27 



the market at remunerative prices. The elimination of the 

 vegetable and mineral impurities would considerably improve 

 the quality of the rubber. 



In view of the statement that large supplies of this rubber 

 are available it is suggested that a trial consignment of one or 

 two hundred weights should be prepared and forwarded to the 

 Imperial Institute for sale in London so that its commercial 

 value can be definately ascertained. 



(Signed) Wyndham R. Dunstan, 



Director. 



The genus Gryptostegia includes two species only, the one 

 reported on as above and C. madagascariensis which we have in 

 the Gardens, and which is a native of Madagascar. The 

 difference between the two species appears to be very slight, 

 and the habit the same, though the Madagascar species seems 

 to be only known from garden specimens. Where our plant 

 came from I am unable to discover, it has been in the Gardens 

 for many years, and has no special attention; whether its 

 cultivation would be profitable or not must be a matter for 

 experiment. 



Hevea braziliensis, Mull Arg. I have long been of opinion 

 that this tree is not at all likely to succeed in any part of 

 Natal known to me. Some people are, however, of a different 

 opinion, and entertain sanguine hopes of the likelihood of its 

 success in the rubber-growing districts of Zululand, and they 

 are evidently encouraged in that belief by the fact that it had 

 been publicly stated that at the Transvaal Government Ex- 

 periment Station, at Fzaneen, which has a climate and rainfall 

 very similar to that of Durban, plants 6| inches in height in 

 January have reached b\ feet in June, and some time ago it 

 was said that they had reached 15 feet in height. This is so 

 different from our experience of the behaviour of the plants 

 here, that one is inclined to think that there must be a mistake 

 somewhere. In February, 1906, we received from Cedara a 

 few seeds of this tree, some plants were reared in a frame, and 

 soon reached to 12 to 18 inches in height, they were put out in 

 February, and now in June some of them are already dead, 

 while those alive are not yet 2 feet high. They may possibly 

 survive the winter, but I have no hope^of their ultimate success. 

 How this can be explained I am at present at a loss to know. 

 I have learned that two other persons in the coast districts 

 have had almost the same experience, the seeds germinated, 

 the young plants lived for some time, but are now all dead. 



