PLANTATION RUBBER INDUSTRY OF THE EAST. 511 



from them at a moderate cost a sufficient quantity of 

 rubber." 



Ferguson's Ceylon Handbook for 1885 gives the area under 

 rubber as 629 acres, most of Avhich would be Ceara ; that 

 shows a reduction of one-third since 1883. In 1888 the area 

 under rubber, part of which was then Hevea, had been further 

 reduced to 386 acres. This decrease was entirely due to the 

 replacement of Ceara by other products ; and the subsequent 

 increase is due almost solely to Hevea planting. The report 

 of the Planters' Association for 1885-6 states : " Your 

 Committee regrets that there is no advance in rubber cultiva- 

 tion to be chronicled. The trees grow well, but it is difficult 

 to obtain from them at a moderate cost a sufficient quantity 

 of rubber." 



In 1890 Trimen reported that there were considerable 

 plantations on some estates, and now that the trees wore 

 older, it was found profitable to tap them. One shipment of 

 4 cwt. in this year reahzed Is. S^d. to Is. 9^d. per lb., showing 

 a profit of about 37 cents a lb. The trees were tapped in the 

 dry season — January to March. The rubber was collected 

 by removing the outer bark and pricking the inner copiously, 

 the latex being allowed to coagulate on the tree, as in the 

 *' Ceara scrap " of commerce. The opinion of planters was 

 that it paid to harvest but not to cultivate, and they were 

 prepared to kill their trees to get the crop. Trimen was of 

 opinion that it could be grown on extensive areas of poor 

 soil, so as to provide a new block of trees for tapping each year. 



An article in the " Tropical Agriculturist " for March, 1887, 

 summarizes the opinions of various planters who had tried 

 Ceara on areas varying from 3 to 40 acres, on estates 

 in Matale, Panwila, Hantane, Dolosbage, Pussellawa, Uva, 

 and the Western Province. In all cases it was stated that the 

 rubber did not pay to harvest. The majority of the trees 

 were then five years old. 



In the " Tropical Agriculturist " for May, 1890, it is reported 

 that one estate in Dumbara was getting over 1 lb. of rubber 

 per cooly per day. Ten-year old trees yielded f lb., and 

 three-year old trees 2 to 3 oz. (per annum?). The rubber 

 realized 3s. 9hd. per lb. in England in 1889 ; " so that, although 



