290 
[Oct. 1, 1897. 
Siipphment to ihe “ Tropical Agricullurisir 
about 3,000 bales of silk-cotton of the value of 
£9,000,’' 
“ In Ceylon Icapok is collected throughout the 
villages of the interior. The season commences in 
May, and one cro]) is obtained each year; the tree 
reaches maturity about the fifth year.” 
Australia receives large shipments of kapok both 
from India and .] ava, but it is difficult to obtain 
reliable statistics concerning the trade, ft is 
entered at the local Customs under all manner of 
names, such as “vegetable fibre,” “vegetable 
wool,” “ silk-cotlon,” “ tree cotton,” “raw cotton, 
and “ small cotton.” 
So much attention is kapok receving in the East 
Indies, that the cultivation of the trees is even 
said to be ousting coffee in the xu’ovince of Bu mn. 
linpok has not been received in England on a very 
large scale; 100 bales a month are sent from 
India and Ceylon (1 bale = 200 lb. Ceylon, 100 lb. 
Indian), and the price varies from 2|d. to Id. i>(t lb. 
IVe recall a letter addressed by Messrs. Thirkell 
& Co., dated London, 24th May, 1895, to the 
Ceylon Observer, in which that firm stated that 
“ ifapok is wanted in fairly clean condition at 
4d. per lb., and that a demand seems to be 
springing up for the silky floss of Calatropis 
yigcmtea—lln&AV, or, as it known by the Sinha- 
lese, IVara. 
We note that the Indian Forester in taking 
over the article on kapok states that “kapok 
is a llutch name, whereas the word is un- 
doubtedly of Malayan origin. 
THE 'VITALITY AND DISSEMINATION OF 
SEEDS. 
This is a subject upon which Mr. W. 'W. Glenny 
of Barking, Es.'-ex, contributes an interesting 
paper to the last volume of the Journal of the 
Royal Agricultural Society, England ; a subject 
which he rightly terms a comprehensive one, 
but of great charm and value to the botanist, the 
horticulturist, the farmer, and even the general 
observer. The paper referred to is comparatively 
exhaustive, and we can therefore touch upon 
its most interesting points. 
It is a common expeiience that ground dis- 
turbed below file average depth of cultivatioiij 
where fresh soil is brought to the surface soon 
becomes covered uith varied and promiscuous 
vegetation. Plants unknown in the immediate 
locality greet the eye, and curiosity is aroused by 
the apiiearance of these strange visitants. Various 
theories are rife to account for the presence of 
such additions to the flora of the immediate 
district. Where do these abnormal specimens 
spring from ? Prof. Balfour says that seeds, 
when buried deep in the soil, lie dormant for 
a long time, and only germinate when the air 
is admitted by the process of subsoil ploughing 
or other agricultural operations. As instances 
he mentions the springing up of white clover 
and other plants which had previously not been 
seen in the locality, when land is turned up for 
the first time, and refers to the growth of 
strange plants after the great fire of London, 
B phenomenon similar to tliat which follows the 
fuming of forests anti draining of marshes. 
Mr. Bureau de Malle enunciated a distinct 
and unique theory regarding this cpiestion. He 
calls it alternative succe.ssion, and held that, 
as good hu.sbandmen provide for a rotation of 
crops, in like manner nature arranges that 
indigenous species follow each other of their 
own accord. He cited many instances of 
one kind of growth, when cut or burnt down, 
being followed by a totally different form of 
vegetation. Similarly Herne says that straw’s 
berries grow’ in great quantity where fire has 
passed over a country, and Du. Petil Thomas 
that whenever forests w’ere destroyed in the 
Isle of Fiance, the soil was instantly covered 
with alien species indigenous to Madagascar, 
while Buck, Mackenzie, Davies, and Darwin and 
others mention many strange cases which w’e 
need not quote here, in proof of the occurrence 
of w’hat may be called a natural system of 
rotation of crops. Mr. Holt White asserts that 
the application of certain substances will cause 
seeds to gemmiate that would othcrwi e lie dor- 
mant- Lime, he says, will produce white clover 
in some soils; furze if sow’n on a newly-made 
bank will rarely grow, but put a little gritty 
sand on the seed and it will certainly vegetate 
In most of the Essex marshes, whenever a new 
ditch is dug, brown mustard w’ill spring up, 
although it has not been seen before in the 
memory of man. Of C.amomile it is said that 
it has been observed to spring up on the site 
of habitations, sometimes marking precisely 
the ground plan of the building. Miller recoids 
the springing up of the fumitory plant in a 
spot where the seeds had lain dormant for 
fourteen years. 
All this, though not absolutely supporting 
M. de la Malle's theory teaches that seeds of 
certain plants will remain uninjured in the soil 
for an indefinite time, provided the conditions are 
such as to hinder germination. 
Materials such as sweepings from warehouees, 
docks, cowhouses and stables, manure and dust 
from ships coming from foreign land.s, pulp 
from jam factories, are some of the sources 
w’hence strange specimens arrive. Here are a 
few instances : the troops summoned from Algeria 
to France in 1870, disseminated by fodder and 
otherwise a number of African and southern 
species which excited wonder. Many foreign 
and colonial plants are seen for a season where 
the sw’eepings of the warehoirses are deposited 
near London- It is amusing to contemplate a 
field of oranges in Essex, yet where the pulp 
from Keiller’s Marmalade factory was distributed 
over the land with manure, thousands of young 
orange plants were noticed. 
Wind, water and animals are also instrumental 
in disseminating plants ; many seeds and fruits 
with winged and feathery appendages are easily 
wafted about, others are carried by rivers and 
streams, and some can be transported by the 
ocean current to a great distance with their 
germinating power unimpaired. 
Seed-eating birds are, as a rule, not the seed- 
planters ; seeds which convey nourishment are 
eaten, and in the process are ground and destroyed; 
seeds which are imbedded in nourishment are swal- 
lowed and survive. In has been discovered that 
Americau crows cun take in and retain for som^ 
