295 



per tree per year; but from 807 widely planted trees the yield 

 during the year was 5,742 pounds of rubber, giving an average 

 of 7.05 pounds per tree. Of course, this is not conclusive as the 

 bulk of the trees were of all ages, though many of them were 

 nine-year-old trees. 



CEARA TREES. 



That our Ceara trees planted 400 to the acre will have to be 

 thinned out eventually there is no doubt. However, by having 

 the first tappings made on alternate trees, skill in tapping and 

 experience can be acquired by tapping the trees which will eventu- 

 ally be cut out before the alternate trees are touched, which can 

 be allowed to grow considerably larger before being tapped. 



However, in these plantations at Nahiku, which have a con- 

 siderable number of their trees planted 400 to the acre, it would 

 seem advisable to plant, if not the rest of their acreage with 200 

 trees to the acre say, at least enough to be able to judge later 

 which proved to be the best method'. One distance in planting 

 should not be adhered to exclusively when in the development 

 stage. 



When countries where it costs almost nothing more to have 

 400 to the acre because the place is clean-weeded anyway, con- 

 sider 200 to the acre moderate distance, it seems as though where 

 it is considerably more expensive to plant so many trees as it 

 means so many more trees to clean a circle around, that in this 

 case, I say, it might be wnse to have part of the planting at least 

 with greater distances and more room. 



From the shape of the trees, one would imagine that a Ceara 

 tree having, when well shaped, such a dome-like expanse of 

 leaves, would need even more room than the Hevea. The thick- 

 ness of the trunk is dependent on the number of leaves and the 

 sunlight that gets to them. With this object in view, some plant- 

 ers thumb prune their young trees, removing the terminal bud 

 when the sapling gets to be 10 feet high or over. This gives 

 rise to two branches, which, after being allowed to grow a short 

 distance, are again thumb pruned, etc. This greatly increases 

 the leaf area and a consequent increase in girth of the trunk 

 results 



