272 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March 1, 1912. 



disadvantage of destroying the soil Iniinus. The alternative to 

 clearing tlic ground completely is to cut out the underwood and 

 smaller trees only, leaving the tiniher standing. He is convinced 

 that !-i(!'tiiinin cultivation can he thus successfully carried on, as 

 has nmrc or less l)een the case in Uganda, this plan licing far 

 cheaper tlian orthodo.x methods. 



ART1FICI.\L PU()1'.\(;.\T]0.\. 



This can he etYectcd hy cuttings, but, generally speaking, this 

 method is considered to possess no advantage over propagation 

 by seed, as the plants produced have a disposition to branch too 

 freely. Cuttings of medium hard wood, out of the previous 

 season's growth, rooted readily in 100 days, wliile in Kamerun a 

 period of five weeks was found sufficient. The progress made 

 ;it the Botanic Gardens, nntehhe, Uganda, is shown by annexed 

 illustration of a Fuiituinia nursery. 



GEXER.VL METHOD.S OF l'I..\NTIX(;. 



I'ltHliiiuia cannot be successfully grown if interplanted or 

 intermixed with other crops. Instead of an extended spread of 

 foliage and a surface-root system, like Hevea, it has a pole-like 

 habit of growth, with a comparatively small spread of foliage 

 and a deep-root system. The importance of close planting is 

 likewise emphasized, wide planting retarding tapping operations. 

 By planting closely in pure plantation form and subsequently 

 thinning, an even height of canopy, and consequently of stem, 

 can be maintained. 



NUMBER OF TREES PER ACRE. 



runt Kill in, it is asserted, can be planted in three or four times 

 the usual number of Hcvea trees per acre. According to a de- 



T.VrPlNG WITH THE 



"Funtumia Knife.' 



P0RT.\BLE ST.\GINr,. 



WITH Slings .\nd 



tailed table, 109 trees can be planted per acre with a distance of 

 20 feet between each tree, and in rows 20 feet apart, the number 

 of trees or plants then increasing in proportion to the reduction 

 of the distances. 



FUNTUMIA VERSUS HEVEA. 

 While disclaiming the intention of asserting tliat liiiitumia is 

 a better i)lantation rubber tree than Hevea, JMr. Christy expresses 

 the opinion that the indigenous tree is the most suitable for 

 general plantation purposes in tropical .Africa. .Mfhough he has 

 seen Hevea trees in West Africa equal in size to trees of the 

 same age in Ceylon, he remarks that owing to the very small 

 number of Hevea trees tapped (mostly in botanical gardens) 

 there is as yet insufficient evidence that they will yield as well as 

 trees in Malaya or Ceylon. In this connection he refers to the 

 difficulties attending tapping operations, owing to the hard and 

 thick bark displayed by Hevea in -Africa, instead of the smooth 

 and soft type found in the East. There is no comparison between 

 the two, it is added, in the cost of planting and upkeep of estates ; 

 among other points in favor of Funtumia being that any quantity 

 of the seed is obtainable free, while native supervision is sufficient 

 for the necessary operations. 



GROWTH IN THE PLANTATION. 

 In the open, in full sunlight, with top shade, and in a sufficiently 

 moist climate, Funtuinia is stated to be a comparatively quick 

 grower, arriving at the producing stage fully as rapidly as Hevea. 

 .As, however, there are as yet no plantations in Africa, where 

 any large number of trees can be seen growing under the most 

 favorable conditions, it is difficult to say exactly what the dimen- 

 sions of plantation trees should be at any given age. In a de- 

 tailed account of the Botanic Gardens at Victoria, Kamerun, Mr. 

 Christy refers to the extensive agricultural experiment station 

 and laboratories at that point, under the guidance of Dr. Hermann 

 Riicher, the Director of Agriculture. There are, he adds, a great 

 many large cacao plantations in the neighborhood of the Kamerun 

 Mountain, on nearly all of which considerable areas are planted 

 with I'liiiluiiiia. Owing to the considerable rainfall in this dis- 

 trict Funtuinia apparently thrives. From his observation of "these 

 plantations, Mr. Christy has made the following approximate 

 estimate of the average girth to be expected at dififerent ages in 

 plantation trees grown under favorable conditions : 3 years, 

 8 inches ; 4 years, 12 inches ; 5 years, 16 inches ; 6 years, 21 inches ; 

 7 years, 26 inches ; 8 years, 30 inches ; 9 years, 33 inches ; 10 years, 

 36 inches. In this way the average girth was obtained, which 

 lias been reached at different ages under varied planting condi- 

 lioiis. TAPPING METHODS AND REQUISITES. 



In connection with the subject of tapping, two illustrations are 

 reproduced by the courtesy of the publishers of Mr. Christy's 

 work. One represents tapping with the "Funtuinia knife." by 

 the aid of slings and portable staging at a communal plantation 

 in Southern Nigeria ; while the other depicts a native tapping 

 party with their implements and bags containing rope slings for 

 climbing. 



FOREST YIELDS. 

 Yields from .pricker incision tapping have been found by ex- 

 periments in Uganda during the rainy season, to be far greater 

 than those from excision methods. Incision records show that 

 wild trees of fair size, tapped to a height of 30 feet, will yield 

 'i to Yz pound, or even in some cases I pound of dry rubber at 

 one tapping. In the absence of similar records for West Africa, 

 it is considered that the trees in that moist, hot climate are 

 doubtless better yielders than those in the upland forests of the 

 Eastern Protectorate. 



PLANTATION YIELDS. 

 In connection with plantation operations, it has been found that 

 with excision tapping, involving loss of tissue and leading to 

 consequent injury, the yields from second and third tappings are 

 much less than from the opening cuts. By incision tapping, on 

 the contrary, the yields from the subsequent tappings are nearly 

 as good as from the opening cuts. It is possible to make two or 

 three tappings in a year, reaching a greater total annual yield 

 than by any other process. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH TREES. 

 Experiments with trees five to ten years old, growing under 



