PERIODICAL LITERATURE 825 



in patches made in well prepared soil in the forest. In both cases ger- 

 mination took place in two or three weeks after sowing, due to the con- 

 stant soaking the seed received from the heavy and continuous monsoon 

 rains of 1917. In 1916 germination did not take place until October, 

 and seeds sown in the forest in the winter of 191 5-16 resulted in almost 

 complete failure on account of scanty rains. The investigation indicates 

 that successful germination of cypress does not depend upon the method 

 of treatment of the seed prior to sowing, but both in direct sowing and 

 ■nursery practice the seed should be sown so that it may have all of the 

 wet season before it in which to germinate. Winter sowings generally 

 result in failure. 



J. W. T. 

 Indian Forester, April, 1918, p. 175. 



UTILIZATION, MARKET, AND TECHNOLOGY 



Under normal conditions British North Borneo 

 Logging produces annually about 1,700,000 cubic feet of 



in timber, this timber practically dominating the 



Borneo Hongkong market. Though the density of the 



stands of timber and the topography of Borneo 

 decidedly warrant the use of steam logging, hand logging is still in gen- 

 eral use. The timber is bucked into 16 to 30 foot lengths, and about 70 

 per cent of the logs are also rough squared in the woods. The logs are 

 rolled by hand to skid roads, loaded on crude sleds, and hauled by coolie 

 labor to water or to railroads. Such railroads as are in use for logging 

 have 16-pound rails and 6-ton locomotives. When the logs are rafted 

 in the water, some skill must be exercised in building the rafts (which 

 are small, consisting of from four to six logs), as about 50 per cent of 

 the timber found in Borneo is heavier than water and it is necessary to 

 provide floaters for the heavier species. The principal woods exported 

 are seriah (Borneo cedar), billian (Borneo ironwood), kapor (Borneo 

 camphor), kruin, and selangan batu. Seriah is similar to Philippine 

 lauan. Billian is a satisfactory substitute for Australian jarrah. 

 Kapor, which also produces a gum practically as valuable as the For- 

 mosa camphor, is an excellent substitute for teak in decking. Kruin is 

 similar to Philippine apitong. Selangan batu is the species known m 

 the Philippines as yacal. 



B. L. G. 



Logging in British Borneo. The Timber Trades Journal, LXXXIII, .Xpril 13, 

 3918, pp. 23. 



