274 
THE TROPtdAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. I, 1902. 
former I got from William Brothers about 
11 years ago and the seed of the latter came 
from Java at about the same time. 
The A. Grandis will, I think, be a magni- 
ficent tree ultimately, but at 5,u00 and 6,000 
feet, trees do not grow as quickly as most of 
us would like them to. 
The Gmelina Arborea mentioned in Indian 
Gardening and Planting of 14th August sounds 
very promising for our higher elevations, 
but what about our local varieties, G. Rheedii 
and Asiatica ? Are they large trees and at 
what elevation do they grow ? AVhere can 
one get seed of this G. Arborea and Northern 
Indian tree seeds generally nowadays ? 
Mr. Ganunie used to be luost obliging in 
the olden times ; but he, I hope and believe, 
is now enjoying his otium cum c.iq on the 
retired list, so please advise as to where one 
should apply.— .Yours faithfully, 
JOHN FRASER. 
[Our correspondent must try the "Himalaya 
Seed Stores " whose full-page advertisement 
he will find in our Tropical Agriculturist. 
As to the trees referred to, here is what 
Trimen says of " Gmelina's": — 
G. arborea, (Et-demata, Sinhalese) {G Rheeder.) 
A large spreading tree, bark a greyish-yellow, 
rather rough, thick, branchlets and young parts 
covered with a very fine, white mealy pubescence. 
Moist region up to 5000 feet ; rather com- 
mon, but often cultivated. Fl. March , 4 upper lobes 
dull orange-pink, lower one lemon-yellow. 
Also in India, Burma, Malaya, and Philippine 
Islands. Tlie Flower suggest a Bignoniaceous 
plant. They appear along with the young 
foliage, the tree being deciduous. Wood yellowish- 
white even-grained, light, strong, touglt^ and 
durable ; an excellent timber. The bark and the 
fruit are employed as medicine in bilious fevers. 
(G asiatica.) (Demata, Sinhalese, Kumil ; Tamil). 
A much-branched bush, bark yellowish- white, 
smoot!), branch'ets horizontal, rij,'id, often com- 
pressed puberulons, frequently much shortened 
and spinous at the end. 
Open places in low country up to 2000 feet ; 
common. Fl, S?ptcmber ; bright sulphur-yellow 
Also in South India. The bark and roots are 
used in meilicine. The fruits are eaten. 
Dr. Watt chiefly dwells on their medicinal 
uses ; save that in respect of the wood 
of '•Arborea" he writes 
Stkuctukk of the Wood —Yellowish, greyish 
or reddish-white, with a glossy lustie, close and 
even-fjrained, soft, strong, does not warp or crack 
■ in seasoning, weight from 28 to 35 lb per cubic 
foot, breaking weight of a bar, 6 feet x 2 inch x 2 
inch, 580 lb (according to Baker). It is 
light, lias a good surface, is very durable, is 
■easily worked, and takes paint and varnish readily, 
and is, therefore, highly esteemed for planking, 
furniture, carriages, boat-decks, panelling and 
ornamental woik of all kinds (Gamble). Mason 
states that it is largely employed by the Karens 
for canoes, and by the Burnifins for clogs. 0»ving 
to its extreme durabili y, it has been recommend- 
ed as an excellent timber for making tea boxe.«, 
and has also attracted much attention as a very 
suitable wood for fuinituie, picture frames, and 
similar work in which shrinking and warping have 
to be avoided. B'lchanan states in his Statistics 
of Diuajpur that "it is much employed by the 
natives for making their instruments of nnisic." 
JTbe escellence of this timber for many purposes 
appears to have been first noticed and described 
by Roxburgh, who subjected it to various experi- 
ments which he describes as follows: " One of 
the experiments, and the most interesting, was 
made by placing part of an outside plank in the 
river, a little above low water mark, exactly where 
the worm is thought to exert its greatest powers. 
Afrer remaining three years in this situation, 
though examined from time to time, the piece was 
cut, with the view of carrying a specimen oi it to 
England, and to my great joy, I found it as sound 
and in every way as perfect throughout, as it was 
when first put into the river. Amongst other 
thitgs, a valuable flood door was made of it, to 
keep the tides out of the Botanic Garden. It is 
now seven years and a lialf since the door (which 
is 4 feet square) was made, anil though much ex- 
posed to the sun and water, yet it remains good ; 
while similar doors, though much smaller, made 
of teak, were so much decayed a year ago, as to 
render it necessary to replace them," Since the 
date of the publication of the above experiments, 
the wood has come permanently into notice and is 
in considerable demand in Calcutta for furniture- 
making. 
As for " Acrocarpus grandis," we find no 
mentioa whatever of " grandis " by Dr. Watt, 
or any other authority at our command. 
In fact Watt says the genus "Acrocarpus" 
contains but the one species " fraxinifoUus." 
—Ed. T.A.-} 
WATERBOTTLES AND FIRE. 
Ktubton, Rakwana, Aug. 30. 
Deab Sir, — I have read several letters in 
your correspondence columns on the subject 
of " water bottles and fire." You may be 
interested to hear our experience. At 8-30 
one morning, when standing on our back 
verandah, we noticed smoke rising from 
a table on which were placed three caralfes 
or bedroom table bottles, which had been 
cleaned and were to be refilled and placed 
in each room. We concluded from the 
distance that the smoke was steam only, 
rising from the damp table ; but when we 
approached we found the smoke arose from 
one spot only and the table was quite dry. 
The heat from this spot was so great that it 
burnt our fingers. The table was charred. 
We then realized it was the efffect of the 
sun's rays passing through the bottle ; but 
as there were three aad the sun fell full on 
each, we marvelled at the otliers remaining 
untouched ; so, we changed their position. 
To our surprise no smoke" or heat emanated 
from the other two, although removed to 
the same spot as the smoke originated 
from : but in a few seconds the wood 
was burning hot and smoke ascended from 
the fii'st bottle although placed at the extreme 
end of the table on the other side. The bottles 
were all in shape globular ; but the glass 
thicker of the one that attracted the sim 
and flatter at the base. Why were not the 
others, when placed in the same position, 
worked upon in the same way by the sun's 
rays ? We can quite understand that the 
sun's rays passing through a bottle standing 
in a window-sill could set light to curtains.-' 
Yours truly, M. BARTRUM. 
P.S.— The bottles were empty. 
[We referred this interesting experience 
to ow scientiflQ gorrespoodent, " F. R 
