfa matter of uncertainty, although the consi- 

 3oi% deration and study of the subject have been 

 given more attention in recent years, bince the advent 

 of the largely increased interest in rubber-yielding 

 plants. It seems fair to state, however, that specula- 

 tions and observations in this connexion ha\e suffered 

 from the bias engendered by the amount of regard that 

 has been given to the fact that rubber is obtainable 



from the latex of many plants, under the proper condi- 

 tions: sufficient attention has not been paid to the 

 circumstance that several substances other than caout- 

 chouc are yielded by latex. This has probably led to 

 an incorrect view as to the actual uses and real compo- 

 sition of the milky juice of plants from which rubber 

 may be separated. 



The matter receives treatment in a broad manner 

 in an article* b}' Keith Bancroft, B.A., ^Mycologist to 

 the Department of Agriculture of the Federated Malay 

 States, and it will be well to bring forward a few of the 

 considerations that are dealt with in this article. 



Reference is first made to the fact that many plants 

 contain substances that are the products of life pro- 

 ce.sses, and that neither the use of these to the plants 

 nor the manner of their formation is at present capable 

 of being explained. Some of these substances are of 

 large economic importance, and they are nearly all 

 poisonous to animal life. The latter property doubtless 

 gives assistance in the protection of the plant from 

 animals which may desire to feed upon it, or injure it 

 in other ways, but it cannot be held definitely that this 

 is a primary function of the poisonous substances. There 

 are other matters that are of no use as plant food, which 

 are not necessarily harmful to animals, but serve to 

 attract insects; these are useful, in their special way, 

 but it would be claiming a great deal definitely to assert 

 that they were formed originally for thi.s particular 

 purpose. 



Returning again to the circumstance that rubber 

 can be obtained from the latex of many plants, less is 



*The Ag)-icwUitn-al Bulletin of the Straits and Federateif, 

 Miday States, September 1911, p. 276. 



