253 



Trimen when he succeeded Thwaites in l88o, found at Hene- 

 ratgoda " about 300 of the original seedlings " grown to trees, " and 

 at Peradeniya above 20 trees." By cuttings he raised his stock 

 between 1880 and 1894, to 424 at Heneratgoda and 30 in Peradeniya 

 (Trimen, in Kcw Bulletin, 1898, p. 254). 



The Ceylon seed crop, with such a large number of trees, soon 

 reached considerable dimensions, so that it was above 20,000 in 1888 ; 

 and out of it many places received supplies. The Singapore seed 

 <:rop was at first used up between the Botanic Gardens, Sarawak, 

 Kwala Kangsar, Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. In the Botanic Gar- 

 dens, the old indigo ground was chiefly planted up, making a fine 

 heritage to us who come after, and in 1894 some rubber was planted 

 among the trees of the southern corner of the Economic Garden 

 (vide Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and F.M.S., vii., 1908, p. 253), 

 The smaller Kwala Kangsar crop increased the local plantation and 

 supplied the seedlings which became widely distributed here and 

 there over Perak and on the estates of Mr. T. Hislop Hill § and 

 others in Selangor and Negri Sembilan; and in 1887, they were 

 also the source of a small plantation at Taiping. One of Mr. Hill's 

 estates was Linsum, which again in turn supplied seeds in 1899 to 

 Deli, Sumatra. The Mergui seed crop was used up locally. 



The first tapping of Hevea, done in the East, was done by 

 Trimen in October, 1882, and was thus described by him.—" Five of 

 the Hevea trees were prepared by scraping off on one side the rough 

 outer surface of the outer bark; a few short cuts were then made 

 with a knife and the rubber allowed to dry." The first tapping of 

 Hevea by the herring-bone method was done by Dyaks (Wray says 

 Malays) on Sir Hugh Low's request at Kwala Kangsar in the year 



§ At p. 213 of this Bulletin a very promiment place was given by Mr. Hislop Hill as 

 "the first planter" of rubber in the Peninsula on the authority of Mr. Ridley. Subsequently 

 the following letter from him to Mr. W. Egerton was discovered in the Botanic Gardens, 

 being one of the very few on rubber which have escaped white ants. It is given here to 

 show in what way Mr. Hill was a pioneer. 



Bukit Nanas, Sungei Ujong, 

 1893- 

 Sir, 



I have the honour to acknowledge your letter Misc. 1934/34. 



I enclose you a small sample of rubber grown on Linsum Estate from the Hevea brasi- 

 liensis and shall be glad to hear what it is worth. The trees are 6 to 8 years old and the yield 

 from one tree is about half a pound and, by the method of collection followed, costs abou 

 30 cents per pound to collect. 



2. I have hundreds if not thousands of trees on my estates ; and I shall be glad to supply 

 any quantity of seeds that the Government may wish to buy. 



3. The difficulty appears to me to be in collecting the rubber in a sufficiently pure state 

 for the market at a reasonable price. 



4. I have found the trees do as well on undulating ground as on the edges of swamps. 



I have, etc., 



(Signed) T. H. HILL. 



It is believed that the rubber was very inferior and that Mr. Hill got no further at this 

 date than growing scattered trees for seed. But the possession in l893 of trees 6-8 years old puts 

 him far in front of any other private individual as a cultivator of Hevea. 



