June 1907.] 



413 



Correspondence. 



(2) Is it prudent to take off the dried plates or scales and expose the renewal 

 to the air ? It seems to proceed faster when they are left on. 



(3) A.re spores generated in the outer bark at this dry stage, or is the period 

 of generation past when the scaling off begins ? 



(4) The first signs of canker to the lay observer are longitudinal cracks 

 in the bark. Is there any way of detecting its presence before this ? 



(5) What is the accepted or conjectured cause of bark disease, and what 

 is advised as general treatment for it ? 



Yours faithfully, 



ALEX CAMERON. 



CARNAUBA PALM FOR CEYLON. 



Dear Sir,— The " Carnauba " tree is very fully described in the Tropical 

 Agriculturist for January, 1906, page 814, and the very many places it grows so well 

 in in South America. 



I feel sure this plant or Ipalni would do well in some of the dry and sandy 

 parts of this Island. I shall be much obliged if you can give me any address where 

 I can write to secure the seed of this palm, and any further particulars as to 

 price and how the seed could be brought to Ceylon in a good state of preservation. 



I am, dear Sir, 



Yours faithfully, 



A. H. THOMAS. 



Poilakanda, Gampola. 



[A firm in Colombo is making arrangements for the importation of seed. 

 Otherwise it can only, so far as we know, be obtained in small quantity by exchange 

 between the Botanic Gardens here and those in South America. The palm used to 

 be grown at Hakgala, but did not succeed these.— Ed. " T. J.."] 



CAMPHOR PROPAGATION FROM SEED. 

 Dear Sir,— The enclosed letter giving experience in the germinating of 

 Camphor seeds may be interesting to your readers. 



Yours faithfully, 



C. DRIEBERG. 



(Letter referred to.) 



Colombo, 29th April, 1907. 

 Dear Mr. Drieberg,— The Camphor seeds you so kindly got me from Japan 

 have done very satisfactorily. As a start I took about 500 seeds and soaked them 

 for twenty-four hours in Avater ; when put into water a few seeds sank immediately, 

 but about six hours after nearly all had sunk down. I had a bed made in two 

 sections of sandy loam with a little cowdung mixed. In one section I sowed the 

 seeds loose, as recommended in the Yokohama Nursery Co.'s Catalogue, covering over 

 with earth to a thickness of \' above the plane of the seeds and pressed the surface 

 down with my hands. In the other sectiou I made furrows about f " deep and 6" 

 apart and place the seeds in threes at a 6" pitch. I then covered the furrows and 

 pressed the earth with my hands. A little dry grass was spread over the whole bed. 

 The bed was watered for one week with water mixed with a little cowdung. I 

 watered the bed only once a day. I found that none of the seeds in the first section 

 germinated, i.e., the one in which I sowed the seeds as directed ; but about 30 per 



