All  were  alive,  only  two  being  doubtfnl,  one  of  which  has  since  died  ; but  this  being  one  of 
the  Trinidad  Foresteros  its  loss  is  of  no  consequence.  The  plants  were  carefully  nursed  in  the  plant- 
sheds  until  they  showed  signs  of  fresh  growdh,  when  they  were  potted  in  large  pots  and  placed 
under  shade  in  the  nursery  to  become  established  before  planting  out  in  the  next  south-west 
monsoon.  I am  very  glad  to  possess  these  varieties,  especially  T.  pentagona,  and  shall  be  curious 
to  compare  its  fruit  and  seeds  with  our  “ old  red  ” kind. 
Sisal  Hemp. — These  have  been  growing  mueh  better  during  this  3’ear,  and  a few  hundreds 
of  young  plants  have  been  propagated  from  them.  These  will  be  ready  for  distribution  in  the 
course  of  a few  months’  time  should  any  one  wish  to  experiment  with  this  fine  fibre-plant. 
Cuhehs. — The  drought  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  killed  one  of  our  two  cubeb  plants  ; and 
the  remaining  one  looked  verj^  bad  for  a time,  but  has  now  made  a start,  and  promises  to  become 
established. 
Para,  hidiaruhher  {Hevea  hrasiliensis). — The  very  hot  weather  in  March  caused  a good 
many  of  the  blossoms  to  wither,  and  as  the  bad  weather  in  May  and  June  accompanied  by  high 
winds  caused  considerable  damage  to  the  young  capsules,  it  was  expected  that  the  crop  would  be 
a poor  one.  However,  owing  to  many  more  trees  flowering  this  year,  and  the  favourable  weather 
in  July,  August,  and  September,  we  were  able  to  supply  all  demands  for  seeds,  and  had  a large 
quantity  over  for  the  nurser3^  The  total  crop  was  very  nearly  100,000,  76,750  of  which  were  sold, 
being  advertised  in  the  newspapers  at  Rs.  10  per  1,000  ; 2,000  were  sent  to  Badulla  Garden  nursery 
and  1,000  to  Anuradhapura,  and  the  rest  (20,000)  were  sown  in  the  nursery  here.  These  have  grown 
into  fine  healthy  plants,  and  are  now  ready  for  distribution. 
None  of  the  trees  have  been  tapped  this  year.  It  has  been  usual  to  do  this  only  in  every 
alternate  year,  but  the  trees  are  now  of  such  an  age  and  size  that  they  may  be  safely  tapped  every 
year.  They  have  grown  very  much  during  the  last  twelve  months,  and  many  of  them  are  now 
over  6 ft.  in  circumference  at  one  foot  from  the  ground,  and  would  yield  an  appreciable  quantity 
of  rubber. 
When  in  London  I obtained,  through  Kew,  a report  from  Messrs.  Hecht,  Levis,  & Kahn 
on  a sample  of  the  rubber  collected  at  Henaratgoda  in  1894.  It  was  considered  of  excellent 
quality,  and  valued  at  from  2s.  id.  to  2s.  If/,  per  lb.,  according  to  cleanliness  from  bark,  &c. 
Cola  acuminata,. — Another  small  plantation  of  twenty-three  plants  has  beep  set  out  during 
the  year  at  Henaratgoda,  and  most  of  them  are  doing  well.  The  older  trees  have  grown  fast  and 
look  healthy,  but  have  not  yet  flowered.  The  largest  tree  is  now  over  30  ft.  high,  bitt  is  only  12  in. 
in  circumference  at  one  foot  from  the  groxind.  The  Conductor  has  been  successful  in  raising 
five  plants  from  cuttings. 
Bertlwlletia  e^rce/sa  (“Brazil  Nut”)  is  growing  very  rapidly  at  Henaratgoda,  is  perfectly 
healthy,  and  a noble  and  handsome  tree.  It  flowered  in  June,  but,  probably  owing  to  the  rough 
weather  then,  it  has  set  no  fruit.  It  is  64  ft.  high  and  3 ft.  4 in.  in  circumference  at  one  foot 
from  the  ground. 
Pagena  Leerii. — This,  besides  giving  Guttapercha  (“  Gutta  Sundek  ”),  is  remarkable  in 
appearance,  and  will  be  valuable  as  an  ornamental  tree  for  planting  at  low  elevations.  It  did  not 
flower  at  all  this  year  at  Henaratgoda,  but  shows  signs  of  flowering  again  next  year.  So  far  we 
have  not  been  able  to  propagate  from  cuttings.  The  largest  tree  is  40  ft.  high. 
Uncaria  Gamhier. — A few  seeds  of  this,  from  our  own  plants,  were  sown  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year  at  Henaratgoda  and  germinated  in  March.  The  growth  at  first  was  very  slow%  but 
they  made  a start  at  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  and  we  have  now  twentj^-five  healthy  plants 
4 ft.  6 in.  high,  so  that  at  last  there  seems  a chance  of  getting  this  acclimatized  here.  Some 
seed  received  from  Kew  did  not  germinate. 
Enjthroxylun  Coca. — Of  this  we  have  now  a large  stock  of  fine  healthy  plants,  but  there  is 
practically  no  demand  for  them.  It  is  rather  surprising  that  no  effort  has  been  made  to  grow  our 
large-leafed  sort  on  a commercial  scale  here,  as  it  seems  likely  to  prove  profitable.  Mr.  T.  Christy, 
of  London,  has  lately  reported  on  some  of  this  sort  sent  from  Assam,  which  had  been  fired 
and  dried,  and  was  curled  up  like  tea.  Pronounced  at  first  to  be  valueless,  it  was  found  on 
analysis  to  be  very  rich,  and  worth  Is.  per  lb.,  the  price  of  the  small-leaved  Java  sort  being  only 
2>d.  Mr.  Christy  believes  that  higher  prices  still.  Is.  6rf.  to  Is.  Scf.,  would  be  obtained  for  leaf  so 
prepared  for  the  extraction  of  alkaloid. 
Camphor. — Owing  to  the  war  between  China  and  Japan  there  was  a scarcity  of  this  drug  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year,  and  as  prices  rose  very  high  many  inquiries  were  made  for  the  seedling 
plants  mentioned  in  my  last  report.  We  were  able  to  distribute  '.'75  plants  to  thirty-seven  applicants. 
The  number  of  localities  where  they  have  been  planted  for  trial  cannot  be  far  short  of  fifty,  and 
they  vary  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  and  from  the  driest  to  the  wettest  localities,  so  that  it 
will  soon  be  seen  in  what  climate  they  thrive  best,  but  the  tree  is  scarcely  a native  of  the  tropics. 
At  Hakgala,  with  an  average  mean  temperature  of  62°  and  a rainfall  of  89  in.,  the  plants  are 
doing  well,  and  we  have  also  some  very  healthy  plants  in  the  Anuradhapura  Garden,  where  the 
mean  temperature  is  about  80°  and  the  rainfall  53  in.  A small  trial  plot  has  been  formed  at 
Hakgala,  and  200  plants  have  been  planted  out  12  ft.  apart  every  way. 
