40 



70% for the latter. Germination depends to a very great extent upon 

 the length of time that elapses between the falling from the trees and 

 the packing for transport, as well as upon the skill in packing, while 

 it has been shown that unless the seeds are sown within one week of 

 their receipt in this colony their germinating capacity falls rapidly- 

 Some shipments of stumps from the East have done fairly satisfacto- 

 rily while others have failed." 



This story of the germination of Para rubber seeds after long- 

 travelling possesses some points of interest. The journey is about 6o 

 days from Singapore to Guiana and considering the short-lined dur- 

 ability of the seed the percentage of germination, when carefully 

 packed, is satisfactory. 



The most interesting point, however, in the article, is the 

 difference between the germinative power of the spring and autumn 

 crops. There is a marked difference as will be seen by referring to 

 the table, the seed of the autumn crop 'germinates much better. It 

 is possible that this is due to the dryer weather about the time of 

 ripening of the autumn crop. The spring crop comes on early in 

 the year, just after or during the rains. The seeds are only thrown from 

 the capsule during sunshine, and it frequently happens that when 

 they are actually ripe the days are dull and wet and the seeds are 

 retained in the capsule till the first fine day. In this case they have, 

 it appears, a tendency to commence germination in the capsule, and 

 even if the radicle is not protruded the earlier preliminary stages may 

 take place without any external symptoms. Such seeds, when travel- 

 ling doubtles«i receive a check in growth which causes their death. 

 Seeds received from various estates in the peninsula have in many 

 cases given extremely unsatisfactory results, few or more in a large 

 lot germinating at all. The cause of this is not clear. It is possibly 

 due to the trees being young and the travelling power of such seeds 

 may be inferior to those of older trees, or it may be due to some effect 

 caused by the heavy tapping of the trees. It is, again, possibly due 

 to imperfect fertilization from the absence or insufficient supply of 

 flies which fertilize the flowers. Anyway the fact has been very 

 marked. — Ed. 



THE FIBRE OF THE NlPA PALM. 



Imperial Institute, (South Kensington, London, S. W.) 



Report on " Nipa " fibre from the Federated Malay States, by Professor 

 Wyndham R. Dunstan, M.A., L.L.D., F.R.S., Director. 



Regd. No. 35799. 



The sample of Nipa palm fibre which is the subject of this report 

 was forwarded to the Imperial Institute by Mr. Edward Valpy of 

 Klang, Selangor, with letter dated 8th September, 1910. It was stated 

 that the palm grows in large quantities in Selangor and it was 

 "desired to ascertain whether the fibre would find a market in Europe. 



