RUBBER 447 



In 1876, some seeds of Hevea brasiliensis were sent from Brazil to 

 Kew Gardens, and some young plants from these seeds were shipped the 

 same year to Ceylon, where they were planted in low land and the 

 grove then started is now historic, for it was the beginning of the later 

 industry. Up till 1899 there were only about 750 acres of rubber planta- 

 tion in Ceylon and these were apparently not intended for commercial 

 purposes. In 1899 the first company in the Malay States was formed 

 and it declared a dividend of 75 per cent, in 1908, and owing to the high 

 prices or rubber in 1909 the dividend was 250 per cent. 



The large amount of rubber required for automobile tires naturally 

 stimulated the planting of rubber areas. According to figures given in 

 a IT. S. Consular Eeport in January, 1913, the acreage in Ceylon in 1912 

 was 220,000 and in the Malay States 430,000, while in other countries 

 over 100,000 acres were under cultivation. Figures given later in the 

 year by The Economist were higher. The larger part of this area is not 

 yet productive, and some of it will not yield for five or six years. 



The source of cultivated rubber is almost entirely Hevea brasiliensis, 

 which seems to be adapted to wide differences of conditions. In Ceylon, 

 though first planted in low land, it grows on hills with large boulders, 

 in the Malay district it thrives on flat land with hardly a stone. On the 

 Malay hills, where heavy rains would carry away the young trees, contour 

 drains are constructed. The genus Castilloa does not grow so readily in 

 the East; it takes longer to reach the producing stage and it does not 

 produce so much rubber when it has attained its proper growth. It has, 

 however, been largely planted in its original home, Mexico. Manihot- 

 Glaziovii is planted in dry regions, where Hevea does not flourish. 



Hevea is not fit for tapping till it is seven years old. As the seven or 

 eight feet nearest the bottom of the trunk are richest in latex, the object 

 in cultivation is to produce short trunks of large circumference. With 

 this end in view, the trees are planted far apart, at a distance of about 

 twenty feet from each other, giving approximately a hundred trees to the 

 acre. They are induced to fork at a height of about ten feet, and it is 

 said that the best arrangement is a tripartite forking of the main trunk, 

 each branch in turn forming three subordinate branches. In places 

 where there are high winds, however, this style of forking may provide 

 so large a surface that the trees may be iDlown over. 



There are various methods of tapping, the most satisfactory appar- 

 ently being full or half " herring bone." A vertical groove is made in 

 the bark of the tree from the base to a height of five or six feet. Then 

 parallel incisions are made from this vertical groove in an upward slant- 

 ing direction, in the case of the half-herring bone, on one side, and in the 

 case of the full herring bone, on both sides. So important is it to cut 

 through the laticiferous vessels without injuring the cambium layer and 

 so difficult is it to accomplish this kind of incision, that dozens of 



