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Saps and Exudations. 



—according to Berkhout— that Brazil is thinking of withdrawing the prohibitive 

 export duties which were levied on Para seed ; which indeed have only succeeded 

 in losing for them the price of the seed sold by the English while the culti- 

 vation has developed just the same. Further, by the niere fact of this exaggerated 

 protection a dangerous illusion of a non-existent security has been given to the 

 people, while in reality the Far East has become a terrible menace to the future 

 rubber export industry of Brazil. There may well be in Brazil a repetition of what 

 occurred in the South America Republics in connection with quinine ; the formal 

 prohibition did not prevent the secret export of seeds which were the origin 

 of the magnificent cultivations in Java, which, after a short time, have ruined 

 the exploitation of the tree in its native countries. 



DIFFICULTIES IN SEED TRANSPORT. 



We have said that the germination of Hevea seeds, after a long voyage, 

 presents numerous deceptions. The Dutch East Indies have had experience of 

 this. In September, 1904, 50,000 Hevea seeds were ordered from Ceylon by the 

 Forest Department; not a single seed germinated. An identical result followed 

 an order for 25,000 seeds made on a plantation in the island of Malacca by Dr. 

 Treub, of the Buitenzorg garden, now Director of Agriculture of the Dutch Indies. 



During last year M. Van Den Bussche was commissioned by the Dutch 

 Government to proceed to the Malay States for the purpose of studying the 

 cultivation of the Hevea. Previous to his departing M. Berkhout had asked 

 him to send him Hevea seed packed in different ways and to try, besides, the 

 effect of an anesthetic such as ether on preserving the germinative faculty. 

 To obtain the same results benzine was substituted for ether, and this had the 

 effect of burning the seeds ; none of those which came in contact with the 

 benzine germinated. 



A package despatched from Penang on September 18, 1905, arrived on 

 November 1st at Wageningen (Holland) the seat of the Colonial School of 

 Agriculture at which M. Berkhout occupies one of the principal chairs. The 

 seeds were packed as follows :— 



Nos. 1 and 2, wood charcoal soaked with benzine. 



No. 3. wood charcoal not soaked with benzine. 



No. 4, dried leaves. 



No. 5, seeds dried very carefully and packed in sand. 

 No. 6, wood sawdust. 



No. 7, wood sawdust soaked with benzine. 



The seeds were sown, on arrival, in a small bed traversed by the pipes 

 which heated the green-house, which produced a uniform and sustained degree of 

 heat ; the seeds were covered with 1cm 5, of sand to give them sufficient moisture. 



They were examined every two days, and as they germinated were 

 transplanted into small pots. The following table shows the observations made 

 during the course of the germination, from 1st to 27th November. The result 

 was a total of 63 germinations out of 189 seeds sown, making 33 per cent; the 

 rates of partial success given by each kind of packing were :— 

 No. 1 and 2 nil No. 5 46% 



No. 3 66% No. 6 25% 



No. 4 46% No. 7 nil 



This indicates that packing in dry layers may give satisfactory results 

 if the transport does not exceed a longer period than 6 weeks. For a voyage 

 of much longer duration packing in a moist medium will be preferable ; in this case 

 the seeds must not be too tightly packed so that the rootlets may not get 

 interlaced and so be broken when taken out for the seed bed. 



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