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lows : 'The bulk of the cotton from the West Indies is turning 

 out very well, but you must impress on all the growers the 

 necesssity for very careful selection of seed, and extreme care in 

 cultivation and handling, for unless Sea Island cotton is quite 

 right in all respects, it suffers severely in price.' 



As announced in the columns of the Agricultural Neivs (Vol. V. 

 p. 89), the Imperial Department of Agriculture is prepared to 

 supply specially selected and disinfected cotton seed for plant- 

 ing during the months of May to August next, and to deliver the 

 seed at any port in the West Indies at the rate of five cents (2 Jd.) 

 per lb. Applications for such seed will be received by the prin- 

 cipal agricultural officers in each island, as follows : For An- 

 tigua and Montserrat, by the Hon. Francis Watts, C.M.G. ; for St. 

 Kitt's, Nevis, and Anguilla, by Mr. F. R. Shepherd ; for Barbados, 

 by Mr. J. R. Bovell, F.L. S., F.C.S. ; for St. Vincent, by Mr. W.N. 

 Sands. Applications from Jamaica, British Guiana, Trinidad, and 

 other colonies not mentioned above, may be forwarded direct to 

 the Imperial Commissioner of Agricultural, Head Office, Barbados. 

 All applications will be dealt with in the order in which they are 

 received. 



In order to prevent disappointment in regard to the germina- 

 ting qualities Of the seed, it is recommended that immediately on 

 its arrival it be turned out of the bags or barrels, in which it is 

 packed, and spread out on a dry floor in order that any excess of 

 moisture may be removed. After the lapse of a day or two, the 

 seed may be replaced in the bags or barrels, and kept until it is 

 planted. 



It is also recommended that about lOO seeds, taken from the 

 bulk, be sown in soil, or placed between folds of damp cloth, as 

 described in the Agricultural News (Vol. II, p. 153), in order to test 

 its germinating power. In the event of doubt arising as to the 

 condition of any selected cotton seed received from the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, a sample of not less than 100 seeds 

 should be forwarded within seven days from the date of the ar- 

 rival of the seed, to the agricultural officer through whom it was 

 ordered, in order that it may be carefully tested. It should be 

 borne in mind that the best results are likely to be obtained when 

 the selected cotton seed is sown within a period of one month 

 after it has been received. 



CAMPHOR IN CEYLON.*' 



By M. KELWAY BAMBER, Government Chemist, and J. C. 

 Willis, Director Royal Botanic Gardens. 

 The recent establishment by the Goverment of Japan of a 

 monopoly of the production and sale of camphor in Formosa has 

 attracted much attention to this product, and at the same time, by 

 raising the market price, has rendered it by no means unlikely 

 that this may prove to be a profitable cultivation in Ceylon. The 



* From Circular, Koyal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon. Series l.~No 24, November, I'JOl 



