85 



THE BLACK BRAZIL CHERRY, EUGENIA 

 BRASILIENSIS. 



A good many years ag:o, about 1897 or 1898, Mr. Robert Little 

 presented the Botanic Gardens with two small trees sent from Brazil 

 as some kind of orange. These were planted in a somewhat sandy 

 part of the economic gardens in the vegetable ground. One of them 

 grew into a fairly large bushy tree with deep green leaves, and 

 llowered and fruited for the first time in 1903 and has continued to 

 fruit ever since. The tree is now about 20 feet tall and very bushy, 

 the branches reaching to near the ground. It has numerous stems, 

 6 inches through, and flaky reddish bark. The leaves are small 

 obovate to oblanceolate, deep green glossy, lighter green, beneath 

 with very inconspicuous nerves, three to six inches long inch to 

 3 inches across on a petiole half-an inch long. The flowers are 

 small and white on rather long stalks. The fruit in appearance 

 resembles a black currant, but is rather larger, and certainly suggests 

 a small black heart cherry, crowned at the top with the green sepals. 

 It contains a single rather soft oblong greenish seed but frequently 

 the seed is absent. The flesh is juicy and sweet and somewhat of the 

 consistence of that of a currant. The tree fruits abundantly in 

 January and its fruits are very pleasant to eat. It is readily raised 

 from seeds and should fruit well in five or six > ears. — Ed. 



LALLAN6 GRASS Impenita Cylindnca, Beau 

 USED IN PAPERMAKING. 



{To Robert Little, Esq., Singapore.) 



Dear Sir, 



1 have pleasure in enclosing you my further report on the 

 samples of Lallang Grass received from you in March last, and I 

 tiust you will find the same of interest. I also send you some speci- 

 mens of the paper made from this grass in conjunction with other 

 fibres. From the report you will see that we have come to the 

 conclusion that Lallang alone is not a very suitable material for 

 paper-making purposes, but, if used with Flax, Hemp or Megasst 

 which is waste sugar-cane fibre, from sugar refining factories, and of 

 which I think you should be able to obtain a ready supply, it in 

 capable of producing a very satisfactory paper, and one worthy of 

 your serious consideration. 



If you are desirous of developing this work, and taking up the 

 manufacture of this paper, I shall be pleased to assist you in any way 

 possible as regards the fitting up of a mill, or in any other direction 



