Experiments to determine the role of wounding and fungal infestation in the formation of the aromatic base, agar, in the wood of Agar tree
(Aquilaria agallocha Roxb.) were conducted. Inoculation with wounding using three fungal isolates from agar, as well as, wounding without inoculant, produced colour changes and oleoresin deposits, in the host characteristic of agar. It was inferred that the formation of agar did not depend on the activity of a special fungus, as was previously believed, but is a general reaction of the host to injury or invasion.

The possibility of the development of techniques for the commercial induction of agar in A. agallocha is discussed.

The extent of natural bamboo forests in the mixed bamboo areas in the Kassalong and Rainkhiong Reserve Forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh are 76192 ha (188275 acre) and 27256 ha (67352 acre) respectively (Anon. 1963).

Bamboos in these forests occur as an understorey with the tree species. Eight bamboo species are indigenous to the area. Four of these species— Muli (Melocanna bambusoides), Mitinga (Rambnsa tuldd), Daloo (Teinostaebyum dtdlooa) and Orah (Dendrocalamtis longispathns) are of commercial importance. A fifth species Kaliserri (Oxytenentbera auriculatd) reaches commercial size but is of limited occurance. The remaining three species, Kali (Oxytenantbera nigrociliata) Bariala (Bambtisa vtdgaris ) and Bazali (Teinostachyuni griffithii} are of small size and assume a shrub-like growth and are of little commercial importance (Zahiruddin 1959).