3SS 



l-HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1S85. 



shrubs are juicy ;>nd succulent, as one might expect 

 in a country where rain, rain, rain is the usual 

 weather. 



Gutta trees of the genera Icosandra, Bassia, and 

 AViUughbeia were common. A sr.r'.'.l incision into the 

 lattiiT, which bears a larf;e eJible fruit, exudes a 

 thicls visciii white juice, whicli one can wiml off in 

 round balls. In a few minutes it becomes elastic, 

 like iudiarubber. There are many trees liere with 

 milky juices, but only a few hr.rilen into a good gutta. 

 The Jlalays of Keddah, however, have a method 

 of hardening some of these sufliciently to make tlieiu 

 useful in adulterating the valuable kinds of rubber. 

 My men showed me how this was done. They 

 collected about a pint of juice and mixed it with 

 common salt, which caused it to curdle. The com- 

 pressed curds from this juice made a hard white ball 

 about Ih inch in diameter. It was not elastic, but 

 broke into pieces like enamel, yet not without a 

 hard blow. The substance wants all the elastic 

 (jualities of good gutta, but still might be turned 

 to many useful purposes. The tree from which 

 the juice was obtained was conspicuous for its enorm- 

 ous leaves, shaped like a Fig leaf, and often 2 

 feet in diameter. It is a species of Pterospermum 

 (acerifolium?), and is common throughout the Malay 

 peninsula and China. I also noticed it as oue of 

 the most common trees in North Borneo. 



It was rather amusiug to notice one way in which 

 the Malays made use of the true gutta juice. 

 M'htn their thiu calico clothes were torn — the lacer- 

 ations, I need hardly say, being frequent and con- 

 siderable — they used to mend them by bringing the 

 edges together and plasteriug the rent with gutta 

 juice. This made a permanent and strong joint, 

 with the additional advantage of being waterproof. 

 J. Texison Woods. — Ganlenris' Chronicle. 



IIUBBEE NOTE 5 FK(.)M BRITISH AND 



AMEKIOAN CONSULAR REPORTS. 

