166 THE BOTANY OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND. 



potato, Brinjals and Indian Corn ; Chilies have run wild every- 

 where. Dal and Haricot beans, mentioned by Andrews as 

 cultivated I did not see and of other plants in cultivation 

 mentioned by him Sugar-cane, Bamboos, Nutmeg, and Cocoa, 

 have also disappeared. The dry calcareous soil is not suited 

 for these plants. A few ornamental plants are cultivated but 

 more might be done in this way. There are a few good trees 

 of Kapok, a candle-nut tree, Liberian Coffee, doing well but 

 the trees are getting old. Lemongrass, and a good supply of 

 Tapioca. The attention of the Magistrate was called to a 

 number of thriving plants of the very undesirable Indian Hemp 

 (Ganja) close to his house carefully planted and protected by 

 his gardener. 



Fodder plants for the horses and cattle are practically 

 restricted to Oplismenus undulatifolius which is abundant in 

 many of the woods and is collected and brought in by the 

 grass cutters. There is also Digitaria sanguinale and I also 

 found recently introduced Panicum Colonum and Taspalum 

 conjugation both in very small quantity. The latter when it 

 gets to the cooler and shadier parts of the island will probably 

 spread, and is a good fodder grass. The rest of the grasses in 

 the island are unsuited for fodder. The horses however eat 

 greedily many of the weedy herbaceous plants such as 

 Synedrella and Ageratum when young. More might be done 

 in introducing fodder plants as there seems rarely to be 

 sufficient. The soil in a good part of the island is hardly deep 

 enough for much cultivation, but behind the Settlement is 

 a good area tolerably flat in parts of rich brown earth, in 

 which beans, pines, bananas, etc., grow well. A good deal of 

 this is still covered with secondary scrub which could be 

 cleared and used as a fruit and vegetable garden. The 

 difficulty of cultivation in the dry island lies in two factors, 

 the excessive drought in the dry season, accentuated by the 

 porous nature of the soil which does not retain water, and the 

 great mist of sea spray which covers the Cove, and the 

 cultivated area at the Waterfall during the rough seasons. 

 At the latter place where sweet-potatoes were being cultivated 

 the natives told me that the plants were destroyed every year 



Jotfr. Straits Branch 



