266 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 



1904. 



HEVEA" AT HENERATGODA. 



[Large tree in foreground on which tapping experiments were made for several 



years.] 



that at Peradeniya that we have any sort of knowledge of the 

 growth and productiveness of the Hevea tree under cultivation. 

 Their work dates back to 1876 under Director Thwaites, when 

 70,000 seeds, sent from the Amazon to Kew gardens, London, 

 were set out, only 4 per cent, of them germinating. From 

 there about 2000 plants were sent in wardian cases to Ceylon 

 in charge of an experienced man, Mr. W. Chapman, and go per 

 cent, reached the gardens in an excellent condition. These were 

 set out in bamboo pots and the next season were transferred 

 from Peradeniya to Heneratgoda and flourished almost from 

 the beginning, but the planters had set their hearts on the 

 Ceard tree and paid but little attention to the reports that 

 Director of the Gardens Dr. Trimen, Dr. Thwaites' successor, 

 made from time to time as to their growth. 



In 1883 several of the Hevea trees at Heneratgoda flowered 

 and from the ripened seeds 260 plants were raised and dis- 

 tributed to various planters. One year later 1000 plants were 

 raised in the same way and sent out. 



In 1886 the Para plantation at Heneratgoda was thinned out, 

 all of the smaller trees being cut down, after which there was a 

 noticeable improvement in the growth of the remainder. Seeds 

 were sent that year to Jamaica, Madras, Rangoon, Penang, and 

 the botanic gardens at Buitenzorg, Java, while from the crop 

 of 1888 there were sent to the Straits Settlements some 11,500, 

 together with 1000 to the Fiji islands. 



Dr. Trimen made annual measurements of a typical tree at 



Heneratgoda which are as follows, the tree being planted in 



1876. The measurements are circumferential and taken as is 



the custom three feet from the ground : 



Trimen. 1880 1 ft. 4 in. The first of the above meas- 



I ?? 1 ' ., 9 . "' urements were taken by Di- 



1882 2 " iW " _ . , , ; 



,gg, 2 " 6 " rector Trimen, and the latter 



1884 3"° " by Director Willis, his succes- 



^5 3 ' 7 i( sor, who says very justly that 



1887 ..'.'.'.4 " 5*2 " more useful data is secured by 



1888 5 " o " measurements that give the 



I ? 8 9 5 " 5 " mean girth of all the trees. 



Willis. i8qo 5 9M ,, , . j. 



l8 ', 5 " t " He therefore measured in 1897 



1S92 6" 5 " forty-five trees that stand 



x ?93 & " I'A " about 30 feet apart that were 



1894 6 " 8 " . ;, „, 



then 22 years old. The meas- 

 urement was taken at about s'A leet from the ground. The 

 largest tree was 7 feet 5 inches, the smallest 2 feet 1 inch, the 

 mean girth being 4 feet \\ inch. 



In this connection it is interesting to note the measurements 

 of wild Hevea trees made by Robert Cross in 1877 near Pari. 

 These trees had been tapped for from 5 to 15 years and their 



No. 1 6ft. gin. age was unknown. The figures are 



?j°' 2 6 " lo " given in the margin. 



No. 4.. ... 3 " o " All of these measurements were 



No. 5 5 " 10 " taken at three feet from the ground. 



No. 6 — 5 3 It would seem, therefore, that the trees 



No. 7 4 " o 



No. 8 5 " 10 " at Heneratgoda had about reached their 



No. 9 4 " o " growth. 



?}°' IO 4 ., g ,, It is as a seed bearing proposition 



No. 12 . . 7 " 8 " tnat tne garden I was visiting appealed 



— — to me most. A hasty bit of figuring 



Mean 4 ft. 10 in. gaye me the toUl of Detw een 3,000,000 



and 4,000,000 Para seeds that had been sent out to planters 

 all over the Eastern tropical world. A wonderfully practical 

 piece of work and one for which the tropical planter should 

 be devoutly thankful. 



One of the few tapping experiments extending over a series " 

 of years were carried out at Heneratgoda under the late Dr. 

 Trimen. He selected a twelve year old tree that was $o}4 inches 

 in girth, three feet from the ground. This was tapped the 

 first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth years, the product being 

 13 pounds 7 ounces of dry rubber. As in any of the tapping 

 years but seventeen tappings were taken, and they were well 

 distributed through the twelve months, it would seem as if the 

 tree might just as well have been producing every year instead 

 of every other year, and that its average of \]/ z pounds a year 

 might just as well have been 3 pounds. 



These experiments were followed by others by Director 

 Willis, in which on smaller trees he secured on an average 

 about y z pound a tree, but where the trees were planted much 

 more closely together. A curious fact in connection with the 

 two experiments is that, supposing the Trimen trees had been 

 tapped yearly and produced 3 pounds each, and the Willis trees 

 produced y 2 pound each, the result would mean the same pro- 



SENSATION ROCK, NEAR KANOY. 



