222 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. i, 1894. 
nut— Macadamia tendfolia — they quickly germinate 
if treated as above. It is seldom the practice, how- 
ever, to remove the whole of the testa as in Nicara- 
gua, for fear of damaging the cotyledons. A few 
weeks since I determined to test the mutter by 
experiment, and for this purpose I selected two 
hundred seeds picked the same day and from pods of 
the same stage of ripeness. After mixing them 
together, they were divided into four sets of 60 
each, and numbered respectively from one to four. 
These were sown on November 9th, 1893. 
No. 1 set. — Had the testa wholly removed, and were 
sown on end, with the radicle pointing downwards. 
No. 2. set. — The beans were sown flat, without 
removing the seed coat or testa. 
No. 3- set. — Beans sown radicle downwards, without 
removing the tt Sta. 
No. 4. set. — Beans sown radicle upwards, without 
removing testa. 
No. 1. appeared through the ground in G dayp, but 
no others were then apparent. On November 2ind, 
or 13 days after sowing, Nos. 2, 3 and 4 were making 
appearance above ground. On November 28th, or i9 
days after sowing, No. 1 was 7 inches high : No. 2 
3^ inches; No. 3, 3 inches; and No. 4, 2i inches; 
with some seeds not through the ground. On Decern- 
ber 12th, No. 1 set of plants were over 1 foot high; 
Nos. 2 and 3 were about equal, while No. 4 were 
greatly behind 'he others. and some of the cotyledons 
not yet out of the ground. The experiment conclu- 
sively shows that the removal of the testa and the 
planting of the radicle downwards hastens germina- 
tion by some seven (7) days, and that the retention 
of the testa and the planting of the bean on end 
with the seed upwards retards germination fur an 
equal period. The whole of the seeds in No. 1 set 
produced plants, and also in Nos. 2 and 3, »hie 
in No. 4 a few of the plants were disfigured by 
contortion, and some were broken in the endeavour 
of the plant to carry its cotyledons above ground 
The plants raised from No. 1 to 4 collectively 
are all healthy, and promise in a day or two to be 
indistinguishable with regard to size. The cause of 
the process of germination being hastened is. the 
readier access given to the gases of the atmospheie, 
and the lesser resistance given to the development 
of the cotyledons by the method of planting. The 
knowledge of these facts places in the hands of 
cultivators who wishes to transport seeds to a dis- 
tance some valuable information, for it is seen 
therefrom that germination can be delayed or has- 
tened at will by the method of planting. In a late 
experiment of transporting large quantities of Cacao 
seed, our practice was to sow flat or on the edge 
without removing the cotyledons, and this method 
always produces healthy plants. It may be men- 
tioned that two enquiries from Nicaragua respect- 
ively for consignments of 2u,000 and 40.000 plants 
have recently been received, which shows that the 
value of a change of seed is fully known to our 
Central American friends. — J. H. H. — Official Report. 
. -* 
A RUBBER-VINE IN BRITISH GUIANA. 
The India/rubbe* World has been favored, by Blr. 
J. Bod * ay, of Georgetown (Demerara), with a copy 
of a " Beport on Macwarrieballi (Forsteron 'a gracilis), 
a New Indiaiubber plant of Britsh Guiana," by 
the government botainst, Mr. G. S Jenrnan. In 
the opinion of Mr. Jenoian this vine, which reaches 
to the top of trees a hundred feet high, afterwards 
spreading ont over the branches, seems to be gene- 
rally dispersed over the whole of the great forest 
region of Guiana. It is assigned by him to the order 
dpocijnacecc, which order is bes 1, known to rubber- 
men through the Landolpkia Aorida, of Afiica. ''I 
never in any lactiferous plant saw mi!k run so 
freely," writes Mr. Jenman. "It was also richest in 
rubber of any such milk I had ever examined." He 
found it unnecessary to make the usual V-shaped 
incisions to procure the milk since, " by making a 
simple circular cut, by drawing a knife round the 
stem to the depth of the bark, as much milk appa- 
rently was obtained as by removing a section of 
the bark." The advantage of this method would b 
that wounds of this character might heal quickly and 
permit an early repetition of the tapping, while remo- 
val of the bark would destroy or Mrfouljr injure the 
plant. Specimens of rubber from this source have 
been sent to England for experimentation. It ta tin 
opinion of Mr. Jenman that other rubber-producing 
plants exist in the same country. — IniianMer World. 
