- 4 - 

 NOTES OF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS. 



AUSTRALIA, Queensland. Tr. Alexander Graham Bell report? on 



several plants observed in Queensland, among them the follow- 

 ing: Near Kuranda a very tempting fruit, known as the finger 

 cherry, is found. It is red, like a cherry, and is about the 



3 and size of a finger. It is said to "be poisonous and 

 occasionally to cause blindness in those w) t it. However, 

 -. wriede, the station master at Kuranda, says that he used 



eat it freely without ill effects, and that the children 

 are quite fond of it. 



In the scrub near Kuranda 7?e noticed trees bearing po 

 ov.t the size and shape of a banana, but at least twice the 

 er. Upon op the pod.s they were found to contain 

 that lock very miich like chestnuts. They have a 



and not very hard, 



consistency of a r: I ~: ie of the "beans, 

 ~old it ?/as poisonous. It tested very much 

 like a nut but had no distinctive flavor. In spite of the 



~s nature of the bean the "black fellows" have learned 



as food. They first roast the beans in hot ashes, 

 n them and pound the white flesh into coarse flour. 

 'Jhey fill a basket with this flour an^ place it in running 



ter all night. In this way the poisonous principle is washed 

 out . 



The prickly pear in Australia has become such a nuisance 

 th .ormous sums are paid to get rid of it. Land is practi- 

 cally given f.- o persons who will undertake to clear it of 

 pr .Mr. Jones suggests that instead of spending 



":9y in the useless task of attempting to eradicate it, the 

 Astral iaris should make it of use and make a profit out of it. 

 He has considered the question of manufacturing paper from it 

 but the outlook is not encouraging. It has too much juice and 

 not enough fiber. He thinks alcohol could "be iu3.de from it, as 

 it contains about 5 per cent reducing sugar. At all events h<=> 

 says a fortune awaits the man who can find a use for it. 



FORMOSA, Taihcku. Mr. Takiya Kav/akami, Sept. 8. Writes that he 

 will send, by the end of the present year, The three varieties 

 of sugar cane cultivated at the Formosa Sugar Experimental 

 Station. Chinese names, Chiku-cha, An-cha and Ra-cha. 



TRANSVAAL, Pretoria. Prof. J. Burtt-Davy, Sept. 6. Writes in re- 

 gard to Acacia rotusta (S.P.I. No. 28550), that it is a char- 

 acteristic tree of the dry bush veld "below 4,500 feet altitude, 

 i.e., in the subtropical zone of the Transvaal. The wood is 

 sometimes used for fence posts when the rarer and harder sorts, 

 such as Olea verrucosa, are not available. 



