370 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. 2, 190L 
■west monsoon, April, 18S5, tbey began with the 
planting of over twelve acres. Iq the following year 
the plantation waa so extended that it waa necessary 
to biing it under constant European supervision, and 
it was put under control of the Council for Forests 
in 1891, with the order to plant only the best sorts 
of Palaquium. But as it "did not flourish fo well 
under this council, it w e in 1900 once move brought 
under the supervision of the directors of the Botanic 
Gardens. The directors have taken the matter at 
once in hand in order to effect the purposes of the 
plantation, namely : (1) To find out the best kind 
of Palaquium suitable for forest-culture; (2) Study 
of the botanical derivation ; (3) To ascertain which 
cliraatolcgical and other conditions are the best for 
the growing of the plant ; (4) Study of the way 
in which they multiply, if by seeds or otherwise. 
To make these tests on a bigger scale, the Govern- 
ment allowed a considerable amount in 1901 for the 
Indian Budget. In the west monsoon of this year 
the plantation will be enlarged by 250 acres and 
1901 1902 by 552 acres. In this way an extenstion of 
963 acres wil! be reached, and it ia hoped to plant 
in thi next five yei.r-. 3,625 Jtcves more. Only good 
kinds of Palaquium will be employed as Palaquium 
gutta (Isonandra gutta in earlier times), Palaquium 
borneeiiso and Palaquium oblongifolium. If the old 
seed, which the trop cal garden of Tjikemeuh, Tjipetir 
itself and a Palaquium oblongifolium plantation at 
Poerwokerto give sufficient it will all be used, and 
there will 'be just enough material for the planned 
extenstion of the plantation, so that no seeds can be 
given away from the Botanic Gardens at Buitenzorg 
for other purposes. This new enterprise promises to 
open fresh means for the settlement of thf burning 
question of gutta-percha production, and will become 
a guide for private enterprise in this field later on. 
With regard to profit, these experiences in Tj'petir 
will hardly be aa authoritative regarding other 
questions, as labour is rather dear in that district 
on account of the great amount of private planta- 
tions, and as a Government enterprise of this kind, 
which answers in the first place general purposes 
and not the gaining of profit, works under quite 
different circumstances and is generally dearer than 
a private business, chiefly establishes with economical 
views. In any cao the trial plantation at Tjipetir, 
which has been put under the leadership of the ex- 
perienced expert Dr. P. van Romburgh, late director 
of the trial garden in Tjikemeuh, promises to become 
of a high technical and economical interest. The 
market for the gutta-percha obtained in Dutch India 
lies not in the district of production but in Singapore. 
Tbia fact is proved by the figures given below which 
Prom 
Borneo. 
Sumatra. 
Total 6,969,649 145,856 36,380 32,409 
Java and I 29,019 — 18,408 — 
Madeira ) ' — - — 
Total export 6,998,668 145,856 54,797 32,409 
CuiiE Foa THE Black Spot in Tomatoes. --Ever since 
this fungus disease of the Tomato made its appear- 
ance iii this country! gardeners have been helpless 
in the matter of cure or alleviation; and beyond re- 
moving the fruit an] burning it, so as to prevent 
the diffusion of tna spores, nothings could be done, 
Now, Mr, J' Tho:na3, landscape gardener, 1, War. 
wick Grove, Surbiton, alleges that he has found ths 
remedy for attioki of OlT-dospoi'ium lycoperaioi, and 
certainly some fruita, which ho brought to u^i a few 
^ayij ajo, and which are lying before us, show tha 
give the export for 1899, giving origin and destination 
of the gutta-percha : 
The dominint position which SingatJore takes ac- 
cordii g to this as n. market for gutta-percha from 
Dutch India is owing to its favourable situation in the 
centre of the Malay Archipelago and partly to the 
smartness of its European and Chinese merchants. 
Singapore gives to a buyer of gutta-percha all pos- 
sible advantages of a great maiket, where he can 
buy all kinds of gutta-percha according to sample, 
whereas Dutch India puts only certain kinds of 
gutta-percha out. If Java, which is more independent 
than Singapore, and where gutta-percha plantations 
are now flourishing, should develop and create a 
market for this article in its own district, cannot 
as yet be decided upon, but it is hardly to be ex- 
pECted. Besides the gardens in Tjipetir and Tjikemeuh 
there are only two more plantations at Java, near 
Poerwokerto, in the country of Banjoemas, of which 
the elder one, from 1856, consists only of 58 trees, 
whereas the younger and a bigger one was founded 
in the early eighties. But both plantations have 
been neglected up tu now. In other paiia cl DutcQ 
India the gutta-percha plabtation, tor which the 
natives fcecm also to show more interest, now is 
only cultivated in a few districts, and iu recent 
times through some private enterprise. In 1898 a 
NederlandEch-IndiEche Getah Pertja Maatschappy 
waa founded in Medan, on th*; east coasts of 
Sumatra ; another recent plantation exists on the 
island of Bintay, in the Riouw Archipelagus. Two 
other companies, an English and a German one, 
are said to be at work on the west coast of Borneo, 
near Pontianak, and another firm has been established 
under the style of Gotta Rubber Syndicate for the 
production of gutta-percha and caoutchouc, the 
plantations of which are in the territory of the 
Sultan of Johore. And, lastly, the Nederlausche Getah 
Pertja Maatshappy, established at the Hague, has 
still to be mentioned. All these companies use the 
process of extracting the gutta-percha ont of the 
leaves by a mechanical process, which a Dutchman, 
P. J. Ledeboer, now a French subject, has invented. 
Not much has become public about the process, but 
it ia said to be a perfect success. If, through this 
process, a material is created which is equal to 
the gutta percha gained from the trees, and if the 
trees can be deprived of their leaves without being 
interrupted in their growing, as seems to be possible, 
a further important step has been made in the 
production of gutta-percha, for through this process 
quicker and larger results can be effected than through 
the old simple way. 
8,377 — _ 80 7,192,760 kiloa 
16,964 5,594 303 — 70,288 „ 
25,341 5,594 303 80 7,263,048 kilos! 
he ia correct in his statement, for the fungus is 
killed superficially, and appears as a dry, brown in- 
crustation ; even the flesh below it is quite sound 
and uninjured and the fruit as good as possible, bar- 
ring the little blemishes of about the size of a 
shilling. The inventor would willingly dress any 
diseased fruits if requested to do so, but uutill he has 
patented the substance, he will not let it out of his 
hands. It is obvious that the remedy should be 
applied to the leaves an i to the berries wheu quite 
young. It must b- remembered also that the spawn 
of the fuuguj isiutdrual, =o that excsroal applications, 
however useful, are only of a piUiative nature.— 
Gardeners' Chronicle, 
EXPORTS IN 1899. 
To Singapore. Penang. Holland. England. Germany. France. Belgium. America. Total 
5,7-22 307 - - 32,409 - _ _ _ 5,754,716 kilos. 
1,247,342 145,856 36,389 — 8,377 _ _ 80 1,438 044 
