August i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



95 



for the matter of that, in India, dates from the year 1872, 

 when Mr. James Collins was charged by her Majesty's 

 Secretary of State for India to prepare a report on the 

 caoutchouc or Indiarubber of commerce, the plants yield- 

 ing it. their geographical distribution, _ and the possibility 

 of their cultivation and acclimatisation in India. The only 

 rubber-tree indigenous in India (Ficus elastica) is noticed 

 on pages 19 to 21, 32 to 39, and 48 to 54 of that report. 



3. The numberless uses to which caoutchouc is applied, 

 the daily-increasing demand, and the very high price paid 



ur it, as well as the total absence of any other product, 

 whether raw or manufactured, that could be used as a 

 substitute, with the sole exception of gutta-percha, which 

 is still more expensive than rubber, had for years attracted 

 the attention of thinking men to this matter, and Mr. 

 Oollins's report was therefore welcomed by all, and partic- 

 ularly so by men who took an interest in the develop- 

 ment of the resources of India. 



4. This report was largely circulated by Government in 

 this country, and the attention of Local Governments was 

 directed to the necessity of protecting the trees which 

 yielded this valuable commodity because it had become 

 quite evident that the caoutchouc trees were being reck- 

 lessly destroyed in all parts of the world, and particularly 

 so in Assam, which is, so to speak, the only province in 

 India where caoutchouc trees grow, and the experimental 

 cultivation of the indigenous rubber tree (Fiats elastica) 

 was accordingly ordered in May 1873 by his Honor the 

 Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. But by the time these 

 orders reached the Commissioner of Assam, the season 

 was so much advanced, that but little could be done that j 

 summer, because there was only one small forest plant- 

 ation with a resident forest officer in existence at that 

 time, and this was at the Kulsi river, which is not as 

 favourable a locality as the Charduar, in the Darrang dis- 

 trict. In the latter district forest work had not been 

 started, and, consequently, the first commencement in the 

 present Charduar rubber plantations was not made until 

 the next cold season. A detaded account of these first 

 attempts at planting rubber will be found iu paragraphs 

 SO to 114 of the Assam Forest Report for 1873-74. 



5. A particular impetus was given to this work by the 

 complications and difficulties that had arisen at about the 

 same time iu the proper management of and control over the 

 Indiarubber trade in this province, brought on by compet- 

 ing speculators, which had necessitated an order from the 

 Supreme Government that the operations of the Forest 

 Department should be limited to conservancy and reproduc- 

 tion of the rubber trees in certain well-defined areas, and 

 to the collection aud manipulation of the produce in such 

 limited areas through their own agency. 



6. This order of the Government of India was repeated 

 iu 1876, and has been acted up to until now: all work in the 

 way of rubber plantations is based on it, and, what is more, 

 the experience gained in the twelve years that have elapsed 

 since the issue of that order has made it clear that the 

 effectual protection of selected areas, wtth naturally grown 

 ruiier trees on them, is next to impossible, on account of 

 the localities where these trees grow being, generally speak- 

 ing, very inaccessible, and the unequal way in which these 

 trees are scattered about in the forests, as it would mean 

 the protection of enormous areas to ensure anything like 

 the present export of rubber from Assam, and this in turn 

 would mean the employment of very large establishments 

 to watch over the forests, because rubber is so very port- 

 able, and its removal not necessarily confined to roads or 

 tracks, rivers, and so forth, as is the case with timber, and 

 the cost of such establishments would altogether exceed 

 the advantages arising from the rubber trade. This simply 

 reduces the whole question of permanently keeping up 

 the export of this valuable product from India to making 

 plantations of the tree that yields it. 



