137 
this  is  so  for  several  reasons,  it  is  easy  to  procure  seed  as  the  plant 
is  wild  in  this  part  of  the  world  and  one  can  be  sure  that  it  will 
grow  well  as  the  soil  and  climate  are  naturally  suitable  for  it.  The 
German  Colonial  reports  show  that  Funtumias  of  the  same  age  as 
Castilloas  are  relatively  more  advanced,  the  Funtumias  give  seed 
at  the  end  of  two  years  and  a half  while  Castilloa  fruits  only  at  the 
end  of  from  three  and  a half  to  four  years.  If  one  compares  the 
latex  of  the  two,  at  the  same  age,  one  can  see  that  it  is  much  more 
concentrated  less  watery  and  sticky  in  Funtumia  than  in  Castilloa 
and  that  it  can  give  a return  more  quickly.  Castilloa  according  to 
M.  Koschnv  can  only  be  milked  when  eight  years  old.  As  to  the 
rubber  itself  that  of  P'untumia  is  as  good  or  better  than  that  of 
Castilloa.  The  results  of  comparative  researches  with  Funtumia 
and  Castilloa  in  West  Africa  are  in  favour  of  the  former.  In  three 
or  three  and  a half  years  these  trees  have  grown  to  4 or  5 inches 
in  height  and  a considerable  thickness.  The  Funtumia  is  attacked 
by  the  caterpillar  of  a species  of  Glyphodes,  near  or  identical  with 
GL  ocell'ita,  of  Sierra  Leone.  (We  have  several  species  of  this 
genus  of  moths  in  the  Siraits,  one  of  which  has  been  troublesome 
with  Ficus  elastica , as  described  in  a recent  number  of  the  Bulletin.) 
This  caterpillar  chiefly  attacks  the  young  plants,  in  the  nurseries 
spinning  the  leaves  together,  and  devouring  the  parenchyma. 
Thev  are  destroyed  by  hand  after  a year  and  a half  or  two  years 
they  are  less  readily  attacked.  Snails  and  the  larvae  and  adults  of 
some  species  of  beetles  are  also  recorded  as  attacking  the  young 
plants. 
The  seed,  sown  freshly  gathered,  sprout  after  about  15  days 
and  grow  very  rapidly,  and  the  plants  are  readily  transported.  If 
at  first  the  stem  bifurcates  forming  a budi,  either  a shoot  is  deve- 
loped above  the  bifurcation,  or  one  branch  grows  more  strongly 
than  the  other  cventuallv  forming  the  trunk.  Among  the  advantages 
of  Funtumia  one  may  mention  that  the  latex  flows  more  easily  and 
quickly  than  that  of  Castilloa  or  Ficus  and  the  seeds  keep  good  for 
6 weeks  and  even  germinate  after  three  months.  Xor  is  the  Fun- 
tumia particular  as  to  soil  it  grows  equally  well  in  lateritic,  or 
basaltic  soils,  in  soils  rich  in  humus  or  stony.  As  to  altitude,  it  has 
been  noticed  that  it  does  best  below  800  metres.  It  is  reckoned 
that  in  April,  190-’,  there  were  in  the  Cameroons  200,000  plants, 
exclusive  of  wild  ones.  The  plan  of  planting  Funtumias  in  a light- 
ly cleared  forest  as  has  been  frequently  done  is  not  recommended. 
They  do  not  grow  so  w'ell  in  shade  as  in  full  sun,  when  they  are 
too  u'eak  to  resist  the  drying  action  of  sun  and  \vind,  they  natur- 
ally should  be  protected,  but  when  they  are  strong  enough  to  resist 
this  they  develop  better  when  fully  exposed  to  the  sun,  provided 
that  the  ground  is  damp  enough.  From  the  experiments  made  in 
plantations  in  German  territory  the  Funtumias  should  be  planted 
6 metres  apart. 
The  tree  is  one  of  the  best  shade  trees  for  Cocoa,  but  as  it  is 
pyramidal  in  form  it  will  be  necessary  to  plant  close  which  is  not  a 
disadvantage.  It  is  also  recommended  to  use  the  tree  to  grow 
Vanilla  on  as  in  ten  years  when  the  vanilla  is  dying  out  the  rubber 