VARIOUS PLANTING NOTES. 
The " Blight Dbstb^ykb," the invention of Mr 
Geo-g» Winter ami Dr. Caitell Jones, formerly of 
Shamshernapgar. is now on Kb trial, practically, on 
several par i ng in the T. rai, Cacbar and elsewhere. 
So far the results are fnirly satisfactory, but no 
definite repoita have yet been received from tU- 
gardens on which (he exj eriments are being carried 
on. One o.- two manager* hnve reserved their opinion 
till ih j v c n give a reliable rep rt ae to the effect* 
of the " D Birojer" on the bushes, not only as 
a L 1 i ^ b t (lest.-r yer pro tern but as 'owhat sffeoiF, 
if tny may be pr duccd on th» haves or stems I y 
tbr- application cf ti e fluid. — Indian Planters' Gazette 
The White Ant is Natal Timbeh — Recently 
a paragraph found its way into circulation from 
which some might infer that a plague had failtn 
upon our forests in Nata . in the shape of this 
destructive insect, which has a habit ol skeletonising 
furniture and the timber used in building operations. 
Of course, one does not quite believe in the infirm i 
yarn as to the results of a day's work of the so- 
called ant upon an " upright grand ' the disintegra- 
tion of which was so comp ete that a sudden gust of 
wind being admitted in to the drawing-room of a 
bungalow sufficed to scatter as dust what to all out- 
ward appearance was a handsome instrument— all 
that was left in anythiug like coherence being the 
wires, which assumed the doleful aspect of a newly 
invented iEolian harp— but a failure at that. It- 
need hardly be added, that as these insect pests have- 
always been found in Natal and similar regious, so 
in the future they will continue to be found.— 
Gardeners' t hronide. 
The Phodvction of Perfume in Flowebs.— 
Chemists and botanists have long exhibited an 
eager curiosity concerns g the production of perfumes 
in flowers, but h'therto the micro-chemical methods 
of examination which they have employed have not 
established with sufficient clearness the nature of 
the process by which the perfume is produced ; 
hence it has been necessary to devise a more deli- 
cate method of investigation. E. Mesnard now 
soaks sections of the petals in strongly saccharised 
ghceriue, and then treats them with hydrochloric 
acid; this brings out the fatty oils, to which 
the perfume is traceable, in tiny globules which are 
examined under the microscope. From an investi- 
ta-ion o! v rious flowers at different stages of deve- 
lopment, Mesnard arrives at the fallowing conclu- 
sions : — 1. The oil generally occurs in the epidermal 
cells of the upper surfaces of the petals or sepals; 
but may occur on both surfaces, especially if the 
floral [arts are c miletely hidden in the bud. 2. 
In every case the oil seems io have its origin in 
the chlorophyll [where present?]. This is qiite com- 
prehensible, i it be admitted, as is generally d> ne, 
that the floral parts are only leaves which have 
been modified to fulfil new functions. 3. The per- 
fume . f a flower is no', noticeable until the 
ess ntial oil has sufficiently freed itself from th e 
interme iate products from which it is formed, and 
its occurrence is in some way inversely proportional 
to the production of tannin ai d of pigments in the 
flower. This would explain why flowers with green 
petals have no scent [Vines? |, why white or red flowers 
are most frequently odoriferous, why the Composite, 
which are rich in tannin, have a disagreeable od ur^ 
and why the white "artificial" Lilac and forced 
Boses acquire a finer perfume. The paper in whicli 
Mesnard describes his investigation and experiments 
may be consulted in detail in the Lomptes Iiendtts 
vol. cxv, pp. 892-895.— Ibid. 
