Vol. XIV. No. 338. 



i . AGRICULTURAL 





STUDENTS' CORNER. 



Seasonal Notes. 



These notes on the breeding I manag i >l the 



re presented with the object ol u-ousing the students 

 attention to what may develop into an industry of consider 

 able importance. Reference to another article in this issue 

 will show that the best breeds for the West [ndies, espe 

 daily for the production ol bacon, are the Duroc-Jersey, 

 Poland-China, Berkshire, and Tamworth. 



As regards the selection oi animals, it maybe stated 

 that in a general way the body of thi boar should be thick 



set hut not coarse. The sha] f the head should be noted, 



as well as the disposition and prolifii ej of the animal. Tin- 

 sow ought t<> In- wide across the shoulders, long from neck to 

 tail, and the whole body large. There should be a large 

 number of teats, ami their nearness •." the forelegs is indica- 

 tive "f a good suckler. The feel ■ •! the Hank is important. 



l'igs should lie mated at about eight months ami the 

 litter of about twelve may be expected which should be 



weaned at six weeks. 



As regards feeding, Indian corn is a good foodstuff, but 



it should not I"- given to a very \ ig animal, as it is apt to 



produce irritation of the st< ich. b V>r a half-grown or full- 

 grown [lig. Indian com meal should be well boiled. In regard 

 to the feeding ol Indian corn to pigs, see the note in the 

 Agricultural News, present volume, page 53. Other food- 

 stuffs produced in the West Indies suitable as pig food are 

 molasses, and tiller press cake. Sugar-cane under present 

 circumstances is likely t<> prove too valuable for this purpose, 

 unless grown in places where it cannot be conveyed to sugar 

 factories. As well as sugar products there are materials like 

 bananas, and » -nut products, which may be fed economi- 

 cally. Fattening should commence immediately after wean- 

 ing, though every attempt should be made to encourage the 

 young animals to consume artificial food nf an easily digestible 

 kind as early as possible. 



A comparative test is being made of the Washington 

 navel and Valencia oranges and the Eureka lemon grown upon 

 sweet, sour, and trifoliate orange stock and upon pomelo. 

 As determined bj t he -results thus far secured it appears 

 that varying soil conditions may modify the influence of 

 various stocks on oranges and lemons. A marked dwarfing 

 of lemon trees grown on trifoliate stock was noted in every 

 instance. There was also an increased diameter on the 

 trifoliate stock below the bud union in practically all cases. 

 In point of fruit production the navel orange appears to 

 yield best on sour stock, followed by sweet, with Trifoliata 

 stock third. Incase of the Eureka lemon, pomelo was the best 

 stock with sour, sweet, and Trifoliata following in the order 

 named. (Experiment Station Record, Vol. XXXII, No. •'>.) 



RUBBER CULTIVATION IN MALAYA. 



The above is the title of an interesting paper read by 

 Mr. L. Lewton-Brain, Director of Agriculture, Federated 

 Malay States, at the International Uubber-Congress held 

 recently in Java. The paper supplies information as to the 

 manner in which the Para rubber tree Ilei'ea hrasdimis is 

 planted and cultivated, and its product prepared in Malaya, 

 based mainly on the replies to a series of questions sent out to 

 Estate Managers, and his own observations in travelling 

 around the country, together with the results of experiments 

 carried out by the Department of Agriculture. 



Rubber lands in Malaya ma} ><• divided broadly into 

 two classes: those composing the undulating and hilly lands 



of the interior, and I In alluvial clays of the , I 



coast districts, hot ii , i. oi land are said to ha ' : ii 



eh. intages and disadvantages. The flat lands, foi 

 require extensive drainage in lit them for rubber planting, 



m ikes opening up n ■■■ expensive and diffi 



than on the undulating lands, where onh the 

 clearing of the jungle have i be lertaken before. pla 



can be done. ( In thi Othei hand, once the II. d I, 



opened up they are, general!} speaking, easiei ton 

 than hilly country, roads an more easily, planned and 

 and the labourer employed in weeding, cultivating oi tapping 

 can .-over a greater are; in a given time, lie- 



then between a thoroughly well drained coast I I 



a gently undulating one inland, depends, in the opinion of 

 the writer, on other factors such as the supply of labour, 

 health of the situation, and accessibility to railwaj 

 port. 



It is pointed out that the success of Malaya. a~ a rubber- 

 planting country has been greatly helped by the unifonnitj 



of ils climate both as regards temperature and rainfall: then- 

 is no cold sens,, n and no dry season. Generally speaking, 

 the annual rainfall maybesaidto vary from 80 to 100 im 



\s regards planting, it would appear that up to the 

 present very little has been possible in thi way of selection 

 of seed, although it is fairly evident thai plant- 

 the necessity for some kind of seed selection. Practically all 

 the seed sown is derived from other places in Malaya -in one 



or two cases some has 1 u imported from Ceylon. Con 



Hiding opinions exist as to the best planting distance, some 

 planters favouring 20 x :i0 feet, others 30x30 feet. Mr. 

 Lewton-Brain expresses his belief that original wide planting 

 will eventually be adopted generally, giving forty or fifty 

 trees to the acre. 



The principal questions that arise between the time 

 of planting and coming into bearing of the rubber relate 

 to catch crops, clean weeding or cover crops, and culti- 

 vation, liming and manuring. The weight of opinion is said 

 to be very strongly against catch crops. With regard to the 

 question of clean weeding reruns cover crops, there is found 

 to be a remarkable unanimity of opinion in favour of clean 

 weeding due, it is believed, to one weed: Lalang (Imperata 

 arundinacea) — a grass that very quickly establishes itself in 

 the soil and, once established, is extremely difficult md 

 expensive to eradicate: its effect on the growth of rubber is 

 disastrous. Notwithstanding, Mr. Lewton-Brain is strongly 

 convinced that cover crops would be of very great benefit on 

 most rubber clearings. The form of cultivation in vogue on 

 a good many estates in the Hat country is forking or 'chang- 

 kolling' to a depth of 4 to «i inches, once or twice a year: tliis 

 materially improves the texture of the soil, especially if combin- 

 ed with liming. There has been very little experience «f 

 manuring, most of the estates consisting of virgin land. 



Four years after planting, the rubber tree under 

 conditions obtaining in Malaya should be ready for tapping. 

 The favourite system of tapping, on first opening up a tree, is 

 that known as the 'Basal \", that is one cut on each of two 

 adjacent quarters starting at about 20 inches from the ground 

 level. Experience has shown generally that this method 

 results in the best yield of rubber, and has less injurious 

 effects on the tree than any other. As regards the method 

 of lapping, the excision of bark is the only one se I in 

 Malaya, the tools in use being the gouge, jebong, and 

 farrier's knife. To collect the latex, glass or porcelain cups 

 are very generally used. In the nianufaclure of the rubber 

 acetic acid is mostly us.-d as the coagulant: formic and 



sulphuric acid have both I n tried. Artificial methods of 



drying are said not to have found much favour in t|n S 

 country. 



