lis 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



(Janl-arv 1. 1911. 



there were about 15,000 planted trees in the colony. The largest 

 planting was 9,000 at X'oorhcrg and 1,000 at Wederi-orj;. llie 

 lapse of another 5 years brings us up to 1910, when 36 plantations 

 had planted Ilnra and there were 165.000 trees growing. 



In the meantime, as soon as the trees matured enougli to tap, 

 test tappings were made under various systems, herringbone, 

 spiral and half-spiral, etc., and careful records kept. Measure- 

 ments were also taken recording the growth of the trees. In the 

 Botanic Gardens eight year old trees averaged 28 inches in cir- 

 cumference. 3 feet from the ground. 



.\t Waterland eight year olds averaged 31^ inches in cir- 

 cumference ; 12 year old trees at the same plantation varied from 

 35;^ to 39J^ inches in circumference. The latex on an average 

 contained about 30 per cent, of rubber. For coagulation there was 

 used a 10 per cent, solution of acetic acid. The trees here being 

 the oldest in the colony were the first to be tapped. In 1905 they 

 were tapped seven times and about a pound of dry rubber obtained. 

 In 1908 they produced about 2^ pounds of fine rubber and yi 

 pound of scrap. The year following they were tapped every 



other (lay during the year, 

 and the product was fine 

 rubber 19;/^ pounds, and 

 scrap 5 pounds, one trei 

 producing about 3 pound.s 

 of rubber. It should be 

 remembered that these 

 were the nine original 

 trees planted at Water 

 land and one had been in- 

 jured, so only eight wen 

 tap[>ed. During my visit 

 other plantations were be- 

 ginning to produce rub- 

 ber a little. For example 

 .SO trees on Nieuw Groud 

 produced about 16 

 pounds. 



The Government, which 



The As.sist-\nt ".^crcixom." 



had taken a great interest in stamping out 

 the witch broom and had assisted in estab- 

 lishing banana plantations,- was also alive 

 to the colony's opportunity as a rubber 

 producer. It had therefore purchased an 

 old cocoa plantation Slootwijk, and started 

 to plant Hevca on quite a large scale. The 

 plantation was excellently situated on the 

 Commewyne river and contained about 

 1,200 acres. The soil was a stiff clay and 

 ditched so that there was at least three 

 feet of drainage. There were 500 coolies 

 at work and the work of planting 200 acres 

 a year to Hcfea was going ahead very 

 rapidly. The rubber was interplanted with 

 cocoa, cofifee, and bananas, about 100 to 

 the acre, stumps IJ/2 to 2 years old fur- 

 nished by the Botanic Gardens being used. 



[TO BE CONTINUED.] 



I) . 



One indication of the progress of the 

 city of Manaos, the rubber capital of the 

 upper Amazon, is the existence there of a 

 well equipped telephone service — the Em- 

 preza Telephonica de Manaos. The latest 

 directory of this service, printed on one 

 side of a large sheet, contains the names 

 of 330 subscribers, including all the handlers 

 of rubber in Manaos, the public offices, and 

 leading professional men. 



SI.\ VK.AR OLD HEVEAS, BOTANIC GARDENS, SURINAME. 



The desirability of the Liberian coffee 

 tree (Coffca robusta) for cultivation in the 

 Federated Malay States has been much dis- 

 cussed of late, and in this connection il 

 is of interest to notice in the Malayan 

 newspapers advertisements of seedlings of 

 this species for planting as a "catch crop" 

 for rubber. One firm reported having or- 

 ders for 50,000 coffee plants for delivery to 

 rubber growers during October. 



