tfdible Products. 



tOCTOBER, i909. 



determine the best method of packing 

 Durian (Durio zibethinus) seeds for 

 export to other tropical Colonies. 

 Hitherto it had been thought that seeds 

 of this much-sought-for fruit would not 

 travel any distance successfully owing 

 to it germinating so quickly after be- 

 coming ripe, and there would appear to 

 be some grounds for this assumption ; 

 in fact several attempts were made in 

 years past to send seeds from this De- 

 partment to Ceylon with scanty success. 

 These failures must, however, have been 

 due to a want cf knowledge as to the 

 proper method of packing and not so 

 much to the inability of the seeds to 

 retain their germinating powers for any 

 lengthy period. 



Seeds of the nature of those of the 

 Durian having no outside hard protect- 

 ing covering or testa are, as a rule, diffi- 

 cult to transport to any great distance 

 partly owing to the fact that they ger- 

 minate so quickly if not properly dried, 

 and also to the fact that they rot very 

 rapidly if there is the slightest sug- 

 gestion of moisture in the packing 

 material. As far as our knowledge goes, 

 we have proved fairly conclusively that 

 those seeds travel best which have no 

 packing material, provided that they are 

 thoroughly sun dried previous to being 

 put in the tins. Care should also be 

 taken to see that the edible pulpy matter 

 which surrounds the seeds is carefully 

 removed. Seeds prepared in this man- 

 ner by us have travelled thousands of 

 miles and arrived at their destination in 

 excellent condition. 



On the 27th of August, 1908, eight tins 

 of Durian seeds were sent to the 

 Superintendent, Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, Onitsha, Southern Nigeria, packed 

 as follows :— 



Tin No. 1 packed in Burnt padi husk 

 ,,2 ,, Wood-wool 



, 3 ,, Tissue paper 



,, 4 ,, Thoroughly dried soil 



, 5 „ Thoroughly driedMoss 



dust 



a 6 Slightly damp moss 



,, 7 Slightly damp moss 



8 Had no packing what- 



ever 



Mr. Don, in his letter of acknowledge- 

 ment, reported as follows on the condi- 

 tion of seeds on arrival at Onitsha 

 (20-10-08) :— 



"The seeds, with the exception of 

 those in tin No. 1, arrived in fair condi- 

 tion considering the long distance they 

 had to travel. 



"The seeds in tin No. 1 were completiy 



spoilt. 



The seeds in tin No. 2 five seeds out 



of 6 were good. 

 " ,, 3 six out of 12 



good, 4 germi- 

 nated in the tin. 

 " 4 three out of 7 



were good, 3 

 germinated in 

 the tin. 

 5 eight out of 10 

 were good. 

 „ four out of 10 



were good, 2 

 germinated in 

 the tin. 



" . ,, 7 nine out of 11 



were good, 6 

 germinated in 

 the tin. 

 ,, 8 thirteen out of 



15 were good,'' 



The seeds in tin No. 1 were packed in 

 burnt padi husk, the material which we 

 find most successful for packing Para 

 rubber «eeds, and it is interesting to note 

 that in the case of the Durian seeds it 

 totally failed to preserve them. The 

 packing material employed for tins No. 2 

 and 5, namely, fine wood-wool and 

 thoroughly dried moss dust gave the 

 best result, whilst tin No. 8 in which no 

 packing' whatever was used was the 

 most satisfactory of all. 



A later consignment of several hun- 

 dreds of seeds to the same Department 

 in Southern Nigeria, packed in powdered 

 charcoal, arrived in very bad condition. 



Our observations lead us to believe that 

 the most successful method to adopt is 

 to first carefully clean all pulpy matter 

 from the seeds, and after thoroughly dry- 

 ing them in the sun for two or three 

 days, pack them in tins sufficiently large 

 to hold fifty seeds. The lids of the tins 

 should not be soldered down and stout 

 canvas should be used as a covering. 



The method applies to all seeds of a 

 like nature, such as Mangosteen, etc., 

 etc. ; packing large quantites of seeds to- 

 gether should be avoided as they quickly 

 heat in bulk. 



THE INDIAN TEA INDUSTRY. 



Tillage Operations on tea 

 Gardens. 



(Prom the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXI V., No. 7, July, 1909.) 



About fifty years ago an old London 

 wool-sorter who had been puzzled by 

 many things in the Australian wool 