 Z.INZIBAE. — A volume of British Consular Reports, 

 presented to I'arliament in May, 1885, with which 

 we were unable to deal last month, owing to jjressure 

 of spjL'.', contiiius an interesting coramuuicitiou on 

 the subject of native African guttapercha, sent in 

 December, 1883, by Sir .John Kirk, our Consul at 

 Zanzibar, to Earl (rranviUe, the late Secretary of 

 State for Foreign Affairs. This report w;is accom- 

 panied by a sample of guttapercha, the produce of 

 a practically uuknown tree, which Sii John found 

 at Mombasa. It appears that several samples of 

 this article had been brought to Mombasa from time 

 to time, and offered for sale by the natives ; they 

 had, howevei*, been set aside as useless, and regard- 

 ed as an adulteration of Indiarubber until the 

 Consul detected their nature, and indicated the 

 great demand likely to arise provided it could be 

 had to any great extent. Sir John Kirk, in his 

 despatch, stated that he was not aware that gutta- 

 percha hatl hitherto been discovered in Africa, and 

 m view of the importance of the matter he requested 

 Jjord Granville to send a sample of the guttapercha 

 to the Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, with 

 a view to a technical opinion being given with re- 

 gard to its probable value and quality, remarking, 

 further, that it was not ten years since he "estab- 

 lished Indiarubber collection from plants growing 

 wild on the mainland, the value of which amounted 

 last year (1882) to £3(10,000, and the plants which 

 yield this are now being grown in India and all onr tro- 

 pical colonies." In a supplementary despatch Sir 

 .John report.s the success which has attended the 

 planting of rubber trees in Zanzibar. He says : " Five 

 years :igo I received from the Director of the Royal 

 Gardens, Kew, in exchange for plants of onr African 

 Indiarubbers of the genus Limilo/pliia, other sorts 

 of [ndiarubber-giving plants, amongst which were 

 the Para tree, or Jfnnliiot (llaziovii. This, I find, 

 grows here with the geatest rai)idity, and propagates 

 itself freely in the worst soil. It is only now 

 however, that I have been able to obtain a sample 



of the Indiarubber likely to be produced, and on 

 which the value of the new introduction entirely 

 depends. I find that trees only begin to yield 

 when five years old, and no doubt these are, even 

 then, too small to be remunerative. I have collected 

 a sample of the produce, which I forward by this 

 mail, and which I would ask your lordship to he 

 good enough to forward to Sir .lo,eph Hooker, at 

 Kew, to be reported on. If the quality of this 

 Indiarubber is found to be goo), I can then con- 

 fidently encourage the Sultan to plant widely the 

 new tree in thi^ unoccupied parts of the island. It 

 stands the climate, grows freely, needs no care, and 

 would be a source of income on which his people 

 might fall back in the event of other crops failing." 

 lu compliance with the wishes of Sir John Kirk, 

 the samples were sent to .sir Joseph Hooker, who 

 placed them in the hands of Jlr. S. W. Silver, 

 F. L. S. The latter, besides studying the samples him- 

 self, consulted other experts, and the results of the 

 examination may bo briefly stated. First, as regards 

 the guttapercha, there is a general opinion that 

 the kind discovered in Zanzibar will prove an accept- 

 able addition to preseut supplies. Sir .Joseph Hooker 

 considers that the discovery of a substance resembling 

 guttapercha in Central Africa is of extraordinary 

 interest, though the authorities at Kew were not 

 unprepared for it, the floras of tropical Africa and 

 of Malaya being so similar "that guttapercha-produc- 

 iug trees, which are so characteristic of the latter, 

 might be confidently expected to be represented in 

 the former. The rubber-producing vines of each area 

 are, though distinct, so closely allied, and, indeed, 

 inutually representative, and the possibility of the 

 same tact should be borne in mind in connection 

 with gu>tapercha." Mr. J. Y. Bailey, of the India- 

 rubber, Guttapercha, .and Telegraph Works (Limited), 

 writing to Mr. Silver with rLspuet to the samples 

 sent by Sir John Kirk, remarkcil : -'The sample of 

 guttapercha is not so good a specimen as we get 

 from other parts of the world ; nevertheless, in its 

 present state, we may put the value at> about lOd. 

 per lb." Secondly, as regards the specimens of India- 

 rubber from Zanzibar, it is poiiiteil out that there 

 is some discrepancy, as Sir John Kirk appears to 

 have mixed up two distinct plants. It is toler.ably 

 clear, however, to the experts that what he h.as 

 sent is Cear;i rubber, and not that of Pani, and 

 that the plant producing this is cultivable with such 

 ease, that it is much to be hoped that it may form 

 the basis of a new and profitable industry in the 

 Zanzibar dominions. Referring to these samples of 

 ludiiinibber, Mr. Bailey says : "Indiarubber codected 

 from the trunk of the tree would be at the 

 present time commercially worth about Is. Od. to 

 23. per lb. The sample collected from the ground 

 we could put no value to." The action taken by 

 Sir John Kirk might be imitated with advantage 

 by British Consuls in other parts of the world 

 where there is any possibility of Indiarubber or 

 guttapercha being producetl.— /jirfinrKWier anil (hitta- 

 ptrclm Jownal. 



♦ 



THE DATE PALM. 

 In the GanUners' Chronicle for February 21, 18S5, 

 page 240, the following statements occur, (pioted from 

 iVdfKjr, under the heading of "The influence of direct 

 sunlight on vegetation." Regarding the I'h.cnix 

 dactylifera, L., it is stated that "it never forms dense 

 forests;" that "the Date Palm is indigeuons to the 

 Great Desert (Sahara);" that "nowhere else does the 

 plant vegetate so rapidly ; " that "when cultivated with 

 success, it is also in a desert climate, as, for instance, 

 in that of .Mnrcia in Spain ; " that " the cause of its 

 being without fruits in the Mediterranean is the ilry 

 summer, their being no subterranean wells, as is the 

 case in the Sahara." 



I think these theories are erroneous, as I shall en- 

 deavour to show further on, but before doing so. I 

 wonlil call attention to an article in the (iarilcn of 

 February 28, 1885, page lUS, on the "Palms at Bor- 



