234 



as a storehouse of grain for the last 19 years, weevils 



have almost disappeared from the farm. After a long 



and diligent search I succeeded in observing only a few 



under the heaps of jowari ears in the threshing yard so 



late as the 20th of last month. This proves beyond 



doubt that wheat is most damaged by weevils in city 



godowns, where a large quantity of it is stored every 



year before being shipped to Europe. 



(h) It is, therefore, fair to conclude that painting the interior 



of the godowns with poisonous paints, and charging the 



grain with CS 2 (in proportions of l| lbs. of the re-agent 



to a ton of grain) will reduce the damage caused by 



weevils to wheat and other grain to a considerable 



extent. 



The following note is contributed by Mr. G. R. C. Heale, 



Knockalva, Sept., 1907. 



"In South Africa, where the farmers depend chiefly on their corn or " mealie" 

 crops, corn is preserved in air-tight tanks which, having been filled almost to the 

 top, have whatever little air remains in the tank exhausted by means of a small 

 candle which is placed on the corn and lighted. The tank is then covered and 

 hermetically sealed. I have been told that corn preserved in this way will keep 

 for years. The expense is rendered worth while as it frequently happens that 

 practically all the crops in the country have failed on account of hail-storms and 

 swarms of locusts." 



CAMPHOR IN CEYLON. III. 



By M. Kelway Bamber.* 



A considerable amount of attention has been given to this 

 subject lately owing to the high price of camphor now ruling, and 

 before discussing the method of growth and cultivation, it will be 

 as well to briefly outline what has already been done in Ceylon, 

 with a view to its introduction as a new minor product. During 

 the year 1895, Mr. Nock, late Superintendent of the Hakgala 

 Gardens, brought the matter to the notice of planters in various 

 parts of the Island at elevations ranging from 2,500 to 6,450 feet, 

 and under all conditions of climate and rainfall, and distributed 

 about 1,000 plants raised from Japanese seed. These were planted 

 out chiefly along roadsides between tea bushes, and apparently in 

 most cases received little or no special attention. About 1900, 

 reports from the various estates were obtained, which proved that 

 under suitable conditions of soil and climate camphor would 

 thrive at most elevations from about sea level to over 6,000 feet. 

 It was found that a deep, well-drained sandy loam in sheltered 

 situations answered best, the growth in such cases being fairly 

 rapid, the trees reaching 18 to 20 feet or more in five years, with 

 a spread of 8 to 12 feet or more and a stem 6 to 7 inches in 

 diameter, this comparing favourably with the growth in their 

 native habitat in hillsides and in valleys in China, Japan and 

 Formosa. Mr. Nock, in a paper on the subject in 1900, points 

 out that the best 5-year-old tree was growing at Veyangoda at 



* From Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and F. Malay States. V. 5. May, 1906. 

 p. 162. 



