Oct. 1, 1891] 
Supiolement to the “ Tropical Agriculturist: 
289 
on accouufc of the foliage somewhat resembling 
that of the common fig {Ficus carica)-, while 
Rumphius suspected that it was originally 
brought from a district called Popaya in Peru, 
and hence that name came to be applied to it. 
The Papaw Juice — which is now cpioted at 
-5s. per lb.— is easily prepared. The unripe fruit 
has to be scarred or lined some ^ in. deep, with 
n sharp knife daily, and the juice caught and 
dried upon sheets of glass, when it becomes 
at once a marketable commodity. The active 
principle, papain, is in much esteem as a medi- 
cinal agent. The Chemist and Brucjcjist gives 
the following method of preparing it:— “The 
juice is pressed out of the fruit, clarified by 
filtration through a twill bag, and the ferment 
precipitated by alcohol. It is then dried but 
is sometimes purified by treatment with water.” 
The subject of rainfall has been much before the 
public of late, no doubt due to the furnishing of 
departmental rainfall returns and to the occurrence 
of some unusually heavy falls in the country 
In this connection the following quotation will' 
be found interesting : “ Many local circumstances 
may affect the quantity of rain which falls in 
different countries ; but, other things being equal, 
most rain falls in hot climates, for there the vapori- 
sation is most abundant. The rainfall decreases 
in fact from the equator to the poles. At London 
it is 211'5 in.; at Bordeaux it is 25'8 ; at Madeira 
27 7; Havannah 91'2.; and at St. Domingo 107'6. 
The quantity varies with the season : In Paris, 
in winter, it is 4'2 in.; in spring 6'9 ; in summer 
6’3 ; in autumn 4 8 inches. The heaviest rainfall 
at any jrlace on the globe is on the Ivhasia 
Hills in Bengal, where it is 600 in., of which 
500 in. fall in, seven months. The driest re- 
corded place in England is Lincoln, where the 
mean rainfall is 20 in., and the wettest is Stye in 
Cumberland where it amounts to 165 in.” This 
was written in 1877, and it would be interesting 
to know what changes have taken place since then. 
THE KAPOK TREE. 
This tree, botanically known as Eriodendron 
nnfractuosum, the floss from which is com- 
monly known among the natives of Ceylon as 
“ pulun,” is the subject of a notice in the Im- 
perial Institute Journal. 
In the course of a description of the various 
uses of the tree, we find it stated that “ the seeds 
are sometimes eaten ; they yield a bland fatty 
oil, the residual cake .being used as a cattle food.” 
Such a statement would more correctly appl.y 
to the seeds of the true cotton (Gossyppium), 
for to say that the cake or poonac is used as 
cattle food would convey the idea that such 
use is general or even common, while on the 
contrary it must be rare. Dr. Watt himself 
does not write very definitely regarding the uses 
to which the seeds are init. He says: — “ The seeds 
are said to be eaten the seedcake is some- 
times given as fodder.” As regards Ceylcn, it 
may be said that the seeds are used as lood 
neither for man or beast. 
Some time ago we were consulted as to the 
desirability of using the seeds of kapok for 
Ijiamirial purposes. The inquiry came from a 
large dealer in the “silk cotton,” who having 
to deliver the cotton clean naturally had large 
quantities of the seed on his hands. The follow-, 
ing is a comparative analysis of the cake of 
Kapok and cotton. 
Kapok. Cotton. 
Water ... ... ... 13'28 12'00 
Nitrogenous matter; albumin- 
ous compounds ... ... 26'34 2062 
Fat ... ... ... 5'82 6'36 
Non-nitrogenous extraction 19 92 35'42 
Woody fibre ... ... 28*12 20 36 
Ash ... 6'52 5-64 
“ The ash of the kapok seed,” we are told 
“ contains 28'5 % of phosphoric acid, and 24'6 % 
of potash ; it ought, therefore, to be of value 
as a manure.” 
The great partiality which rats and mice have 
for the seed (destroying pillows and mattresses, 
as they do, to get at the few seed that may have 
been left in the floss in cleaning) would seem 
to indicate the possibility of utilizing it as a 
stock food, at any rate in tlie rural districts, for 
feeding, ploughing and draught cattle. 
As regards the floss we quote as follows from 
the Imperial Institute Journal : — 
Serious complaint is made in Australia and else- 
where of the quality of the kapok shipped from 
India. “ Even at the low price of India kapok 
(about 3d. per lb.) it is found better to pay 8|d. or 
more per lb., for kapok grown in Java. The 
former is frequently received in such a filthy con- 
dition as to be almost unsaleable.” The hydrualic 
or steam-press packing of kapok tend.s to destroy 
that peculiar elasticity to which it owes its value. 
In addition, the packing tends to express a dark- 
coloured oil from the seeds left attached to the 
fibre, and hence a noticeable difference in colour 
between the Indian and the beautifully white Java 
products. 
At Java the trade has assumed a uniform 
practice. No unclean stuff is shipped, but the 
different grades of cleaning denote standards of 
quality ; the first, “ extra cleaned,” is the first 
picking of the crop, and is cleaned by machinery ; 
the second, _ denoted as “ best cleaned picked,” 
being all hand-picked and free from seeds, except 
an odd one here and there ; the third, is simply 
designated “ cleaned.” It contains a few seeds, 
together with the “ slubs,” or little knotty curly 
lumps, which are cast aside from the higher grades. 
Packing is all done in straw mats, and the floss 
is never tightly pressed. 
The silk-cotton tree also grows in the West 
Indies, but for all practical purposes it is counted 
of little value. Considerable difficulty was at first 
experienced in the importation of silk-cotton, 
owing to its great bulk and the heavy cost of 
transport, but this has been overcome by a silk- 
cotton press constructed by Stork & Company, 
at Henglo. 
In the annual report of the Director of the 
Botanical Department, Jamaica, 1884, the follow- 
ing remarks occur : — ■ 
“ It now only remains for some enterprising 
firm to initiate the collecting of .‘•ilk cotton in 
Jamaica, and to ship it in well-packed bales for 
the European market. If each cotton tree yilelded 
at the rate of about 100 lb. weight of clean floss, 
Ih^teSJigbt be exported from Jamaica every yea| 
