2 8S 



(THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i, 1884. 



have been written on the subject; and exceptionally large 

 yields from gigantic trees have been erroneously quoted 

 as being an amaye product, which is clearly by no means 

 the case. 



I had a tree felled,' that was two feet in diameter (at 

 six feet from the ground) and about oue hundred feet 

 hi"h, the age of which I estimated, from its annular 

 rings, to be over one hundred years. It gave only 2 lb. 

 5 oz. of fairly clean gutta, valued by a .Malay dealer at 

 Sl-20 per catty or 3s. 3d. per lb., so that the product of 

 this tree was worth only 7s. (id. 



Some say that if gutta trees are felled in the height 

 of the rain's and when the sap is rising strongly, they then 

 yield more gutta than at other times; but 1 hav • had no 

 means of testing the truth of this assertion. 

 Gftah Taian Sutra.* Dichopsis •. 



This tree is usually confused by the .Malays with tha 

 preceding one, but is very different to it in many respects 

 it grows on low hills, and the .Malays say will only thrive 

 in sight of water; and those I have seen certainly bear 

 out this idea, for they were all near the bank of some 

 stream, and at an elevation of about 500 to 600 feet above 

 sea-level. 



It has much the same appearance as tile 1). Gutta, but 

 the leaves are smaller, and their backs have a yellower 

 shade of brown, and the buttresses are much smaller, and 

 have a concave outline. The bark, which is dark brown, 

 is' smooth, aud shews by smooth oval indentations the 

 places where the branches have been when the gutta was 

 young. This is a feature I have not noticed in any other 

 gutta, and may. 1 think, be taken as characteristic. 



The SoWerE have a reddish tinge, and the fruit is coated 

 like the backs of ihe leaves, and is oval in form, and about 

 tbe size of a mussel plum. 



lis gutta is pale reddish-brown (like Getah Sundilt i and 

 the water in which it is boiled does not acquire a red 

 colour. It coagulates nearly as quickly as Taian MJerah, 

 and is collected in the same Hay. 



The specimens I collected were obtained troni tin- l"lu 



Kenering, I'crak. The tree was in inches in diameter at 

 ;i feet from the ground and was m fruit when felled on 

 the 17th August. 1883. The flower was obtained by a 

 .Malay about ten weeks previously. 



Getah Tahan Puteh (White). Dichopsis Polyantha? 

 This tree cannot be told, by its outward appearance, from 

 Dichopsis Gutta, except that its leaves are rather larger. 



It has large buttresses, with convex tops, and the bark 

 is ne.rly of the same shade, but rather browner. The 

 fruit also seems to 1..- similar, and the flowers are white; 

 so that it is not until the tree is felled, that any very 

 distinctive character appears. It is then found that the 

 sap, which is much more copious, does not coagulate quickly, 

 and' when it does, it is of a dirty white colour, ami has a 

 much higher softening point thai, any of the higher kinds, 

 even boiling water not being sufficiently hot to thoroughly 

 soften it. This tree grows on the hills up to an elevation 

 of 2,500 feet above sea-level 



I have never seen it growing on the plains, nor in fact 

 lower than 1,800 feet. 



It ripens its fruit iu the month of February. 



The gutta is collected by felling the tree, ringing tin: 

 baik, and placing leaves, bamboos. .Vc , under it to catch 

 the sap; which is afterwards boiled, and the natives often 

 add salt' to hasten its coagulation. 



It is frequently adulterated with the gutta from kayu 



Jelutong, and two or three of the Dassias 



The usual method of mixing them is to do so before 

 tbe sap has coagulate, 1, as afterwards, owing to the high 

 melting point of Tabaii I'i'tih, they cannot be so easily 

 and intimately combined. A tree of ten inches of diameter 

 at four to five feet from the ground, gave 2 lb. 11 oz. of 

 fairly clean (Jut hi Percha. 



Getah Tahan Puteh t Variety). 

 This variety differs from the above in having smaller 

 haves, and in the shape of the fruit, which is longer iu 

 proportion to its breadth. 