7. In April 1874 the Government of India called for 

 a special progress report on the caoutchouc plantations in 

 Assam, which was furnished with my letter No. 23A., dated 

 tin- i'7th May 1S75, forwarded by order of the Chief Com- 

 missioner to the Government of India with letter No. 1,305, 

 dated the tth June 1875, and subsequently printed and 

 circulated with the Government of India, Department of 

 Revenue, Agricultural and Commerce (Forests), letter No. 22, 

 dated the 31st August 1875. The efforts made up to that 

 time in the way of planting caoutchouc trees in Assam, 

 aud all information regarding the yield of caoutchouc trees 



then available, have been fully stated in that report, so 

 that there is no necessity for repeating it now; the views 

 expressed by me at that time I hold still iu all the main 

 points, and the progress made iu planting and the results 

 gained have been recorded in the Annual Forest Reports 

 for Assam up to date, as quoted, so that there 

 is no necessity for repeating this either here, beyond point- 

 ing out a few of the main orders bearing on the subject, the 

 chief occurrences which have taken place, fresh experiences 

 gained, and changes adopted in the management : — 



Report of 1S74-75, paragraphs 250 to 256 aud 272-306. 



of 1875-76, 

 of 1876-77, 

 of 1877-78, 

 of 1878-79, 

 of 1879-80, 

 of 1880-81, 

 of 1881-82, 

 of 1882-83, 



65 and 68-77. 

 83 and 96-110. 

 106 and 122-131. 

 Ill aud 127-136. 

 125-127 and 146-151 

 113-llSand 137-145. 

 110-115 and 136-142. 

 78 and 83-85. 



8. The Charduar plantation has, as was maintained from 

 the commencement, proved in every respect the best locality 

 in Assam where the rubber tree has been planted. The 

 land, it is true, is not high, and so we must, no doubt, have 

 some area planted on higher ground, if for no other reason 

 than to enable us to make comparisons. This is to be done 

 at once on the high land immediately to the west of the 

 present plantation, as the Chief Commissioner has sanctioned 

 an extension of 200 acres. The present area under cultiv- 

 ation is fully stocked, containing 12,511 trees; they have 

 beeu planted at 25 feet apart in the lines, which latter are 

 100 feet apart. This is double the number of trees that 

 was planted on an acre at the commencement. The oldest 

 trees are about 30 to 40 feet in height, and a few from 

 45 to 50 feet, but this cannot be put down as the average 

 growth of Ficus elastica in ten years, since half this time, 

 aud longer, these plantations were entirely experimental, 

 and everything hart to be learned, as, for instance, the 

 first trees were all raised from cuttiugs, which mode of 

 propagation has entirely beeu given up since the trees 

 raised from seed have proved much hardier and faster- 

 growing, and as to the planting of ruhber seedlings high 

 up in the forks of other trees, this also has almost entirely 

 been given up, because such trees in most instances did 

 not make more than a few leaves in the year, and it would, 

 as a matter of course, be out of the question to plant 

 rubber trees where they would take a century to become 

 large enough for tapping, when such trees can be grown 

 in a different way in one-fourth this time. 



9. On the other hand, it has been found that trees 

 planted on small mounds of earth, 3 to 4 feet in height, 

 grow very much better than if they are planted on ordinary 

 level ground, and this plan has therefore also been adopted, 

 although it adds considerably to the cost of making these 

 plantations, but the faster growth of the trees amply com- 

 pensates for the higher expenditure. 



10. The method of planting adopted from the beginning 

 has been to clear lines from east to west through the forest 

 for the young trees a hundred feet apart; the width of 

 the lines is 40 feet, so that a broad strip of forest 60 feet 

 wide is left standing between these lines, to ensure the 

 utmost amount of moisture in the atmosphere for the young 

 rubber trees. At first the lines were only cleared 20 feet 

 broad, but it was found after a few years that these closed 

 up very soon, and thus retarded the growth of the young 

 trees by shutting out the requisite amount of light. However, 

 the widening of the lines also brought about the faster 

 growth of the scrub in them besides that of the rubber 

 trees, and more money, time, and attention has in con- 

 sequence to be spent, especially in the rainy season, on 

 these plantations than had at first been anticipated; but 

 the greatest and most costly difficulty that had to be over- 

 come was the effectual protection of the rubber trees against 

 deer, which during the first few j'ears constantly bit off 

 the young plants, and, where they were not entirely ruined 

 by this, they were so much injured and retarded in growth 

 that a considerable increase in the expenditure on these 

 plantations had to be incurred on fencing to prevent it. 

 But for the future this expenditure will not be necessary, 

 Bince it has been found that saplings 10 feet and more in 

 height can be transplanted without difficulty and with prefect 

 success, and if such saplings are tied firmly to stakes, the 

 deer can do little or no damage to them. 



11. The efforts made to interplant with timber 



