AtfGTJST t, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



125 



this has been met by planting them in sphagnum, or when 

 growing them on blocks by wrappiug the roots in moss. 

 A list is given of 47 species which flowered in the course 

 of last year. The necessity for more stove room has been 

 urged on more than one occasion, but though new buildings 

 have been erected from time to time, the South Australian 

 authorities do not exercise an unwise parsimony; they 

 permit of such further extensious as are palpably needed. 

 A new building, therefore, is to be erected near the Victoria- 

 house. Its dimensions are : — Length, 100 ft. ; width, 50 ft., 

 " so that the public can be admitted." The cost is estimated 

 at £1,600. The tropical fern-house is in satisfactory con- 

 diton. As regards cacti we read: — "A large collection 

 of these plants arrived last year to replenish the species 

 lost or stolen." The behaviour of visitors has, however, 

 undergone much improvement, although there is room for 

 a further abatement of the practice of carving names on 

 trees, writing on the pedestals of statues and on the broad 

 foliage of palms, dracjenas, and anthuriums. Petty thefts 

 of bulbous plants and others, by taking them out of pots, 

 " are not confined to any class of society — each has its 

 own besetting foibles." Dr. Schomburgk views with pleasure 

 the promotion of a taste for horticulture and floriculture, 

 especially amongst the working classes. Cottage gardens 

 and cottagers' plants at the shows are the active evidences 

 of this. Personally, Dr. Schomburgk is yearly receiving 

 greater numbers of inquiries for names of plants and for 

 other information, betokening the increasing interest felt 

 by " cottagers " in the practice of gardening. The mam- 

 malia have been handed over to the Zoological Society, and 

 thus from seven to eight acres of laud have been set free 

 and added to the area under trees and shrubs, and otherwise 

 devoted to horticultural subjects. The introduction of new 

 plants, ornamental or economical, in 1883, amounting to 326 

 species, exclusive of florists' flowers, has augmented the 

 collection to 11,507 species. — Australasian. 



VEGETABLE PEOD0CTS OF BORNEO. 



Some interesting notes on the products of Borneo are 

 contained in a recently issued report. The chief of these 

 products are gutta-percha, indiarubber, and rattans. Of 

 the first of these the writer says: — "Various kinds and 

 qualities of gutta-percha are afforded by various Sapotaceous 

 trees, but the pure red Borneau gutta is yielded by Dichopsis 

 Gutta. Other species of the genus Dichopsis, however, 

 yield guttas which, being of inferior value, are frequently 

 mixed by the native collectors with the more valuable red 

 %'ariety. The red variety is obtained from red and rough- 

 stemmed trees, which are generally found growing among 

 old jungle on the hill-sides to a height of from 100 to 150 

 feet, with a diameter to 3 feet. The natives, who roam 

 the jungle collecting this raw product, proceed as follows: — 

 On coming across a tree old enough to cut — one having 

 a diameter of, say, 12 inches— they fell it, cut off the top, 

 and ring the bark at distances of about a foot. The sap 

 for two or three days gradually drains away, and as it does 

 so is collected in any convenient vessels, such as leaves, 

 coconut shells, &c, from which receptacles it is transferred 

 to a pot and boiled with a little water for half an hour 

 or so. The milk is boiled to prevent it from hardening 

 on exposure to the air, as if allowed to do so it becomes 

 comparatively valueless. It is very difficult to estimate the 

 comparative yield of each tree, as the quantity varies so 

 much, according to the size of the tree and time of the 

 year — the flow of the sap being greatest when the tree 

 is producing most leaves; but a small tree will generally 

 yield a quarter of a picul (331b.), while the largest ones 

 may yield even as much as three-quarters of a picul (100 lb.) 

 each. The value of this red g.itta varies according to its 

 purity, from 40 dollars to SO dollars per picul. Another 

 speciesol 1 lichopsis (D. macrophylla) yields an inferior gutta 



ot whit. lour. This speciesis of smaller growth (50 to 



60 feet high:), and differs also slightly in the foliage. It 

 yields proportionately less gutta, often only 20 catties (26i 

 lb.) per ton. 



