H9 



I inch to inches long, they have tufts of hairs dispersed over the 

 upper surface, and these hairs cause painful stings if touched. 



The moth is of a greyish colour. A careful look-out should be 

 kept for this pest and when one or more are seen they should be at 

 once destroyed and a search made to see if others are on the neigh- 

 bouring trees. Though in this case the caterpillars were feeding 

 only on the coconut palms many of which they had practically de- 

 foliated, yet they will eat the leaves of both Hevea Braziliensis and 

 Ficus Elastica, and when in captivity greedily fed on these. 



J. B. C. 



CEARA RUBBER IN SHEETS. 



M. Furniss, the U. S. A. Consul in Bahia having discovered 

 Ceara rubber in Bahia, describes the manufacture of Ceara sheets 

 the best form of Ceara rubber. The preparation as made by an 

 American owning extensive areas in this region consists in collec- 

 ting enough liquid latex to fill flat pans; then after coagulation,* 

 pressing the rubber between flat boards, washing and drying, 

 (nothing unfortunately is said as to the method of coagulation). 

 The sheets are 20 inches long, 10 inches wide and a quarter of an 

 inch thick. The rubber is of good amber colour and smells well 

 and is remarkably elastic. It is quoted on the Liverpool and 

 U. S. markets as equal to fine Para. 



Journal d } Agriculture Tropicale, No. 6j, p. c>j. 



LARGE PARA RUBBER TREES IN 

 , CULTIVATION. 



What is the size of the largest Para rubber tree in cultivation 

 in the East? The biggest specimen in the Botanic Gardens, 

 Singapore, measures 9 feet 5f inches at 3 feet from the ground. 

 It is 27 years old. 



The largest mentioned in Ceylon in Mr. Wright's book is 9 

 feet 2 inches. Are there any bigger than this in the Peninsula? 



H. N. R. 



POMES SEMITOSTUS IN CEYLON. 



Royal Botanic Gardens, 



PERADENIYA, March 12th, 1906. 



Dear Sir, 



I am very much obliged to you for the specimens of Fqjues 

 Semitostus. I think we are dealing with the same disease though 

 our specimens are red brown changing to pale yellow brown. I 

 enclose a piece of an old sporophore, the edge is thicker than 

 usual. 



Yours faithfully, 



T. PETCH. 



