208 
recorded during the rainy season, and in this country, in the case of 1 
t le single plantation quoted above, the period of commencement of 
the trouble corresponded with a period of heavy rains. The occur- 
rence of the effect on either cut independently of the other is regarded 
as good evidence in support of the belief that it is in no way con- 
nected with nutrition or weakness on the part of the plant. In 
Ceylon Petch regards it as being due to the accumulation of water 
on the freshly tapped surface. 
When trees show this effect, tapping should be stopped on the 
affected cuts. A more rapid healing of the wound may be obtained 
y removing the dead bark, so as to leave a ring of healthy bark 
aiound the wound, and by tarring the exposed surface of the wood 
with coal tar, the tar also serving to keep out borers. It is better to 
warm the tar before using it; but, since in such a case it is more 
iable to run over the surface of the healthy adjacent bark, it is advis- 
able to recommend the use of cold tar. Care should be taken to apply 
the tar to the exposed surface of the wood only 
CRYPTOSTEGIA GRANDIFLORA IN MEXICO. 
The India-rubber Journal of May 20 gives an account by Mr 
Charles S. Dolley of the occurrence of Palay rubber, Cryptostegia 
grandiflora m great abundance in Mexico. This charming climber 
has long been known to produce a good quality of rubber, but culti- 
vation for this purpose has previously failed, owing to its slow growth. 
In Mexico it appears to have become even a pest. “ There are lands 
about Rosario in which the plant has made such extraordinary 
growth, as to invade the fields so completely as to be regarded by the 
farmers as a plague, owing to the frequency with which the fields 
must be cleaned and the impossibility of extirpating it, for cutting 
only serves to make it grow more vigorously.” It is said to propa- 
gate itself readily by seed and .grow to a height of one to two metres 
a year, droughts do not kill it, and pruning or cutting back only 
makes it sprout more vigorously. This plant is almost certainly the 
species commonly cultivated for ornament in gardens in the Straits 
Settlements. There are two species known in cultivation one C 
Madagascariensis, the other C. grandiflora . The former is figured in 
the Botanical Magazine, the latter in the Botanical Register The main 
difference appears to be in the shape of the Coronal processes, some 
projections in the throat of the corolla. In C. grandiflora they are 
described as bifid at the tip in C. Madgascariensis, they are 
entire. In examining many flowers of the plant cultivated here I find 
that nearly in all, two or three of these processes are split at the tip, 
the others entire. The colouring of the Corolla is given as lilac in 
C. Grandiflora , and whitish rose in the Botanical Magazine figure, of 
C. Madagascariensis , the centre being darker. In our plant the 
flower is lilac with a dark centre, so that the differences seem very 
slight. : 
