242 



Central and Northern Brazil, the rubber trees are abundantly found. 

 The climate is remarkable for its uniformity of temperature, 

 usually not exceeding 87" F. at mid-day or below 74 ' at night. 

 The greatest heat recorded is 95 > and the mean for the year is 

 81". "The rainfall occurs principally during the months from 

 January to June, the maximum being in April when it reaches 15 

 inches. For the remaining six months of the year very little falls 

 but there are fine days in the wet season and occasional showers 

 in the dry." {Kcxi< Bull. 189B, p. 244.) 



According to E. Ule, in his book dealing with rubber in the 

 Amazon district, ^the annual rainfall is usually between 80 and 

 120 inches, and the mean temperature between 76° and 81'. 



Mr. H. A. Wickham states* : — The whole of the Hevea which 

 I procured for the government of India were the produce of large 

 grown trees in the forest covering the broad plateaus dividing the 

 Tapajos from the Madeira River. The soil of these well-drained, 

 wide-extending forest-covered table-lands is stiff, not remarkably 

 rich, but deep and uniform in character. The Hevea found grow- 

 ing in these unbroken forests rivals all but the largest of the trees 

 therein, attaining to a circumference of 10 feet to 12 feet in the 

 bole. These forest plains having all the character of wide-spread 

 table-lands occupy the space betwixt the great arterial river systems 

 of the Amazon, and present an escarped face, which follows at 

 greater or less distance and abuts steeply on the igapo or bagas, 

 /.('. the marginal river plains subject to inundation by the annual 

 rise of the great river. So thorough is the drainage of this high- 

 land that the people who annually penetrate into these forests for 

 the season's working of the rubber have to utilize certain lianas 

 (water-bearing vines) for their water supply, since none is to be 

 obtained by surface-well sinking, in spite of the heavy rainfall 

 during a great part of the year. 



The Climate in Ceylon. In Ceylon, according to Mr. Herbert 

 Wright, an elevation of 2,000 feet in the Central Province, and 

 3,000 feet in the Uva Province [south-eastern] is considered to be 

 near the maximum, and a rainfall of 70 inches near the minimum 

 for the cultivation of this species ... It is being tried in districts 

 having 200 inches of rain per year and also in dry irrigable areas, 

 but reliable results cannot be obtained for many years. 



Federated Malay States. In the Federated Malay States, Mr. 

 Wright says, there is no evidence of the highest elevation at 

 which Para Rubber will thrive. According to Carruthers the 

 growth of the Para rubber from sea-level up to 300 feet in the 



Federated Malay States is better than at most places The 



climate of the Federated Malay States is very uniform and can be 

 described in general terms as hot and moist. The annual rainfall 

 except in places close to the mountain ranges, is about 90 inches. 

 .... There is no well-marked dry season. Generally speaking 

 July is the driest month, but has seldom a less rainfall than 3i 



* In Bull. No. 49. Rurcnu of Plant Industry. U. S. Dt-pt. of Agri.— " Tlie Cultwre of 

 the CentraJ America Ruhher Tree hy O.V. Coo\^. copion< extracts from which wcru pub- 

 lished in SuVctin nj Sept. of Agriculture for l'J04 and 1U05. 



