May r, 1&82J 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
located it l V l s» 
After 
by tb. 
shells 
croael 
by pi 
1 1 1 < < 1 1 ■ • 
smell 
at oho 
depend 
plants 
stored 
kernel 
be wa 
the ho 
the ca, 
A sand 
Filth : 
irrmm is scarcely 200 ft. higher, and 
ridge forming the watershed between 
age to Marudu Bay and that to tbi 
The remainder undulates between 21 
and is moderately sloped and well 
Tandek side the alluvial plain come 
Kalimo ; the elevation of the Eaiekt 
May and Juno last from Marudu, 
ug point in the extreme north of 
i, Sandakan Bay, on {ho north- 
il tho Upper Eengkoka at a point 
irian, where we had to stop, as 
need by a professional planter 
future. Ho may be right, 
lent on a distant view (from 
The ground between this 
this 
last 
to tho nature of t 
being five years froi 
twelvo years, while 
trees of more than 3 ft. girth are scarce. None 
industrial plants are known to grow hereabout 
Id state. 
Bengkoka river, forty yards wide, could in time 
s be ascended thus far, but the current must be 
rbng then. A clearing indicates tho site of a 
Dusun village. The people evidently found them- 
between two fires, through visitors both from 
former 
selves 
Bengkoka and Bon 
tired to some unin- 
selves on market 
the bed of the 
botween !)0 and 100 nuts, while the smallest number 
obtainable from the worst specimen of the kind ran»es 
from five to ten, and these nuts arc gathered every 
month or at least ton times a year. A tree under 
favorable circumstances will go on thus bearing for 
about 80 or 90 years, and live to the age of 120 years, 
though by this time tho produce will dwindle con- 
siderably. Toddy-drawing for the first three or four 
mouths after blossoming, is considered beneficial to the 
trees in that the treading down of the branches is 
calculated to give them fresh life, but if continued, the 
annual income derived thereby will in no way stand 
comparison with that obtained by the sale of nuts. 
Beetle and othor insects sometimes eat up the tender 
shoots of the young coconut tree. Thcso are carefully 
removed by means of a sicklosbaped pointed iron instru- 
ment, and the part affected well stuffed with salt, ashes 
and sand which cure it in no timo. Ji this means bo 
not resorted to, tho tree will wither and die away. 
Leaving this out of account, wo know of no other 
baneful agencies to tho trees, excepting of course such 
natural causes as lightning and excessive drought, over 
which human precautions, however, can have no control. 
Tho data given above are, wo hope, sufficient to enable 
those interested in this cultivation to draw their own 
conclusions as to tho paying character of the 1 
which is all the more to be pursued, as it is a well- 
kaowu fact that there is not a singlo part of the tree 
that is valueless. — Madras Standard. 
THE NEW CEYLON AND ITS PRODUCTS: THE 
GUTTA TREE. 
Tho following extracts from the diary of Capt. Witti 
(for which, as before, we are indebted to tbo directors 
of the, Noiiu Borneo Company) describe the chieJ teat: 
of wild plantains would have afforded a roof in case of 
rain ; but, although wished for, it did not come. Thus 
wc kept waking all night, slapping at mosquitoes. We 
had made a large fire, just as if wc were in a Hun- 
garian plain at winter time, trying to keep the wolves 
off; but tho mosquito is an undaunted bra to 
May 10.— The tract we have entered is decidedly hilly. 
From the Bengkoka river wo rose to 1,350 ft. in a steep 
pitch, and then, from a comparative clearing, wo could 
see that there are four different ridges in the east, 
with their main axis running north and south. 
Tho village of Pcnenian, situated to the north of 
tho path of Toyon, is a little community of Mamagnn 
Dusuns, who live a quiet existenco on tho rico and 
vegetables they grow, on the fowls they rear, and never 
bother themselves about indiarubbcr and the outer world. 
Asconding from Peneuian to tho south-eastward, we 
came through a heavy timber forost, tho highest level 
above soa being 2,300 ft.; and wo are now in the Sou- 
zogan country, the sonrco of nearly all the gntlq pcrcha 
that finds its way ovor to Marudu. 
Emerging from tho thick forest, what a burst of 
landscape ! How tho mountains crowd towards this penin- 
sula ! A coffee planter would find it worth whilo to ex- 
amino it. Ho could select his elevation ran to 3,500 ft., 
and tho Bengkoka offers water carriage. '1 ho forost is 
partly tho same growth as on tho rango between Tam- 
biuian and Pap or; Tho soil is very porous. 
May 17. — Tbo ridge along which wo arc moving con- 
nects those mentioned beforo ; wo already passed two of 
them. Tbo slopes aro steep; no water is t» bo had for 
miles, and there is no higher animal lifo roticenblo in 
consequence. Tho rainfall, during tho other seasons, 
must bo copious; this is shown by tho presence of 
guttu plants. Wo travelled soven miles More through 
Umber forest. The soil is open and poroux, with almost 
