NOTES OX ECONOMIC PLANTS. 307 



Csesalpinia sappan, Fibraurea tinctoria, Henna, Phytolacca, 

 &c. 



[NDIA-RUBBER, CAUTCHOUQ AND GUMS. 



GL'TTA PERCHA \Di chop sis gutta). — From statistics afforded 

 by plants growing in the Nursery, this plant, the best variety 

 of Gutta Percha tree, seems a moderately fast grower. A 

 plant planted in 187c) is now twenty-five feet in height and 

 twelve inches in circumference at six feet above the ground. 

 This gives an average yearly growth in height of about three 

 and a half feet, and an annual increase in circumference or 

 about one and one-fourth inch. 



Native Creeping Gutta. — The various Willoughbeias 

 and others from which a very large proportion of East Indian 

 Gutta is drawn, grow with great vigour when planted on 

 cleared land, and where, in the absence of anything to climb 

 upon, they form large bushes in twelve months. Results of 

 growth seem to show that it would be more profitable to plant 

 these than the larger trees requiring some fifteen years to 

 produce a first return. 



Foreign Creeping Gutta. — The Foreign creeping Gutta^ 

 on hand are the African and Madagascar creepers ; these are 

 planted side by side with the native kinds^ and although they 

 grow freely are far behind the native kinds in rate of growth 

 and general vigour. 



Other foreign rubber, such as Para, Ceara and Panama 

 rubbers grow well, but so far as experiments have gone, the 

 produce of latix is very watery and it is doubtful whether 

 they will hold their own against the better native kinds. The 

 other Gums under cultivation are, Gum Tolu, Gum Benzoin, 

 and Gum Arabic, all growing satisfactorily. 



DRUGS. 



KOLA {Cola acuminata) a native of western Africa and 

 acclimatised in our West Indian Colonies, produces a pod 

 which contains several seeds about the size of horse chestnuts, 

 which are us^d for manv purposes by the Negroes, but one 



