496 FETCH : 



trees 12 years old produced 3 lb. each. They were tapped 

 daily, herring-bone fashion, with a pruning knife, and the cuts 

 were re-opened with a chisel. The latex was collected in tin 

 boxes, provided with a lid, nailed to the base of the tree, 

 allowed to coagulate naturally, and then kept in smoke for 

 about a week. Derry recommended that the trees should be 

 tapped in the evening, and that they should be rested when 

 leafless. He stated that tapping could begin in the fifth year, 

 and advised planting at 14 feet by 14 feet. His samples were 

 valued at 2s. 8d. and 3s. 



An account of the further tapping of the Kuala Kangsar trees 

 is given in the report of the Superintendent of Government 

 Plantations, Perak, for 1900. Tapping was begun in March, 

 1899, and continued until July, 82 trees, average age 14 years, 

 being tapped. Alum was employed in coagulation, and the 

 rubber afterwards smoked. The yield was 327 lb. of best and 

 33 lb. of scrajD, the former realizing 3s. lOd. and the latter 2s. 6d. 

 per lb. The eleven best trees gave over 97 lb., one yielding 

 12 lb. 11 oz. 



Derry noted that there were two well-marked varieties of 

 Hevea at Kuala Kangsar, (1) the ty])ical tree, generally 

 branching low down, with large leaves attaining 13 inches 

 in length and 5 inches in breadth ; and (2) a tree with smaller 

 leaves, taller trunk, and smaller, rather pointed seeds, the 

 latter being the inferior. The record is the more interesting 

 because the Kuala Kangsar trees were derived from Low's 

 original nine, and the latter were part of one consignment, 

 i.e., those brought by Cross. 



In 1899 Parkin publislicd the results of experiments which 

 he had been carrying out in Ceylon for about a year.^ His 

 Circular, which runs to 64 pages, contains information con- 

 cerning the latices of other species then grown in the Botanic 

 Gardens, but deals chiefly with Hevea. It forms the most 

 notable contribution to the knowledge of Hevea rubber up 

 to that date, and indeed for many years subsequently ; and 

 is Btill worth consultation both for its facts and its suggestions. 



' Parkin, J., Caoutchouc or Tiidimubbor. Circulnrs, Royal Botanic 

 GurdoiiB, Soriosl., Noh. 12, 13, 14, Juik;, 18!)9. 



