August i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



109 



main rivers do not so characteristically exhibit. So pre- 

 valent Ls water on the land abutting the creeks, Ihat on 

 one occasion on this journey i travelleil the greater part 

 of a (jay before I fouud a place 1 could laud, where the 

 ground was sufficiently dry to allow of iny moving about. 

 In using the word creek, which is applied in tliis colony 

 to all the tributaries of a main river, some of which are 

 very large, and even navigable to large craft for many 

 miles, I speak of the smaller ones over which the trees 

 on each hand more or less meet, for on these I have found 

 the Hatie to most abound. 



I -have taken the occasion to describe rather fully the 

 character of the land, as it is important that persons 

 contemplating the cultivation of this species of Hevea should 

 be well imformed as to the conditions which prevail in 

 its native haunts. Doubtless the tree might be grown 

 on dry land, or land di-y comparatively to what I have 

 described, but the conditions wliich accompanj' its distrib- 

 ution in a state of nature are the most reliable guide 

 as to what it requires for its best deveiopment in the 

 shortest time ; and these favour tbe presumption that the 

 growth would be slower on such land than on land most 

 approximating in character to that on which it is found 

 spontaneous. In this as in other similar cases, the nearer 

 the natural conditions are copied in cultivation the greater 

 the probablitity of accomplishing the highest success. 1 

 have had unquestionable endeuce from observation of 

 plants in the Botanic Gardens of the sensitive nature of 

 this tree under conditions which diverge materially from 

 those which I have described, thougb 1 must acknowledge 

 that the Hevea among trees inhabiting the same low al- 

 luvium is not singular in this particular. 



As to the rate at which the Hatie grows, I can only 

 adduce the evidence gathered from residents of the rivers 

 and forests of colony. A very intelligent half-breed, who 

 has been ac qnainted with this tree frum his youth, and 

 for many year s resided on the Essequibo where it is particul- 

 arly common^ described it to be of very quick gx'owth, 

 though it is always slender in proportion to its height, 

 and appears, comparatively, more so by the absence which 

 - it uniformly exhibits of branches while young, of which, 

 it makes very few at any period of it« hfe. He estimated 

 speaking of it, of comse, in its n.itive habitats, that it 

 attains a diameter of eigh"} or nine inches in five or six 

 years. If this be correct, I think it must be its extreme 

 rate of development under the most t'avoorable conditions, 

 for from what has been experienced of the growth of 

 Hevea -5rasi/?ie«.s/.v, which, as I have said is a very simil- 

 ar plant, under cultivation in the several countries where 

 it has been tried, under, however, I believe, generally, 

 canditions which conform but little Ui those which pre- 

 vail in its native haunts, one would infer it not to be 

 so great. Yet I feel convinced that had the Brazilian 

 plant been tried on alluvial ground, well sheltered from 

 wind, with a very moist atmosphere, and shaded by Large 

 trees, their growth would have been much greater ; and 

 perhaps, so ranch improved as, considering the relative 

 very m-^dium dimensious of the members of the genus, to 

 be regarde<l as rapied. 



My experience on the Pomerooo of the ultimate develop" 

 ment of Hevra Sprucenna agrees with the conclusions I ar- 

 rived at regarding it on the Essequibo and Mazaruni rivers. 

 At its best it is not a large tree, and rarely, 1 believe, exceeds 

 twenty inches in diameter, squaring for timber to about four- 

 teen or fifteen inches. The wood is hard, but how durable 

 I do not know, and it appears to be of a character to be ejusily 

 wo "ked The sap wood is white, but large trees have a few 

 inches of dark centre, and its specific gravity is less than that 

 of water. The bark is ratlier thin and smooth, and it adheres 

 tenaciously .to the wood. On trees a foot or more in dia- 

 meter, it is not a quarter of an inch thick. When found in 

 high forest, surroimded by others, the trees are quite st; aight 

 and erect and attain a height of sixty feet or more, with a 

 few branches .at tht head. The upright trees are more con- 

 veniently tapped than those which. st.nnding on the banks, 

 lean out over the water; the position of which is both awk- 

 ward for cutting the bark and catching the tlowing juice. 



