35i 
(I think that there are a good many other would be planters who 
recklessly condemn a cultivation because they are ignorant of it, 
besides the Malay Rajah and the Ceylon gentlemen. Coco-nuts 
like all other plants want to be put in the right soil and tieated 
properly before they abstain from playing tricks such as are .men- 
tioned in this letter. The superb plantations of Coco-nuts all over 
the Peninsula are quite a sufficient reply to these sceptical persons 
With respect to the four stems growing out of one mound, 1 
should incline to accept the correspondent’s theory that four nuts 
were by some accident put together. Coco-nuts are otten found 
wj,th two or three stems which is due to the fact that the ovary of 
the flower is normally three celled with an ovule in each cell, but 
it is only in exceptional cases that more than one ovule develops. 
Coco-nut palms however often branch, but usually above ground 
and generally possess but two main stems which branch again 
and again. 
As to the injury by cutting steps in coco-nut palms I have never 
seen any bad result so long as the cuts are made in the usual 
shallow way. (Ed,) 
FICUS ELASTICA. 
To the Editor , 
Agricultural Bulletin, 
Dear Sir, — I should like to elicit the opinio ns of those of your 
readers who are interested in the cultivation of Rembong (Ficus 
elastica) as to the best age and extent, to which young plants 
should be pruned. In the case of plants 3 to 4 feet high, the fact 
of cutting off young shoots is, in ;ny experience, a sure means of 
retarding, at least temporarily, the growth of the tree. From what 
I have seen of trees 4 or 5 years old I should say that it is still a 
very open question, expecially where high winds are prevalent, as 
to whether it is advisable to cut off the lower branches, as, until the 
aerial roots are well established, the tree proves itself very liable 
to topple over in a gale of wind. 
Yours faithfully, 
A. IRVING. 
NOTICE. 
( 0 < 
The Para-rubber trees in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, are 
now commencing to produce the seed crop. Planters who have 
put their names down in previous years for seed, and on longer 
want any are requested to write to the Director to inform him. 
