Jan. 1908.] 



Correspondence. 



FRUIT CULTURE. 



6lR,— In the " Illustrated London News" of the 6th July, p. 16, are illus- 

 trations inter alia of the Mangosteen, called Miram, the most delicious fruit in the 

 world, in connection with which is said " The West Indians say that strawberries 

 are perfect, but that mangosteens are heaven." It appears at present there is only 



one tree that yields mangosteens in the West Indies and it is to be largely 



cultivated. In the same issue is depicted "The Chrystaphyne " which is none other 

 than " The Chowchow " which grows very easily in Ceylon. As no reference to the 

 mention of these illustrations has appeared in the local press, I think it worth calling 

 the attention of those who can export mangosteens to their being known in London, 

 for recently, I read in " The Times Weekly Edition "of these fruits and mangoes 

 being exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society. From Natal, what is called a 

 new fruit — the raartje was exhibited. It seems to correspond to the smaller 

 mandarin orange. Pines from the Eastern Province of Cape Colony were- also 

 exhibited. It would be fully worth the trouble of people in Kalutara, Galle, and 

 Udugama to export mangosteens to London. Pineapples are tinned in Singapore 

 and sold in Colombo— 1^ lb. for 35, and 2£ lb. for 50 cents. I cannot understand why 

 the Agricultural Society does not import Litchi plants. Thirty years ago Chinese 

 merchants sold the dried fruit in Ceylon, and it forms part of the preserves from 

 China. A local horticulturist advertises a plant at Rs. 4. " The Illustrated London 

 News " says " The Christaphyne " is coated exactly like a vegetable marrow. At 

 the Agricultural Society, the Hon'ble Mr. John Ferguson, C.M.G., spoke of the 

 " Chowchow." In the same issue of " The Illustrated London News " is depicted 

 "The Mammee Apple" which seems to correspond to the Sapodilla. " The Loquat" 

 is another fruit which does not seem to be appreciated in this country, as I see many 

 trees which are never pruned. 



J. VANDERSTRAATEN. 



September 17th, 1907. 



[The difficulty with the mangosteen is carriage for a month. Litchis have 

 never succeeded in Ceylon, though there are trees upcountry. The Mammee Apple 

 is not the sapodilla, and does very little here.— Ed.] 



FUNGUS ON RUBBER PLANTS. 

 Dear Sir,— I send by this post (I hope it will arrive safely) 6" of stem of a 

 rubber (Para) plant a year old which shows the characteristic of quite a number of 

 trees growing in a patch of lowlying ground, about 9 acres in extent. The 

 bark it will be noticed, is dry and rough with a bad wound in it with a black rusty 

 fungus on the lower end. The attack is recent but speedy 1 fear. The black sooty 

 looking fungus, as I take it to be, is much worse on some trees than in others. 

 Large patches of irregular form, being conspicuous are massy. In some of my 

 larger trees the wound is very extensive with a striated appearance, new bark 

 appears very soon after the split of the old, and eventually the wound gets covered 

 but with a gnarled and rugged bark which however appears to grow over a more or 

 less extensive patch of dead tissue. The growth of the trees appears to be distinctly 

 affected. New shoots lose their leaves and eventually die back, and the leaves assume 

 a leathery unhealthy look- In two or three trees attacked some six months ago, 

 which have succeeded in throwing new bark round the wound as described above, 

 the growth appears to have recommenced, but the tree does not look by any means 

 healthy and has a stunted hidebound appearance. I shall be much obliged if you 

 will let me know if this is a canker, and if so, the remedy, the drastic one of uprooting 

 and burning all trees or painting the surface with a mixture or what ? This attack 



i 



