510 FETCH : 



The tappings of 1883 jaelded practically nothing but 

 samples, some of ^hich were valued at 45., with hard Para 

 at 4s. Qd. Gilliatt stated that by his method he obtained 

 f oz, from a tree two and half years old, and 1^ oz. nine days 

 later ; he expected to be able to tap every thirty days. On 

 another occasion he tapped 18 trees in 53 minutes, and ob- 

 tained- 10 oz, of rubber. In 1884 it was reported that 15 two- 

 year old trees on WariapoUa gave 1 lb. of dry rubber, and that 

 another tree gave 10|^ oz. in 14 days. Another record stated 

 that in two months 25 trees yielded 14 lb., the amount collec- 

 ted being rather under half a pound per day. It must be 

 remembered that continuous tapping tlu-oughout the year was 

 never contemplated ; and indeed it would have been, and still 

 is, impossible on any system adapted to Ceara. The yield 

 last quoted rej)resents therefore the total obtainable, or 

 thought to be obtainable in the year. At the end of 1883, 

 however, Wall stated that hundreds of young trees had been 

 bled daily with the pricker for some weeks, the cooly collecting 

 half a pound of rubber per day, and he considered that the 

 cultivation would be remunerative if the trees would bear 

 that treatment for 240 days in the year. 



In 1884 it was generally agreed that the facts reported with 

 regard to the growth of Ceara rul)ber trees, and the amount 

 of rubber obtained from them under every conceivable mode 

 of treatment, tended to but one conclusion, viz., that the 

 cultivation of that product would not pay ; and some of the 

 oldest estate trees were uprooted to make room for tea. 

 Trimen reported that one of the original trees at Peradcniya, 

 nearly eight years old (a tree in the old kitchen garden), had 

 been tap[)ed previous to feUing, and 1^ lb. of dry rubber 

 obtained ; it had been previously tapped two years before. 

 Ovor 10,000 seeds were sent to Government Agents in this 

 year for cxix)rimental native cultivation ; it had been proved 

 to grow well in the dry zone, at Anuradhapura. 



In the Planters' Association report for 1884 it was recorded 

 that cacao jilanters in Dumbara were planting Ceara exten- 

 sively as a shade tree ; but the report for the following year 

 regrets " that there is no advance in rubber cultivation to 

 chronicle. The trees gro^\ well, but it is difficult to obtain 



