237 
about 23 tons (2760 kilograms), mostly of wild Kapok, were 
exported. from Togo, and this amount will increase greatly in the 
near future when the plangts its come into bearin 
By far the greatest amount of Kapok is the riots of the Silk- 
cotton Tree, Ceiba pentandra, Gaertn. Lenk ert anfractuosum, 
DC.), which is the only species Heapabale oO any extent, and of 
which innumerable forms occur in the tro 
arious kinds of Kapok known Secats Sopra Africa may be 
sunnped in two categories 
The first group includes those with snow-white, dirty white or 
grey wool, composed of slender soft and long hairs. The seeds are 
somewhat pear-shaped and 6-10 mm. in Jen ngth. The following 
species yield Kapok of this kind: Ceiba pentandra, Gaertner, 
Bombax samen Beauv., B. angulicarpum, Ulbrich, B. 
flammeum, Ulbrich, B. reflecum, Sprague, and B. Buesgenii, Ulbrich. 
e second group is characterised by a yellowish, reddish-brown 
or dark brown wool composed of more brittle, stiffer and shorter 
hairs. The seeds are globose or cylindric and 1°2-1:3 em. in 
diameter or length. T he only two species known are Bombar rho- 
dognaphalon, K. Schum, . and B. brevicuspe, Sprague 
Kapok is used for stuffing cushions, pete and lifebelts. For 
the latter purpose its great buoyancy renders it superior to cork. 
The reddish brown kind yielded by Bombs Se oe gee has 
been used recently in paper-making, and has proved to be suitable 
for the manufacture of coloured Slokeiaesenee 
The seeds yield an oil suitable for lubrication and soap-making, 
and the residue after expression of the oil may be utilised as a 
manure. 
Wild Kapok is of little importance for the world’s supply on 
account of the relatively small and uncertain amount of the yield, 
and the soiling of the wool which is due to the capsules having to be 
picked from the ground after they have ripened _ fallen on account 
of the great height and spiny nature of the tre 
In the plantations the young Kapok trees (Coiba pentandra) are 
usually raised from cuttings. Branches as rm 
are cut off and planted 3-44 ft. deep in the ground, and stripped of 
their leaves. They grow quickly and usually give rise to spineless 
trees, which come into bearing rather earlier than seedlings. When 
the trees grow too high they are lopped in order to facilitate the 
collection of the fruits and to give more light to the trees planted in 
en. 
Seedlings are transplanted from the seedbeds after 6-12 months 
or, preferably, after 18-24 months. The young plants grow rapidly 
if they are =e of leaves and lopped at about 14-2 ft. above the 
ground. Growth is then very quick, and the trees commence to 
yield when they are 4-6 years old. Reproduction by seedlings 
is apt to be epee as the results are much less certain than 
by cuttings, and spiny ss are apt to occur. e best work on 
Kapok cultivation is G. F. J. Bley’s ‘ De Kapokcultuur op Java.’ 
The Kapok plantations : ins appear to be affected to any con- 
siderable extent by parasitic fungi. They suffer, however, from the 
attacks of several insects, of which the most harmful are the red bugs, 
Dysdercus spp., which live in the fruits and destroy the wool. 
