Feb. 1, 1901.1 THE TROPICAL AGItlCULTURlST. 
§33 
REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF TECHNI- 
CAL TESTS OF THREE PLANKS SUP- 
PLIED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF 
CEYLON TO THE IMPERIAL 
INSTITUTE. 
(In continuation of the report published in the 
Imperial Institute Journal, Vol. VI., p. By 
Herbert Stone, Esq., F.L.S., one of the Expert 
Referees of the Institute ) 
Del. Artocarpus nobilis, Ihw. A large tree 
belonging to the Aitocarpaee£e or Nettle and 
Bread-fruit tribe, confined to Ceylon. There is 
another Indian tree bearing the vernacular name 
of Del, i.e. Bonibax malabaricicm, D.C, the 
Cotton tree, but the anatomical structure of the 
wood is so different that theie can be no question 
that our sample is Artocarpus nobilis. 
The plank was in a l ad conditi )n. Decay had 
commenced in the heart and the sapwood was 
quite rotten. The heartwood, which was hardly 
distinguishable from the sap except by a greater 
depth of colour, had a beautiful metallic green 
colour, which shows in vertical patches where 
the wood is hard, but, as there are alternate 
strips of hard and very soft wood, the appearance 
is not beautiful. The pores are very striking, 
being large and filled with a white substance. The 
wood saws moderately easily, but will not plane in 
any direction, as the soft parts " pick up " in large 
lurry patches with which nothing can be done. It 
turns a little better but only the hard parts cut 
smooth, and the softer ones, even after being well 
glass-papered, are unsatisfactory. The same may he 
said of it when turned in the machine. A good 
finish can be obtained upon small pieces free from 
soft wood ; as the latter keeps absorbing the polish 
it is extremely troublesome and presents a poor 
appearance under the be.st conditions. The char- 
acteristic green colour becomes changed to yellow 
when polished. In Ceylon it is employed for furni- 
tureandcanoe-making. Weight39'3lbpercubicfoot. 
Jak. This is the jak-fruit tree, artocarpus 
integrifolia, Linn. A large and itnportant tree 
belonging to the same genus as the foregoing. It 
is cultivated in India generally, except in the 
north. The wood is used for cirpeutry boxes, 
and furniture, and is exported to Europe for 
cabinet work, turning and brush backs (Gamble). 
It yields a yellow dye which is used to dye 
priests' robes. I have not heard of its use in 
England and presume it has not succeeded in 
gaining a footing in our market. If the pre- 
sent sample is a fair one it scarcely appears 
to merit a place among furniture woods, though 
it might have other virtues which would make 
it useful for builiing or engineering work. This 
wood works in almost every respect like Del, 
but not quite so bad. Before going into the 
question of its scientific nan.e I was much struck 
by the similarity in the working of the two, 
and suspected their relationship. The colour of 
jakwood is brown, otherwise its structure and phy- 
sical characters are very much like those of Del. 
The sample plank was very sound both as re- 
gards decay and cracks. The wood, according 
to Watts, is of a yellow or yellowish brown 
colour darkening on exposure. He considers it 
one of the handsomest furniture woods of India, 
an opinion which is scarcely borne out by our 
Bpecimens. Weight 38 5 lb, per cubic foot. 
Satin-wood. Chloroxylon Swietenia, D.C. A 
nioderate sized tree of tlie Maliogany Paraily 
(Meliacece) growing abundantly in Central and 
Suutliern India, the Deccan, Ce>l<m and Coro- 
mandel. This is so well known in Elngland that it 
is almost supeitinous to enter into detail concern- 
ing it, unless the sample planks are more charac- 
teristic of the Ceylon-grown Satinwood than of 
East India Satinwood generally. 
There were three planks of this species. Two 
were of a blight canary yellow colour with the 
oharacceristic smell of coconut when being sawn, 
s?ound and in good condition ; the third, a badly 
shattered plank, was rich yellow in colour and had 
a less agreeable smell. Although there was no 
other evidence of decay I conclude that this 
latter plank was partly gone. All three planks 
cut up readily and well with the saw, but planed 
execrably, worse even than Del, the soft bands 
being very broad and rough. It yielded, however, 
to glass-paper, and smoothed fairly well. The 
wood turned very well indeed by hand and machine, 
and took an excellent polish without trouble. 
Compared with the Satin-woods commonly met 
with here, these samples are decidedly infeiior tb 
either the East India (e.a commonly known) or 
Tamil Satin-wood, having none of the beautiful 
mottle or fire of these, but it is very muoh like the 
West India wood. According to Watts it is very 
durable and stands well under water. The Pera- 
deiiiya bridge of Ceylon, which has a single span 
of 203 feet, is made of this wood. We'ght 56*5 lb. 
per cubic foot. 
It is much to be regretted that more care was 
not exercised in selecting and seasoning these 
specimens. If an examination of a species of timber 
is intended to assist possible users in the choice of 
woods for special purposes, it is a matter of 
primary importance that the samples should be 
average specimens, sound and in good condition 
when felled, and treated with the utmost care 
possible, having regard to the peculiaritiei of each 
species. Some vvill stand exposure to nnn or damp 
which may be ruinous to others, and I strongly 
suspect that when these various series were got 
together they were practically subjected to identical 
conditions, hence the large proportion of decayed 
or shaken logs. Except in the case of those which 
have been reported sound, the tests merely 
amount to a ciitioisni of a nurnbei' of individual 
logs which may not have the least bearing upon 
the timber they represent. I trust that if the 
agents of any of our Colonial Governments have 
similar tasks to perform in future they will 
observe this simple rule : — Let the timber be pro- 
perly seasoned Ijefore it is shipped. — ImperiaZ 
Institute Journal. 

PLANTING IN NYSSALAND. 
(By Mr. Henry Brown.) 
DIFFERENT PRODUCTS. 
There are several products well suited for cultiva* 
tioD in B. C. A„ other than coffee, such as sugar, 
tobacco, arrowroot, ginger, turmeric, cotton, 
chillies, etc. These I dispose of (although they 
may pay very well) because the land requires to 
be prepared for them every time a new crop is 
required, and they are not permanent products. 
From what 1 know of cacao cultivation, and 
judging from the appearance of the solitary plant 
as far as I know in existence in B. 0. A. at 
La^detdale estate, Mlanje, this tree is not tQ 
