Vol. XI. No. 271. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



293 



and harden rapidly, forming a kind of protecting mantle to 

 the plantation. This, being sheltered on the side of the pre- 

 Tailing winds, develops with ease its young leaves and flowers. 



The thickness of planting is a question in which other 

 factors intervene as well, such being the nature of the soil 

 and the exposure. But the maintenance of cover is, without 

 doubt, the principal condition. A matter of interest is 

 that the humidity of the air is at its maximum during the 

 second half of the night, towards six o'clock in the morning; 

 it is at its minimum, that is to say evaporation is greatest, 

 between ten o'clock in the morning and four o'clock in the 

 afternoon. 



RUBBER EXPERIMENTS IN SOUTHERN 



NIGERIA. 



A copy of a report of a visit by the Chief Con- 

 servator of Forests, Southern Nigeria, to the Maimi 

 Reserve in the Western Province, has been received 

 recently. This gives information concerning the results 

 of wild and plantation rubber-tajiping in that area, 

 which may be compared with those obtained in the 

 Benin City Communal Plantations (see Agricultural 

 Nexus, July 20, p. 235):— 



FUNTUMIA ELAsTiCA. Tapping was started in the 

 Reserves on May 1, and up to the end of June the results 

 were as follows: — 



The total yield of rubber up to the end of that period 

 was 185 ft. (this includes 30 ft. still in the drying shed 

 at Mamu) and the expenses of tapping amounted to 

 £15 lis. id, or at the rate of Is. Sd. a pound — a not unsat- 

 isfactory figure but one capable of further reduction as the 

 tappers become more expert. A further sum of £6 was 

 spent in purchasing utensils, knives, etc., but this being of 

 the nature of capital expenditure has not been included in 

 the cost. With that sum added, the average cost per 

 pound amounts to •2s. id. or £21 lis. id. in all. 



If the rubber sells at 5s. per ft., out here, the 185 ft. 

 will realize £46 5s., and the net profit will be £24 13s. 8d., 

 or at the rate of 2s. Sd. a pound. 



The rubber was prepared in the same manner as in 

 Benin, namely by the boiling method with subsequent 

 smoking, and is of excellent quality. It should realize good 

 prices at home. On the whole, it is better prepared than 

 that shipped to England last year from the Benin Plantations. 



Very little injury has been done to the trees that were 

 tapped with the Christy knife, and cuts a month or so old 

 at the time of my visit had nearly completely healed up. 

 It also appears probable, though the experiments have not 

 yet been concluded, that by using this knife the trees can be 

 tapped two or three times in one year with but little 

 diminution in yield as compared with the results of the 

 first tapping. 



An extraordinary feature of the JIamu trees is the fact 

 that the weight of the biscuits prepared from their latices 

 has been quite constant all through; ten biscuits weigh 

 almost exactly 1ft. 



Consignment after consignment has given the same 

 figures. Of course these results are mainly due to the same 

 percentage of water being used to dilute the latex before 

 it is boiled, and to the same quantity of this diluted latex 

 being used for the preparation of each biscuit; but even 

 allowing for this, the results show an extraordinary constant 

 proportion of rubber to latex, which appears to have been 

 unaffected by the state of the weather at the time of tapping. 



HEVEA liUASiLiEXsis. The growth of this species is 

 poor compared with results obtained in the moist districts 

 close to the sea; it is also much exposed to damage from the 

 large rodent known as the Cut Grass, and taking everything 

 into consideration I think it will be unprofitable to continue 

 the cultivation of this species at Mamu. The areas that 

 would thus be set free could be planted up with teak and 

 other valuable timber trees for which the soil is very suitable. 

 I have accordingly issued instructions that no more Hevea 

 is to be planted at Mamu. 



LEMON GRASSES IN FIJI. 



A grass has been identified at the Imperial Institute 

 as Cynihopo<ion coloratus, Stapf. It does not appear to be 

 one of the common sources of lemon grass oil, but information 

 from the Imperial Institute shows that it may have a special 

 value for scenting soap. The weight of grass distilled was 

 7,943 ft., giving 28 63 ft. of oil, or 036 per cent. Three 

 separate distillations gave an average of 28*7 ft. of oil per 

 acre, per cutting. 



The following experiment was conducted to determine 

 the increase or otherwise of the oil content of the grass with 

 the age of the plant: four plots of a uniform growth of grass 

 were measured off, and after flowering the whole grass was 

 cut short. When the grass was 1 foot high, plot A was cut 

 and the oil obtained. The grass in the other plots was 

 allowed to grow until it was 2 feet high. A second plot was 

 now cut and the oil obtained; plot A being also cut and the 

 oil distilled from its grass. These two plots were again cut 

 when the grass in the other two was 3 feet high, and at the 

 same time one of these new plots was cut. All the plots were 

 cut again when the grass in the fourth plot was commencing 

 to flower and was nearly 4 feet high. The complete results 

 are given below: — 



Oil in ft. per acre, and percentage. 

 A. B. C. D. 



Cut at 1 foot 3-8 3-8 — — — — — — 



Cut at 2 feet 2-6 046 133 042 _ _ — 



Cut at 3 feet 8-0 0'38 80 038 44-0 047 — — 



Cut when \ 2.. Q.^g 44 0-54 37 0-51 54-5 0-40 



flowering J 

 Total wt. ft. 16-9 25-7 47'7 54-5 



It will be seen, therefore, that the best results seem to 

 lie obtained by cutting the grass mature, that is when about 

 to flower. A lemon grass which is usually spoken of as 

 indigenous was identified by the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, as Andropogoii 

 schoenanthus. A cutting from the small number of stools 

 of this grass available at the station gave 024 per cent, 

 of oil. The cultivation i.s being extended. (From the 

 Report on Agriculture in I'iji for 1911.) 



