294 



planting this year's Hevea seeds in Nahiku in baskets, but I think 

 planting- in a clean weeded nursery in a warm locality and then 

 stumping those that have grown very well, would be best. They 

 can remain even one or two years in the nursery, if necessary, 

 in this way, though probably the next spring would be a good' 

 time. 



2. At Stake. — Insects, rats, etc., are very troublesome when 

 this is done. This method is very successful in Castilloa, how- 

 ever, when seeds are cheap and a number can be planted together 

 and one plant used. 



DISTANCES IN PLANTING. 



This is a most important subject and one on which there is a 

 very great variety of opinions. 



There are great variations. Trees are planted all the way 

 from loxio or 400 to the acre, to 20x20 or even 30x30. 15x15 

 or 200 to the acre is considered medium planting. Many plant 

 closer along the rows and with wider distances between the rows, 

 as 10x10 and 20 feet between the rows, or 15x15 and 20 feet be- 

 tween the rows. 



However, it may be said' that the general trend of opinion in 

 the Malay peninsula and Ceylon is towards wider planting and 

 more room for the trees. 



CLOSE VERSUS WIDE PLANTING. 



In general, it may be said that close planting is more suited to 

 poorer land and wide planting to more fertile land. The plan of 

 planting closely with the idea of, in the early years, cutting out 

 alternate trees, has not been found to be very successful, as they 

 have to be cut out before they are old enough to pay for them- 

 selves or much more than do so, and in cutting them out 

 branches of the other trees are damaged and theoretically there 

 is more danger of disease from the stumps, etc. One argument 

 for wide planting is shown in the results on the highlands and 

 lowlands estate in the F. M. S. as cited by Ivos Etherington. 

 A block of Para rubber trees 16 acres in extent contains 807 trees 

 planted 30x25 feet. These are nine years old and completely 

 cover the ground. Over the whole estate the year's crop amount- 

 ed to 95,333 pounds from 33,967 trees tapped all through the 

 year, and 4,672 lightly tapped. The average yield is 2.46 pounds 



