263 



without counting anything for the cocoa. These are not fictitious 

 figures, as a considerably larger profit is being made per acre at 

 the present time ; but it is only fair to reduce the estimate of both 

 price and yield for future and distant calculation. However, 

 although the price may go down, the yield per tree, as the trees 

 grow older and larger, is certain to go up. Therefore, after 

 making due allowance for every contingency that prudence can 

 foresee, it would appear that the industry must be highly remune- 

 rative. 



To obtain land at the right elevation, with the requisite rainfall 

 and proper soil, is the first consideration in connection with the 

 successful culture of the Para rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis. The 

 elevation most suitable is from sea level up to 1,200 feet or 1,300 

 feet. It will grow at a higher elevation ; indeed there are reports 

 of it growing at over 2,000 feet ; but it would probably take several 

 years longer to come to maturity than if it were planted at a 

 lower elevation. A rainfall of 80 in. to lOO in. per annum is 

 usually considered more suitable than an excessive rainfall of 

 150 in. to 200 in., or more as is frequently found in some districts 

 of Ceylon. 



As the tree is deciduous, it periodically requires a good rest, 

 and a farther objection to too heavy a rainfall is that tapping is 

 rendered inconvenient and the milk rather weak during the rains; 

 so that a better quality of milk and more tapping days are the 

 result of rather drier conditions. Land in Ceylon is worth any- 

 thing from £3 per acre upwards. Five pounds would not be too 

 much to pay for well-situated, good jungle land, and even higher 

 prices have been and are being paid. The cost of felling, plant- 

 ing, weeding, and general upkeep for five years including 

 superintendence, may be placed at from £l2 to £15 per acre ; so 

 that the cost of an acre of clearing, five years old, planted with 

 rubber with a catch crop of cocoa, may be taken to vary from £15 

 to £30, according to the price of the land and the ability of the 

 superintendent to work economically. After the fourth year, and 

 during the fifth, no further expense need be looked forward to, as 

 then the cocoa would start bearing and give a crop of from li to 

 2 cwt., or a yield of, say, £5 per acre. The sixth year the rubber 

 is fit to tap, and should yield I lb. of dry rubber per tree. This, 

 with 200 trees per acre, would, with the selling price at only 5s. 

 per lb. (it is now 6s. 9d.), be worth £50. The cocoa should 

 subsequently give a yield of £7 lOs. per acre, viz., 3 cwt. at 50s. 

 per cwt. The cost to be deducted from the £57 lOs. thus derived 

 from both products is 50 per cent, for the cocoa, or £3 15s. per 

 acre, and 6d. per pound for collecting and curing the rubber, say, 

 £5. Shipping and selling charges, which amount to about 5 per 

 cent, of the total value of the produce equals £3 per acre, or, to 

 make a liberal total, £l2 los. in all, leaving a net profit the sixth 

 year of £45 per acre. 



In future years the profit could be still larger, not for the cocoa, 

 but the rubber trees will go on growing in size for twenty 



