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I forwarded you by sample post a few seeds of what I belieye to be^ 

 an interesting variety of Ceroxylon andicolum. This palm as you 

 know is found in the Central Andes. Its inferior limit is 7,000 feet 

 with a mean temp, of 60° but it is most abundant at 8,00U to 9,000 feet 

 with a temp, of 55° to 57°. The palm I send you is found in the 

 Western Andes, 60 miles South of Cali, in the Valley of Cajamarca on 

 the Pacific watershed. It is most abundant at 5,500 feet in a mean 

 temp, of 61 to 68°. Good sugar cane grows alongside of it. The 

 flowers, fruit, etc., are similar to those of andicolum but the tree is 

 very distinct. It has no base of fasciculated rootlets, as andicolum 

 has, but springs clear from the ground. The stem is slighter, not so 

 tall as andicolum and I should say that 160 feet is the average. The 

 leaves are 20 — 25 feet long but much slighter and lighter than 

 andicolum and there is much less silvery scurf on the under side of 

 the pinnae. These, whilst the leaf is not fully grown and hardened, are 

 joined together at the points by a slender thread like some Attaleas 

 and Sabal and I have not noticed this peculiarity in andicolum. The 

 wax which coats the stem is as abundant as in andicolum, but seems to 

 be different in composition. It has an agreeable smell when rubbed or 

 when burned, which the wax of andicolum has not, and it is more 

 brittle, which would seem to indicate a larger proportion of resin. At 

 Kew this will be investigated, and I only send you a small sample for 

 you to see what it is like. If you would like more, I shall have plea- 

 sure in sending you some. 



This palm is evident 1}^ more easy to acclimatize than andicolum and 

 it may be of yet greater value if the wax turns out to have other pro- 

 perties. 



I should mention that the farinaceous pulp within the rind covering 

 the seeds is slightly bitter, and appears to be more abundant than n 

 andicolum. I'igs however eat the whole fruit with the same relish as 

 they do that of andicolum and it fattens them famously. 



The palms here flower twice in the year, but supposing that they 

 only flower once, they will bear about 16 arrobas (400 lbs.) of fruit. 

 When maize is worth 20 cents, the arroba, or 80 cents, per 100 lbs , 

 the annual value of a wax palm for fattening hogs is ^3.20. The 

 palms may be climbed just as they climb cocoanuts, and the Avax 

 scrimped off. Here they cut down the palms, and each one yields from 

 15 to 25 lbs of wax. 



Tallow candles made with a mixture of 10 per cent, of this wax give 

 a good light, and are as hard as ordinary wax candles, but the wax of 

 andicolum gives a disagreable smell to the smoke, which will not b j 

 the case of the wax of the Cajamarca variety is employed. 



I think it is likely that the prehistoric aborigines may have accli- 

 matized the original palm in the Western Cordillera, and that it may 

 be fairly named Ceroxylon andicolum var. occidentale. 



