4 72 , FETCH : 



V. — Hevea under the Forest Department, Ceylon. 



During the Ceara rubber boom. 1881-83, Trimen distri- 

 buted large quantities of Ceara seed to all parts of the Island. 

 e.g., Vavuniya, Mannar, Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Hambantota, 

 for experimental cultivation under the supervision of the 

 Revenue Officers. The other two rubbers, Hevea and 

 Castilloa, which were then thought not to be tappable before 

 the age of ten or twelve years, were, he considered, eminently 

 suitable for forest cultivation, and for nearly ten years he 

 urged that view. In 1882, when Mr. F. d'A. Vincent was 

 engaged in reporting upon the foi-ests of Ceylon, Trimen 

 wrote : " But there are other substances besides timber 

 yielded by forest trees which are not suitable for private 

 culture. Such are most of tlie indiarubbers, especially Hevea 

 and Castilloa, and such even more markedly are the gutta- 

 perchas, for which a large demand must arise before long. 

 These products appear to me eminentlj^ suitable for cultiva- 

 tion by a Forest Department as a source of revenue." There 

 was then no land in the possession of the Botanic Gardens 

 available for extensive plantations of Hevea or Castilloa, and 

 it was necessary, in order to ensure an adequate seed supply, 

 if these were not immediately taken up by planters, that 

 plantations should be established elsewhere. But at the time 

 there was no Forest Department. 



In 1883 the Castilloa began to jiroduce seed, but as the 

 Hevea trees were also fruiting no one wanted the former. 

 Trimen accordingly made an attempt to get plantations of 

 Castilloa established at Ratnapura and Kalutara, to ensure a 

 stock of that species, but as no funds Avere available he was 

 unsuccessful. 300 seedlings were, however, planted at the 

 Model Farm, Kalutara, in the following year. 



In 1884 770 Hevea seedlings, al)out three quarters of the 

 lf)tal for that year, wore sent to Minuwangoda and Mirigama 

 for exjKjrimental cultivation ; apparently the attempt was a 

 failure, there being no subsequent record of any old trees in 

 those districts. 



In 1888 the organiziition of a Forest DcpartnuMit was in 

 progress. a.nd we find Trimen once again calling attention to 

 the possibility '•! ni.ikiiii: a n^vcnuc by tlic cultivation of 



