35i 



(I think that there are a good many other would be planters who 

 recklessly condemn a cultivation because they are ignorant of it, 

 besides the Malay Rajah and the Ceylon gentlemen. Coco-nuts 

 like all other plants want to be put in the right soil and treated 

 properly before they abstain from playing tricks such as are men- 

 tioned in this letter. The superb plantations of Coco-nuts all over 

 the Peninsula are quite a sufficient reply to these sceptical persons. 



With respect to the four stems growing out of one mound, I 

 should incline to accept the correspondent's theory that four nuts 

 were by some accident put together. Coco-nuts are often found 

 with two or three stems which is due to the fact that the ovary of 

 the flower is normally three celled with an ovule in each cell, but 

 it is only in exceptional cases that, more than one ovule develops. 

 Coco-nut palms however often branch, but usually above ground 

 and generally possess but two main stems which branch again 

 and again. 



As to the injury by cutting steps in coco-nut palms I have never 

 seen any bad result so long as the cuts are made in the usual 

 shallow way. (Ed,) 



FICUS ELASTICA. 



To the Editor, 



Agricultural Bulletin, 



Dear Sir, — i should like to elicit the opinio ns of those of your 

 readers who are interested in the cultivation of Rembong (P'icus 

 elastica) as to the best age and extent, to which young plants 

 should be pruned. In the case of plants 3 to 4 feet high, the fact 

 of cutting off young shoots is, in my experience, a sure means of 

 retarding, at least temporarily, the growth of the tree. From what 

 I have seen of trees 4 or 5 years old I should say that it is still a 

 very open question, expecially where high winds are prevalent, as 

 to whether it is advisable to cut off the lower branches, as, until the 

 aerial roots are well established, the tree proves itself very liable 

 to topple over in a gale of wind. 



Yours faithfully, 



A. IRVING. 



NOTICE. 



The Para-rubber trees in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, are 

 now commencing to produce the see d crop. Planters who have 

 put their names down in previous years for seed, and on longer 

 want any are requested to write to the Director to inform him. 