I have found it growing on the hills at L'.iUH.i feet elev- 

 ation, and it ripens its fruit iu the month of February. 



* Sutra=silk. 



Getah Tahan Chayer* Dichopsis . 



This tree I have found growing at (J00 feet above sea- 

 level, and it attains a lauge size. 



The bark is reddish brown, and the wood is hard and 

 white, with a dark red centre. 



The backs of the leaves are, when youug, of a golden 

 brown, but full grown ones are silvery. 



They have not the points of the leaves that are present 

 in most other varieties of Dichopsis. 



The flower, which appears about the middle of Septem- 

 ber, is pale green and very small. 



The corolla has a six-toothed limb, the teeth being nearly 

 triangular in shape, and so" thin as to be almost trans- 

 parent. 



The diameter of the flower is about 3-16th of an inch. 



In the throat of the corolla are inserted, by short fila- 

 ments, twelve anthers. They are placed alternately in 

 the centre of the teeth, and at the junction between two 

 teeth. 



The style is simple, and of such a length that it pro- 

 jects beyond the petals, in an unopened flower bud. It 

 appears to be often persistent. 



The gutta coagulates very slowly, hence the native name 

 " Chayer" which means watery, &e. 



The gutta. which seems to be of good quality, is of a 

 dirty white colour, but may be. easily distinguished from 

 Taban I'uteh by its lower softening point, and the tree by 

 its having small concave buttresses. 



Getah Tahan Simpor. Dichopsis 3$aingayi? 



This tree may be readily distinguished from the fore- 

 going by its large dark green leaves, and by its prominent 

 veins at the back, which are covered by coarse, silky light- 

 brown hairs, the back of the leaf itself being only spar- 

 ingly covered by them. 



The bark is about half an inch thick, rough, aud of a 

 reddish-brown colour, much covered by a greyish lichen. 

 It has medium-sized buttresses with a concave outline. 



One tree that T measured was three feet three inches 

 in diameter, at six feet from the ground, and from that 

 height the buttresses sloped out until they reached the 

 ground, having a spread of about three feet from the trunk. 



The flower is white, ami conies out iu the beginning of 

 April or the end of March; but its fruit I have not yet seen. 



1 had one tree felled, which, at three from the ground, 

 measured seventeen inches in diameter and sixty-three to 

 the first branch. Tie* weight of gutta obtained was \2 oz. 

 The sap. by the aid of heat and stirring, coagulated iu 

 twenty-three hours after tapping. 



This gutta is sold under the name of Getah Puteh. The 

 tree grows on hills up to about the same height as Tahan 

 Puteh. 



Getah . Dichopsis . 



This is very much like the foregoing, but the leaves are 

 of a lighter green, and are not so much coated with hairs ; 

 the hark is smooth. 



I have not vet seen the flowers, but the fruit is green, 

 smooth, devoid of hairs, and ripens iu August. 1 found 

 it growing near the Taban Sutra. 



Its gutta is slow in coagulating and softens at a lower 

 temperature than the lastnamed variety; and it becomes 

 rather sticky when heated, and remains so for some time 

 after it has cooled. 



G,tah 

 This tree has large. 



— . Dichopsis . 



rlosay, dark-green leaves, the backs 

 of which are coated with rich warm chocolate-brown hairs, 

 more densely on the veins than elsewhere, and the mid- 

 rib is coated in a similar manner on the top surface of 

 the leaf for about two-thirds of its length. 



The bark is very rugged and greyish-brown iu colour, 

 containing so little gutta that it is not worth collecting, 

 I have found it growing on hills about H00 feet high, but 

 as yet have not heeu able to procure flowers or fruit. 



Getah Tahan . Dichopsis . 



Trees of this variety are said to be growing oh the Gti- 

 nong Mini range, near Kuala Kangsa, to have small hues 

 and to yield gutta of good quality ; but I have not yet 

 fallen iu with it, nor have I had an opportunity as yet 

 of collecting any specimens of it. 



* Chayer=liquid. 



