PLANTATION RUBBER INDUSTRY OF THE EAST. 517 



Further tappings of Castilloa were made in 1889 and 1891, 

 and in the latter year a sample of the rubber was exhibited at 

 the Colombo Exhibition. In 1892 a tree which had to be 

 removed (at Peradeniya) was tapped prior to felling, so as to 

 obtain as much rubber from it as possible, but the total yield 

 was less than half a pound. 



Few estates in Ceylon planted Castilloa. After the failure of 

 Ceara both Hevea and Castilloa began to produce seed, and f ortu- 

 j lately planters selected the former of the two . One or two estates 

 in the Matale District, however, chose Castilloa, and the tree 

 did not lack champions in the early years of the present century. 



In 1893 {T. A., XIII., pp. 318 and 471) CastiUoa rubber from 

 a Matale estate was valued at 2s. Sd. to 2s. Id. per lb., when hard 

 Para was 3s. In 1899 {T. A., XIX., p. 48) it was stated that 

 both Castilloa and Hevea had been tapped on Wiharegama, and 

 that the former gave the better yield ; 1^ lb. was obtained from 

 three trees (? at one tapping). According to later information, 

 in the same year {T. A., XIX., p. 134) there were on Wihare- 

 gama 25 trees, nine to ten years old, measuring 40 to 46 

 inches in circumference at 3 feet ; 25 trees, seven years old, 

 measuring 20 to 22 inches in circumference ; 45 trees, four 

 years old, measuring 12 inches in circumference ; 90 trees, two 

 to three years old ; and a number of younger plants inter- 

 planted through cacao and liberian coffee. Two trees, tapped 

 in 1899, yielded li lb. of rubber {T. A., XIX., p. 92). 



Crystal Hill, Matale, reported the possession of a few hundred 

 Castilloa, planted in 1898, while Gikiyanakande had trees six 

 years old (T. A., XIX., p. 93). 



In 1901 Wiharegama reported that 2 lb. per tree had been 

 obtained from trees ten to twelve years old ; they were tapped 

 from October to June, 1900-1901 {T. A., XXI., p. 35). The 

 report of the Matale Planters' Association for 1901 states that 

 42 acres of cacao had been interplanted with Castilloa on 

 Ambanganga estate {T. A., XXI., p. 560). It was claimed by 

 some that Castilloa was the best tree for the Matale District 

 {T. A., XXII., p. 132). Some of the trees on Ambanganga, 

 two and a quarter years old, were 22 to 26 inches in girth. 



The advocates of Castilloa received unexpected support, if 

 only temporarily, from the then Director of the Royal Botanic 



