27 
4. The Sierra Leone cotton was stated to be of good quality, and 
valued at sixpence per pound in Liverpool. There was said to be a 
good demand for it, and Lancashire buyers “ would gladly welcome a 
“ very much larger supply than is now available.” A copy of the cor- 
respondence was afterwards published as a Government notice (No. 56, 
se the 26th May 1890), in the local gazette, and the Governor, Sir 
James Hay, K.C.M.G., invited “the special attention of the public to 
~ the ‘importance of = aunoa z 
5. It was evident that a very favourable opening existed in spa 
Colony of Sierra oes for. extending a valuable industry. Ther 
few West African products in the present day that offer a geomet 
e es this subject of cotton-growing was of peculiar 
impor 
6. at was ‘thought desirable not only to encourage and extend the cul- 
tivation of the cotton already in the hands of the natives, but to introduce 
the more valuable Egyptian cotton, which is in great demand “for the 
“ length, firmness, and strength of the staple 
If owing to local circumstances the cultivation of Egyptian cotton 
that are now believed ‘tapvoastible: The success attained at tae 
stations already established in West Africa at Lagos and Aburi, ae 
that they fulfil a most useful mission in regard to developing local 
industries. 
I am, &e. 
(Signed) D. MORRIS. 
The Hon. R. H. Meade, C.B. 
Colonial Office. 
XI—KAPOK. — 
(Eriodendron anfractuosum, DC.) 
[K. B., 1896, pp. 204-207. ] 
Kapok is the Dutch name for the seed hairs of the white silk-cotton 
tree of the East Indies (Hviodendron eiee Une aucune kapok of 
Java is regarded as the best. It is, howeve n the staple. 
too smooth, and too soft to be spun into chief use is for 
sm0o yan 
stuffing pillows, mattresses, and sofas, where its fightness, immunity from 
moth, softness, and elasticity, render it superior to all but the best 
qualities of feathers, wool, and hair. 
Erivdendron anfractuosum is a lofty forest tree with a large straight 
trunk covered with prickles when yonng. The branches are horizontal 
and arranged in whorls. The rather large flowers are white, and are 
followed by a dry, green capsule, in shape like a short cucumber, filled 
with black seeds embedded in silky hairs. The seeds are sometimes 
eaten and wee a bland, fatty oil. The residual cake makes an excellent 
food or cattle. The tree occurs in the forest throughout the hotter 
dia and pars and extends to Sumatra, Java, and the 
Phili fart e Islands. It is also distributed to Scuth America, the West 
Indies te tropical Africa, The habit of the tree is a very striking 
