Vol. IX. No. 2U. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



211 



THE JEQUIE MANICOBA RUBBER 



TREE. 



The followinpf is taken from a special article, deal- 

 ing with the Jecjuit- Mani<;oba rubber tree {.Uani/iot 

 dicla/toma), which appears in the Tropical Agricul- 

 turist for April 1910: — 



During the past year, various owiu'is of Miinicoba 

 rubber land [in Brazil] hf.ve been directing attention to the 

 culture of this tree. I visited several plantations, ranging 

 from a few acres to 100 acres in area. I was .anxious to 

 investigate the cultural capabilities of the tree. The owners 

 of these lands are ignorant of the lines on which this culture 

 should be initiated. They take it for granted that sticking 

 the .Manicoba seeds or cuttings into cleared ground is all that 

 is necessary, without further attention. One important fac- 

 tor is in their favour : I refer to the wonderful tenacity of 

 life and recuperative power pervading this jijant. The primi- 

 tive procedure by which the incipient seedlings and cuttings 

 are left to take care of themselves with a vigw to establish- 

 ing plantations, is antagonistic to the development of the 

 trees, for nothing is more important than the proper treat- 

 ment of young plants in the establishment of prospective 

 great plantations. The result of the preliminary attempts in 

 Cjuestion was an' aggregation of maltreated plants. In this 

 connexion it may be noted that about half a dozen labourers 

 only, men who know nothing about rubbei- cultivation, and 

 who have nobody to instruct them, perform all the work 

 appertaining to the upkeep of such plantations, comprising 

 some .50,000 plants. Of course they ha\e but few weeds to 

 contend with — an important con.sideration — as the)- are in 

 general suppressed by the peculiar soil and climatic condi- 

 tions. I therefore could not help coming to the conclusion, 

 that if these imjirovised plantations were placed under my 

 control, I should replant them throughout. Anyhow, it is 

 important to be able to add that I found two notable excep- 

 tions to this crude style of planting, one of which is concern- 

 ed with a few thousand plants, and the other 50,000, 

 on both of which intelligent methods of planting had 

 been adopted. These two plantations, from a practical 

 point of view, were decidedly encouraifing. The seeds 

 and huge cuttings or stumps had been planted only four 

 months. The seedlings in this time attained a height 

 of from i to -5 feet, and they were exceedingly healthy and 

 vigorous. The huge cuttings are procured from the forest, 

 that is to .say, saplings in the forest are cut down and stuck 

 into the cleared ground to form roots and permanent plants. 

 These stumps measure from 6 to 8 feet in length, with both 

 ends cut oft', and in four months the vigorous shoots that 

 spring from the top are 4 and 5 feet in length; thus there is 

 a continuity of growth from the sapling to the established tree. 

 This plant is an invaluable acquisition to rubber culti- 

 vators. It can be cultivated at a minimum cost, consequent 

 on its persistent tenacity' and vigour, as is exemplified in its 

 native soil, and because of its other merits, to which I have 

 drawn attention. Further, it may be stated that the product 



<if this tree is comparable with particular products cultivated 

 in the tropics and elsewhere— products that flourish in a great 

 measure by the restricted cultivation given. That is to say, 

 when we discover a legion pre-eminently adapted for n given 

 culture, there it yields not only the best produce of its kind, 

 but also far more economically. 



Again, the humble dimensions of the Manicoba tree, I 

 am convinced, are a factor in its favour, from a cultural point 

 of view, for it attains a size exactly suited for clcse planting. 

 In the great Hevea plantations under cultivation in the East, 

 close planting is systematically resorted to, ^-ith the object of 

 forcing early crops, which are available from young trees of 

 limited size; for numbers collectively far more than compensate 

 for the production of rubber per acre from full grown trees 

 widely planted. As a matter of fact, big trees are stated in 

 the East to be an encumbrance. 



The number of trees usually planted in the East runs 

 from 100 to 200 per acre, sometimes more. The number 

 of Manicoba trees I advocate to be planted on one acre 

 is 1,200. I estimate that 1,200 trees per acre (exclusive 

 of certain returns in the fourth year) will yield 600 ft 

 of rubber in the fifth year, and at least the same 

 quantity annually thereafter for a long period of years. 

 In many rich Manii^oba zones, I computed the number of 

 wild trees at more than 100 per acre, some 2.5 per cent, 

 being tappable trees, and most of the remainder saplings, 

 the forest growth of which is .sluggish as compared with that 

 of those under cultivation It may be observed that a wild 

 tree occasionally yields 1 fi). of rubber at a tapping, but the 

 average is far less. One of the subsidiary advantages to 

 accrue from cultivation is that of systematic control of the 

 cropping by a special staff of workers, for the itinerant col- 

 lectors of wild rubber cannot alwa3s be counted on. 



PRIZE-HOLDINGS COMPETITION IN 

 GRENADA. 



An appendi.x to the minutes of the proceedings of 

 a special general meeting of the Grenada Agricultural anid 

 Commercial Society, held on April 1, 1910, gives a report 

 on the Prize-Holdings Competition held in the parish of 

 St. .John's, Grenada, for the year 1909. According to this, 

 there were thirty-eight entries in three classes : five in Class I, 

 nine in Class II and twenty-four in Class III. The work 

 done by competitors was as follows; none in Class I, two in 

 Class IE and fourteen in Class III, so that sixteen competi- 

 tors worked their holdings for prizes under the .scheme. 



The first and second prizes were awarded, in Class II, to 

 Adolphus Baptiste and .John Francis, respectively. In Class 

 in, the prizes were given in order as follows; Eliza I 

 Mc.lntyre, Pomelia John, Freeling St. Louis, Rudolph 

 Louison, .Joseph Xahalsingh, Frederick Mc.Guire, Sylvester 

 .Jerome, the second and third prizes being divided equally 

 between the two competitors successful to this degree. 



The results sliowed that the chief weakness in all the 

 holdings was in the matter of pruning; the forking was 

 excellent, and draining was well done, bat the drains them- 

 selves were not sufficiently deep 



The examiners (Messrs. W. M. Malins-Smith and 

 .J. H. Burgess) state that they found two cases where dead 

 leaves were burnt in the fields, and they drew the attention 

 of the Agricultural Instructor to the frequency with which the 

 tarring of dead wood on the trees takes place, in order that 

 he may warn the peasant proprietors as to its uselessness. 

 In the Grand Bay and Concord districts, very little thrips or 

 black blight was found; there was a good deal of the latter, 

 however, in the Gouyave valley district. 



