"ToL. V. No. 117. 



THE AGEICULTURAL NEWS. 



335 



RUBBER IN SEYCHELLES. 



The Annual Report of the Curator of the Botanic 

 -Station for 190.5 contains the following account of the 

 progress that is being made in Se^'chelles in connexion 

 with the planting of Para rubber : — 



Four years have elapsed since this plant was recom- 

 mended as being the most suitable to the soil, climate, and 

 labour conditions of this colony. The Government has gone 

 to heavy e.xpense for the introduction of seeds, and the last 

 consignment, which was received during the year (50,000 

 seeds), was immediately purchased by ten planters at the price 

 of 4c. a seed. A planter had on his own account inti'oduced 

 also 5,000 seeds. In both ca.ses about 25 per cent, of the 

 seeds germinated, and the rubber seedlings at present planted 

 out in Seychelles amount to over 30,000 plants of from one to 

 three years of age. The seedlings that were first planted out in 

 "November and December 1903 have made steady and e.xcellent 

 growth, the best of them having reached 1 foot girth and over 

 at the base. The planters nearly all admit now that this plant 

 grows well; and it is a pity that they did not come to this 

 conclusion at an earlier date, as they were recommended to do, 

 because the rush of rubber planting in Ceylon since 1904 will 

 probably lead to greater difficulties in obtaining seeds from 

 that colony. 



The soil and climate of >Seychelles are evidently 

 favourable to the growth of Para rubber, which thrives 

 even in laterite soils, where no other plants are at present grow- 

 ing. The best plants are those which were planted in the 

 so-called marshes of Seychelles, which are merely deep alluvial 

 soils, being formed of the surface soil washed down from 

 the pools and accumulated on the plateaux. These alluvial 

 soils are not sour and they are easily drainable ; they are 

 better adapted to Para rubber than to cocoa-nuts, because 

 ■ they are more or less submerged on account of the planters 

 not being, as a rule, in a position to have them drained 

 properly. AVhen cocoa-nuts are planted in the marshes, the 

 seed-nuts are placed on the ground and the plants issued 

 from them are not only insufficiently rooted, but the base of 

 the stem not being under ground, becomes easily accessible 

 to the beetles. It is pointed out elsewhere that at least 

 <3,000 acres are available in Seychelles for rubber cultivation. 



I am indebted to a planter for the following figures, 

 drawn up by measuring 100 trees in his plantation : — 



On another estate a few plants were, in December 190-i, 

 planted out in the jungle without any clearing or holing. 

 They were visited only after three years, and some of them 

 found to measure 7 inches at the base. On Crown land, 

 Capucin, 1,200 feet altitude, stumps one year old were planted 

 iu September 1904. After fifteen months' growth, they 

 measured 6 to 10 inches circumference at the base and 16 to 

 20 feet in height. These figures go to show that the whole of 

 the islands, from the summits to the seashore, are suitable for 

 Para rubber planting. The sea-breeze does not check its 

 growth in the least, the best tree at Praslin being planted at 

 - 20 yards from the beach. 



CITRONELLA AND LEMON GRASS. 



The Annual Colonial Report on Ceylon for 190.5 

 contains the following reference to the citronella oil 

 industry: — 



The output of citronella oil (1,242,800 lb.) has improved 

 80,000 lb., the price having risen from 75c. to 84c. per R). 



The cultivation of lemon grass for oil has been proceeded 

 with at the Peradeniya Experiment Station, with fairly 

 favourable results, and as the price of this oil is rising, its 

 cultivation may prove profitable. 



The subject of citronella and lemon grass in Ceylon, 

 more especially in connexion with the cultivation of 

 the latter as a catch crop in rubber plantations, is dealt; 

 with in the August issue of the Tropical Agriculturist 

 by Mr. Ivor Etherington. The following summary may 

 be of interest : — 



During the last three years, the export of Ceylon 

 citronella oil has gradually increased in Cjuantity. 



Planters in the Malay Penin.sula are turning their 

 attention to lemon grass as a suitable catch crop for rubber 

 plantations, and Ceylon planters are making experiments in 

 the same direction. 



It is useful as a catch crop, as it gives the first harvest 

 after six months, being propagated from cuttings. It has 

 been found at Peradeniya that the lateral root system of 

 Hevea rubber spreads 1 foot each year on the average ; that 

 is, a circle 2 feet in diameter round the tree is occupied the 

 second year, one 3 feet in diameter the third year, and so 

 on ; so that in rubber planted 10 by 10 feet, the root systems 

 meet and occupy the ground in five years. Lemon grass can 

 be grown down the rows between lines of rubber trees 

 without interfering with the rubber roots, and as the plant 

 dies down in three years, and has then to be freshly 

 propagated for further growing and extensions, it is very 

 suitable as an early catch crop in the plantation. 



Lemon grass cultivation is spreading in Ceylon and 

 Malay. 



In a very interesting report on plantation indus- 

 tries in the Federated Mala}- States and Java, the 

 Hon. Staniforth Smith, of the Australian Parliament, 

 makes the following reference to the cultivation of 

 citronella grass : — 



From citronella grass {Andropogon nardus) a valuable 

 scented oil is obtained that is used in the manufacture of 

 superior soaps and other articles. In .Java there are .several 

 large plantations — one of those I inspected being nearly 1,000 

 acres in extent. 



The grass, if planted in good fertile soil, and enjoying 

 a heavy rainfall, grows very quickly. From 10 acres a yield 

 of 1 2 tons should be cut, and four crops a year can be taken 

 off, totalling 48 tons. This will yield about i per cent, of 

 oil, or 4i cwt., worth 3s. lOrf. a kilogramme, say £46 16s. 

 The grass lasts twelve years before it is necessary to plant 

 again. To obtain the oil from the grass by distillation, 

 a small plant is required, consisting of one boiler costing 

 £250, and a tank and condenser with pipe connexion, costing 

 £85. A round tank, 16 feet in diameter, would be suffi- 

 ciently large to treat four crops a year off 200 acres, if worked 

 day and night. 



While I would not recommend this as a principal crop 

 in Papua, I think it should be cultivated, as in .Java, as 

 a catch crop between the rubber or cocoa-nut trees. The 

 profits from this crop would be sufficient to pay the cost of 

 maintaining a young rubber or cocoa-nut plantation until the 

 trees began to bear. 



