and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Societ]), 



393 



NOTES ON SOME FAMILIAR LOCAL 

 PRODUCTS, AC. 



Kapok. 



Samples of Philippine kapok have been seat 

 to these parties and the reports on those 

 samples have, in general, been very favourable. 

 The latest report received states that well- 

 cleaned Philippine kapok would be marketable 

 in New York City at 14^ cents, United States 

 currency, per pound. The lirai making this 

 report states that it would be prepared to make 

 a contract for all the kapok that the Philippine 

 Islands could produce. Another firm in the 

 United States with which we have been in cor- 

 respondence has recent ly placed a preliminary 

 order for a ton of Philippine kapok. The export 

 trade in kapok is now handled by two reliable 

 business firms in Manila to whom are referred 

 such inquiries as we receive on this subject. 

 Seed Preservation. 



Some original laboratory work has been car- 

 ried on during the year in the preservation of 

 seeds. The rosults already achieved promise to 

 solve a problem which for many years has been 

 vexing importers and handlers of seed in all hot 

 countries where the minimum atmospheric 

 humidity never falls below 55" and the mean 

 normal for one-half the year approximates 85°. 

 Hermetical sealing, while a protection to the 

 seeds in transit, is of no assistance after arrival 

 unless the seods can be disposed of as soon as 

 opened, which is of course impracticable for 

 merchants and others handling seeds in large 

 lots. The difficulty of preserving the vitality of 

 seeds in this country is indicated by the fact 

 that peas, which on arrival from the United 

 States gave us an 84 per cent, germination 

 test, failed entirely thirty days later. Corn, 

 cotton, and other oily seeds have deteriorated 

 within three weeks. 



The experiments described below were con- 

 ducted with a lot of very line American corn 

 seed received here early last December, and 

 which showed the remarkably good germination 

 average of 95 per cent. The object of these 

 experiments was to determine the value of the 

 method of keeping seed in hermetically sealed 

 jars as compared with the method used in this 

 Bureau. Three 2^-pound lots cf the corn were 

 taken at random from the shipment. One lot 

 was placed in an ordinary metal seed canister 

 with a reasonably close-fitting cover. A second 

 lot was placed in a glass jar provided with a 

 close-fitting ground-glass stopper and at once 

 hermetically sealed with melted paraffin. The 

 third sample was put in a similar jar in which 

 had been placed an inch of coarsely broken 

 charcoal that had just been exposed to a heat 

 high enough to expel the moisture. While the 

 charcoal was still warm, the corn was poured in 

 and the whole topped off with another inch of 

 charcoal. While still open it was exposed for 

 thirty minutes to a gentle heat (43°-C.) and then 

 carefully sealed. This was on December 23rd, 

 1906. On May 23rd of the present year (six 

 months later) the two jars were opened and 100 

 seeds taken from each, a like number were 

 taken from the closed canister, and all were 

 placod in the germinators. These tests were 

 concluded on June 1st and we obtained from the 



heated jar containing the charcoal a 91 percent, 

 germination, from that only hermetically sealed 

 a 28 per cent., and from the oanister a 36 per 

 cent, germination. The tests were sufficient to 

 demonstrate that hermetical sealing unless pre- 

 cautions are taken to expel the very moist 

 atmosphere is detrimental rather than bene- 

 ficial to the seeds. The unusually good showing 

 (36 per cent.) of the unprotected seeds was due 

 in part to excellence of vitality at the start, and 

 still more to the abnormally low reading of the 

 hydroscope and the high, dry winds which 

 marked the first quarter of the present year. 

 Since the beginning of the wet season, however, 

 the exposed corn has deteriorated more rapidly 

 than that which was merely sealed. At the con- 

 clusion of the tests the heated corn was treated 

 anew in the same manner and will be kept for 

 future tests of this method. The average life 

 of most garden and field seeds in temperato 

 climates, without other provision than a cool, 

 clean, dry bin, is four years, the extremes being 

 two to ten years. These tests demonstrate the 

 possibility of preserving all seeds even under 

 the trying conditions which prevail in these 

 Islands. It is obvious that the importation of 

 seeds of good quality is an indispensable factor 

 to successful preservation and that the cost of 

 the method of seed preservation herein described 

 would be great for large quantities of seeds, as 

 they Would have to be placed in small jars and 

 much charcoal would be required. Large con- 

 tainers might be used, but, as it would be diffi- 

 cult to fully exhaust the damp air and to 

 promptly seal such containers, tho danger of 

 loss would be increased. The tests which we 

 have made indicate that seeds from temperate 

 countries can be preserved in tho Tropics by the 

 method described, although the use of this 

 method on a commercial scale may not always 

 be practicable. 



Sesamum ok Ljnga. 



Further work was done with this oil-seed 

 crop to determine the season when its plant- 

 ing would be attended with least risk from 

 loss. In rich soils it make so rank a growth 

 that it is apt to lodge during heavy rains 

 when approaching maturity . On the other 

 hand, a liberal supply of water is necessary 

 for the production of a good crop. The first 

 trial made at the opening of the dry season 

 resulted in a dwarfed growth and a very in- 

 ferior crop. From a planting made in June, 

 19U6, wo harvested a grain product at the 

 rate of 473 kilos per hectare. Some grain 

 was lost by lodgment from the heavy rains 

 of September, but the amount was small and 

 certainly less than one-fifth of the total. 

 From this it seems better to take the risk 

 of loss from rain rather than to invite the 

 more complete failure resulting from drought. 

 The Philippine Products Company has de-. 

 clared sesamum to bo the most tractable oil 

 seod which comes to their hands, and it is 

 our aim by further experiments and distribu- 

 tion of seed to promote this industry as a 

 promising source of revenue to the small 

 native farmer. 



Carolina Golden Rice. 



As the result of favourable preliminary work, 

 further experiment and a wider scope of intro- 

 duction were carried on with this grain. A 