I may here again call attention to the facilities which this 

 colony affords oji all its rivers — and on that portion of them 

 too which is accessible without difficulty or much espense. i.f., 

 that below the falls — for the cultivation of Hevea. To have 

 the trees close together, as they would be under a state of 



cultivation, for the convenience of the collector, would be an 

 important desideratum and re.iuce the cost of collecting to a 

 mmimum. The waste of time which the most systematic 

 coUectors experience when the trees are growing in a natural 

 state, scattered as they are through the forest, must very 

 considerably enhance the cost of the labom. The cultivation 

 might be successfully pursued, not only where the trees are 

 found spontaneous but, as well, on laud of a similar, or 

 iaentical, character, though on which, through other cu-oum- 

 stances, they are not na«irally estabUshed. The labour re- 

 quired would be very mconsiderable, and a few hundred acres, 

 treated with care and intelhgence, would prove in the course' 

 of years a source of considerable means to the proprietor If 

 plant«-rs in Ueylon and India speak hopefullv, as they do, of 

 the eventual success of Hevca cultivation in those countries 

 here, pussessmg ail the natural conditions, an i the advantages' 

 derived from iin intimate acquaintauce with these under the 

 actual occupation of the trees, the success should be assured 

 Wherever the ti-ee is found, in the fruiting season— April to 

 June— seed may be procured in fair abundance. If sown 

 at once uuder the trees in nursery beds prepared from the 

 hghter soil and leaf-mould which the forest affords in places 

 the plants would spring up rapidly, when they might be care- 

 fully hftej, with then- rootlets unbroken, and planted at 

 intervals under the other trees. Where the latter are too 

 close to admit the amount of light rcquu-ed, they should be 

 thinned out first ; and it might be neces.sary to carry this on 

 with care from time to time with the increasing requirements 

 both for room and Ught, of the planted tree.s. In some sea- 

 sons and places it woiUd be unnecessary to collect and sow 

 seeds as natm-al seedlings may be gathered imder the trees 

 I think, though my opportunities of observation have not 

 been extensive on the matter, that the spontemeous produc- 

 tion of seedlings depends very much on the character of the 

 season when the seeds fall. If the rains have been very 

 heavy and the land is flooded, they lie in the water where 

 they drop and decay, but if the sea.son has been light, or if 

 tlie water has subsided, they drop into the muddy surface 

 and germinate. This, too, is the only way I can account for 

 then- abnnilance in one place and almost entire absence in 

 another where the parent trees equally prevail. A good 

 many seeds are consumed by animals, for fish and birds, and 

 probably such quadrupeds as Acourie and Labba, are fond of 

 them. The Hecea cultivator should be prepared to wait for 

 his crop, but meanwhile any trees already on the ground 

 might be utilised and the protluce .sold. .Seeing the in- 

 creasing demand for indiarubber, with the daily extension of 

 its appUcation, and, particularly, the value of 'Hevea rubber 

 as compared with other kinds, the results of the enterprise' 

 might be looked forw:vrd to with the ' utmost confidence 

 iManufacturers will take all they can obtain, and were it only 

 more abundant ui the market and che<aper, many new uses 

 might be found for it. To give an idea of the importance 

 of the Brazilian trade in rubber, I m.ay mention that the ex- 

 port from Para for the half-year ended .June List reach the 

 value of §12,3.50,000. It illustrates, as well, the value of the 

 industry which is within our reach. The present market 

 value of Para rubber is 4/6 per lb. The cidtivation might be 

 carried on in conjunction with woodcutting, plantain grow- 

 ing, or any other immediately remunerative industry which 

 would enable the cultivator to tide over the time till the 

 trees reached the age of production. 



With regard to the que,stion of the yield of Hevea 

 Sjii-uceana, it seems to me from my late e.xperience 

 and what I have been able to gather of the yield of 

 //. Iira.iiluimis, to be not less productive than that species. 

 It must be rememliered that though the Para tree has 

 gained so great a commercial reputation and importance, 

 its yield of milk is exceedingly sm.all. Cross, the co.lect- 

 or for the India Office, to whom I have alreaily alluded 

 says that fifteen of the cups used on the Amazon by' 

 the collectors make an English Imperial pint. Rarely 

 however, a cut produces a cupful, for he adds, "the 

 quantity of milk that flows from each cut varies, but if 

 the tree is large and has not been much tapped the major- 

 ity of cups will be more than half full; and occasionally 

 a few may be filled to the brim." And of trees which 

 have been wrought in previous years he says : "though 

 topped in only two or three pliocs, the quantity of milk 

 obtained is suri>risingly httle." Now I came to the con- 

 clusion while experimenting on the Hatie that the yield 

 of good trees was hardly, if any, less than this. The chief 



