Vol. IX. No. 220. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



311 



more eagerness to dispose of -some of tho acumulated stock, in 

 order to settle their accounts and to make preparations for 

 the planting of the new crop. Consequently, on February 19, 

 they consented to sell quantity on a basis of Fully Fine 

 32c., E.xtra Fine 33c , which was a sliarp decline from pre 

 vious asking prices. This re.sulted in the unprecedented large 

 sales of 5,000 bales on the above basis, in which were included 

 a large proportion of planters' crop lots, the buying being 

 principally for export to England. 



This left unsold only about 1,500 bales of the crop, con- 

 sisting largely of planters' crop lots held at 40c. to 50c. 

 From then on, the market ruled firmer, and the balance of the 

 crop was disposed of at better prices, with Fully Fine advan- 

 cing to 35c. to 36c., Extra Fine crop lots 37c. to 40c. 



The sea.son came to a close very early, as before the end 

 of March nearly the entire crop had been disposed of. The 

 small stock left on hand consists of planters' crop lots held 

 at 40c. to 50c., which is above the views of buyers 



TAPPING PARA RUBBER TREES. 



Extracts tioiii Bulletin No. 10 of the Departineiit 

 of Agriculture of the Federated Malay States, dealing 

 with this subject, and issued by W. J. Gallagher, M.A., 

 the late Director of Agriculture, were given in the last 

 number of the Ar/riculfural AV?r.s'. At the time, it was 

 stated that the series of extracts then presented would 

 be followtd by .a fuither one in the next number of the 

 Agricultural Neu's, so that these are given now, as 

 follows: 



TAPi'iNc YOUNG TREES. As far as my experience goes, 

 the actual removal of latex within reasonable limits, has 

 no prejudicial "fl'ect on young trees; indeed the impressi(jn 

 that such trees increase more rapidly in girth after ta[iping 

 can hardly be resisted. There are no figures to show whether 

 it is harmful or the reverse. 1 am fairly well convinced that 

 it is merely (juality of tapping which counts. The bark is so 

 thin on young trees that it requires very careful work not to 

 wound; the tapping is slow; the yield not big, and there is 

 more than the usual percentage of scrap. On the other hand, 

 more cuts to the inch can be done on soft-barked young trees 

 than on old ones of say nine or ten years old tapped for the 

 first time. 



Young trees, which measure 18 to 20 inches at 3 feet 

 high, might be tapped as follows. Put on a basal V, 18 

 inches high, and tap every day. This will last a year. The 

 second year put a similar V on the other side. The third 

 year begin the one quarter in one year .system on either of 

 the first two quarters tapped, and put on cuts as liigh as the 

 girth allow.s, taking the opposite quarter the fourth year. 

 I depart here in the first two years from the one quarter in 

 one year system, because (a) we know that in trees five 

 or six years old, which have had only one cut put on them, 

 the renewed bark is thick enough in two j'ears to be tap|ied 

 again; (b) the cuts are short and the distance which building 

 material must move transversely is not so great as in later 

 year.^, snd {c) the cut on one quarter is too short and the 

 bark higher up is too thin, if two are put on, to tap without 

 considerable wounding. 



Gfnerally, one cannot say in respect of a young clearing: 

 Put one V cut on every tree above a certain girth at three 

 feet high. A number of trees may be large enough for two 

 or more cuts. Such trees should be tajiped on the method of 

 one quarter in one year. This still maintains the regularity 

 f>( the system. 



It is scarcely worth while to start tapping unless 65 

 per cent, nf the trees are at least 20 inches and over at 3 feet. 



When this is the case, all up to 18 inches may be tapped, and 

 this will generally amount to 75 per cent. No others should 

 be taken in, except at intervals of a year. It is quite 

 common to find planters taking in additional trees almo.st 

 every week. This is distinctly unpractical. It interferes 

 with the coolie's task, and with the uniformitj' of the tapping 

 system. 



oisTANCES IN PLANTING. In choosing distances, allow- 

 ance must be made for fungus, white ants, wind, and 

 ' weedy' trees. I estimate that on virgin jungle land, from 

 15 per cent, to 20 per cent, of the trees originally planted 

 will have been lost by the time the trees are seven years old. 

 I recommend 1 20 to 140 as a reasonable number per acre; 

 100 is a fair number to have when the trees are seven years 

 old. Shade is wanted in the first years of tapping, so that 

 .as little direct sunlight as possiMe may strike the latex on 

 the cuts and in the cups. 



It is better to err on the side of ha\ing too many than 

 too few trees. It is well to .start with an excess; and this 

 would be very advisable if the planter had courage to thin out 

 in the way he ought. 



THiNNiNc. OUT. This is an operation requiring attention. 

 It cannot be left to the care of a native conductor. You 

 must make your own choice judiciously. It is a waste of time 

 and money to get over the difficulty by ordering every alter- 

 nate tree or every second tree, as the case may be, to be cut 

 out. Poor trees, and those with few branches and leave.s, and 

 over which their neighbours have already met, are those to 

 cut out In some cases it may be necessary to cut out three 

 adjacent trees because they are poor in size. 



My present view is that thinning out should be done in 

 the fifth and eighth years; but the distance the trees have been 

 planted apart and the growth will modify this Most thinning 

 I have seen shows a lack of discrimination. 



The roots should be completely taken out and burned, 

 along with the stem and every branch. The root, if left in 

 the ground, may encourage both white ants and fungus; and 

 dead branches and stems above ground may assist the spread 

 of the branch and stem disease which attacks Para. 



TOi'i'iN(; Ti:i5Es. TLere is very little topping done at 

 the present time, and it is to be strongly discouraged. The 

 loss from wind when such trees get t<j five or six years old is 

 considerable. 



Thumb-nail pruning is not quite so bad. Most young 

 trees, if left alone, will naturally branch, at the latest, at the 

 end of the second year. This might be brought on earlier by 

 cutting off all leaves except a few near the tip. Personally, 

 I do not recommend interference intended to cause earlier or 

 more prolific branching. 



PEUNi->J(:. This should be commenced as soon as the 

 trees begin to branch. It goes without saying that no branch 

 .should be allowed to grow below 6 feet in height. I am 

 inclined to go further and say that a clean stem should be 

 maintained up to 10 feet high. As I have already said, it is 

 too much of a demand on the tree to tap it completely in four 

 years to a height of 10 feet, and I do not think much upper 

 tapping will be done in the future. Rut it is well to be pre- 

 pared for eventualities, and bad work below, or other reasons, 

 may force you to do upper tapping. 



I have elsewhere pointed out that a branch must be 

 sawn off close to the stem. It should be first hacked off any- 

 how, about 9 or 10 inches from the stem, and the stub then 

 sawn off neatly and as close as possible to the stem. Tar 

 should be put on the wound; but it must be applied carefully; 

 it should be confined to the wound, and not allowed to stream 

 over the stem. Tar, as most of you know, kills the living 

 tissue when it covers more than a few inches. 



