39 



The following table gives the details of germinations of seeds of 

 Para rubber at the Botanic Gardens during the two years 1905-7 : — 





Number of 

 Seeds 



Where obtained 

 from 



Number oi 

 Plants 

 raised 



Percentage of 

 Germination 



1905-6 



50 



Para, Brazil 



None 





1906-7 



20,000 



Received from 

 Messrs. Booker 

 Bros., McCon- 

 nell and Co., 

 from (Cejion) 



6,000 



30 





12,000 



Presented by 

 Hon. B. Howell 

 Jones 



None 







25,000 



Ceylon 



1,000 



4 





1,200 



Botanic Gardens, 

 Singapore 



900 



75 





500 



Royal Botanic 

 Gardens , Ceylon 



100 



20 



The following table gives particulars of the shipments of Para 

 rubber seeds imported from the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, by the 

 Department of Science and Agriculture and germinated at the 

 Botanic Gardens, Georgetown, since 1907 : — 



Botanic Gardens, Singapore. 



1907-8 



10,800 



(Spring cropy 



6,955 



64. 4 





■"^52,000 



(Autumn crop) 



42,100 



80.00 



1908-9 



50,000 



(Autumn crop) 



43,150 



86. 3 



1909-10 



30,131 



(Autumn crop) 



21,609 



70. 



I9I0-II 



29,676 



(Spring crop) 



20,465 



68. 9 



303 



(Intermediate crop) 



139 



46. 



Total 



1907-10 172,957 134419 77.7% 



It has been demonstrated that the most satisfactory method is to 

 obtain seeds packed in weathered, charred rice dust in biscuit tins 

 direct by parcel post, with about 500 seeds per tin. The autumn 

 crop of seeds has given much better germination than has the spring 

 crop as much as 86% having been obtained from the former as against 



^Since the seeds obtained from the Botanic gardens have been obtained packed in charred 

 rice dust in biscuit tins and sent by parcel post, the average germination of seeds of the autumn 

 crop has been nearly 8l% while the average germination of the spring and intermediate crop 

 seeds has besn 67.6%. In 1907-8 at the sarne time as 52,030 seeds were obtained from the Botanic 

 Ga.rdetis through the parcel post with SO/i gerniinatiou a shipment of 1C,500 seeds obtained by 

 freight was sent to the Botanic Gardens for germination and 18 plants were raised. Several 

 other shipments have beea obtained by private firms by freight, and all have resulted dis- 

 astrously. 