Inbiahdbbee, or OAOUTCHorc.-This is obtained from three 

 varieties or species of rough-stemmed woody climbers, known 

 as Manungans (Willugubeia sp.), which attains a length of 

 over 100 feet, and a thickness of about 8 inches. The juice 

 is obtained in much the same way .is gutta. and is pre- 

 pared either by boiling like gutta, orby steeping in a solution 

 of salt. This wasteful method of collecting guttas and rubbers 



has naturally caused an exhaustion of the supply from the 

 more accessible districts; the rubber trees, however, are 

 probably not so thoroughly exterminated as the gutta tree, 

 owiug to the greater tendency of the former to be reproduced 

 from suckers (especially when young plants are cut clown), 

 from cuttings of the stem rooting accidentally, and from the 

 fruit, which being edible, is much sought after by monkeys, 

 birds, wild pigs, &c. 



Rattans, ok Canes.— These are the stems of various 

 species of Calamus, as C. Rotang; O. rudentum, O. verus, 

 &c, which are found distributed all over the district. Two 

 different kinds are known to the collectors by various names 

 according to any special quality they possess. These canes 

 are termed rattans to distinguish them from the Malacca 

 cane (O. scipiouum), the stems of which are much thicker 

 and used, after being bronzed by heat, as walking sticks. 

 Under the head of "Agriculture" it is stated that the 

 only plants cultivated in Western Borneo for exportation 

 are the Gambier (Uncaria gambir), Pepper (Piper nigrum), 

 and the Sago Palm (Metroxylon Sagu). Gambier and Pepper 

 are cultivated only in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 Sarawak, while the Sago Palm is grown on almost every 

 river in the Sarawak and Brunei territories, but curiously 

 is not found in North Borneo, to the north of the Papar 

 River, which enters the sea some fifty miles north of the 

 island of Labnan. Its absence in North Borneo is remarkable, 

 as it is again found in abundance still further north in 

 the Philippine Islands. The cultivation of Pepper and 

 Gambier is carried on together in the same plantations, 

 and has, in the hands of skilled Chinese cultivators, 

 proved successful ; but the cultivation of the Sago Palm 

 and the preparation of raw Sago is the only cultivation 

 (if planting the shoots and protecting them from wild 

 pigs can be called cultivation) congenial to Malays. From 

 numerous enquiries made during the past few months, not 

 only among natives who grow Sago, but of Europeans who 

 have lived many years in Sago-growing districts in Western 

 Borneo, the writer of the report says he feels assured 

 that the growing of Sago by Europeans would prove re- 

 munerative. " Although, " he proceeds to say, " the growth 

 of the Falm is rapid, the tree must reach maturity before 

 being cut, and thus ten years must elapse before any 

 return is obtained for the capital expended ; but even al- 

 lowing for compound interest on the capital, the profit, 

 by the lowest estimate, is from 20 to 25 percent. The 

 estimates I have met with for planting Sago are, as a 

 nil.', misleading, being evidently founded on statistics ob- 

 tained in exceptionally favourable localities. The most 

 important factors of success in growing Sago are locality 

 ami soil. I am informed that in some localities Sago trees 

 flourish on hillsides, if so such localities must have ex- 

 ceptional soils, or another indigenous variety of Sago tree 

 may exist; but practically Sago trees flourish in the level 

 plains periodically manured with fine mud from the neigh- 

 bouring hills by the overflow of the river. The presence 

 of a whitish clay as a component part of the soil seems 

 essential for the fullest development of the tree, one of 

 its uses evidently being the mechanical one of retaining 

 moisture. I have found Sago trees growing in certain 

 localities to be between six or seven times more product- 

 ive of starch than the same variety of Sago growing on 

 soil, which, to the inexperienced eye, seemed to differ very 

 little indeed, if at all, from that in the more productive 

 localities. A Sago plantation demands no skilled labour, 

 entails very little ^expense .for up-keep, and is one of the 

 safest investments. The necessity of waiting ten years for 

 returns is, however, enough to deter many Europeans from 

 cultivating this product, which is so peculiarly suited to the 

 cli 11 Ml,- and soil of Borneo, and the preparation of which is 

 s., readily and cheaply effected by the natives of the country." 



The exports of Sago in 1882 from Singapore fell much 

 below that of the previous year, mainly due, it is said, 

 to the low market value of Sago-flour during 1S82. The 

 quality of Sago-flour exported from Sarawak is said to be 

 better than the average imported to Singapore. 



Traneii.- Under this head it is sail that the chief wood 

 exported is i inn-wood, thi botanical source of which is not 

 known. It is of excellent quality and high value, and is 

 said to surpass every other wood in durability. It is already 

 becoming scarce in the vicinity of the capital, from whence 

 its e\;,,. t lias been ] in M ii hi t c 1. but large supplies are still 

 obtainable. — Ganb-ners' Chronic! e. 



