June 1908.] 



583 



Miscellaneous- 



Rubber cultivation in the British 



Empire. Wright. Jam. Bull. Apr. 



1907, p. 96. 

 Progress of rubber planting. Inch 



Rub. World, Aug. 1907, p. 339. 

 World's lubber industry. Ind. Rub. 



Journ., 23. 9. 1907. 



Pi ogress in rubber cultivation, do. 

 July 1907, p. 151. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



By C Driebbrg. 

 NoRTHENER.— Even if an introduced 

 variety of tobacco is found to succeed in 

 the North, there will be a serious diffi- 

 culty to face if all tobacco cultivators 

 do not agree to grow the same variety, as 

 hybridization is bound to follow unless 

 steps are taken to guard against cross- 

 fertilization. Otherwise, fresh seed will 

 have to be constantly imported for each 

 planting season. 



Kapok.— The Philippine Agricultural 

 Review for January says that the latest 

 reports on well-cleaned samples of kapok 

 gives the market value as 14 cents 

 American currency, per pound. The 

 Arm making this report offers to make a 

 contract for all the kapok that the Philip- 

 pines could produce. A cleaner, des- 

 cribed as a combination of a cotton gin 

 and a thrashing machine is said to have 

 been designed by the Assistant Director 

 of Agriculture in the Philippines. 



F. — As you say, the explanation, given 

 in the last May Magazine, of pruning 

 causing fruit production is not very 

 acceptable. The writer appears to be- 

 lieve that the injury caused by pruning 

 is " understood " by the plant as "a 

 threatening of its existence," and that it 

 makes an effort to preserve its own kind 

 before extinction. This endows plants 

 with responsible intelligence, which is 

 not admitted by scientific men. The 

 tendency on the part of the plant to 

 produce fruit when injured is no doubt 

 a provision of nature, but must be attri- 

 buted to physiological action in the plant, 

 such as is referred to in para 5 of the 

 article (p. 455 of May T. A-). 



E. N. — I do not think you have any 

 good cause for complaint. The Society 

 cannot extend its help to those who do 

 not consider the benefits derivable by 

 joining it worth the modest sum of Rs. 8 

 per annum. I shall be only too ready 

 to serve you as a member, but as a 

 non-member you have no right to expect 

 assistance or advice in any form. You 

 can, however, get any particular number 

 of the magazine for one rupee* or sub* 

 scribe to it by paying (as a non-member) 

 fis» 10 per annumt On the other hand, 



as a member, you will get the magazine 

 and all the benefits the Society can offer 

 for Rs, 8. 



Musa.— With reference to your 

 queries about plantain fibre, the follow- 

 ing extract from a letter dated March 

 5th, 1 1 j08, received from the Botanist in 

 charge of Fibre Plants, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, will give 

 some useful information :—" The speci- 

 mens of fibre which I have examined 

 from plantain and banana plants 

 have been inferior in strength to the 

 fibre produced by abaca, Musa textilis, 

 in the Philippines. I am told that one 

 of the species from Africa, Musa 

 ensete, yields a fibre which it is thought 

 will compare favourably with the 

 genuine abaca. The best specimens of 

 banana fibre that I have seen came 

 from Jamaica, but these fibres lacked 

 uniformity. Some of them were strong, 

 while others were very weak. I do not 

 think that it will bw possible to prepare 

 the fibre from banana plants produced in 

 the American tropics at a cost thac 

 would permit them to enter the American 

 market so as to compete with abaca 

 and sisal, now used by our manufac- 

 turers. It might be possible, however, 

 with the different labour conditions of 

 India to produce these fibres so as to 

 be used in the local market there, and it 

 is also quite possible that you have varie- 

 ties there yielding stronger and more 

 uniform fibre than those produced by 

 the common, large, yellow banana 

 of the American tropics. Three or 

 four machines have recently been used 

 in the Philippines for cleaning abaca 

 fibre, and it is quite probable that 

 these machines might be used suc- 

 cessfully in cleaning Banana fibre. 

 It is said that one of the most promising 

 of these machines is the one invented 

 by Mr. Eugene Behrendt, and manufac- 

 tured by the Watson Machine Company, 

 of Paterson, New Jersey. Banana fibre 

 may also be cleaned on a machine made 

 by the Finigan-Zabriskie Company at 

 Paterson, New Jersey, providing the 

 leaf stalks are first put through crushing 

 rollers to break down and soften the 

 tissues." 



Beekeeper — You will see from the 

 report submitted at the General Meeting 

 on the 15th instant, that native bees 

 do best in a small hive. You can see 

 one made according to Mr. Shank's 

 specification at the Stock Garden. Mr, 

 W. K. Morrison, a well-known authority, 

 considers Apis indica bees as promising 

 material to work with. The Hon. Mr. 

 Obeyesekere secured some nicely filled 

 combs not long ago. The great point is 

 to watch and prepare for the " honey. 



