47 



CHAPTER V. 

 Trees that Count— Manihot Glaziovii. 



FLOURISHING IN ALIEN LANDS THE MANIHOT AT HOME 



A TREE FOR THE ENTERPRISING PLANTER TREAT- 

 ING THE SEED SOWING THE YOUNG TREE NO 



INTER PLANTING HOW AND WHEN TO TAP. 



T N the fascinating annals of the Kew Experimental 

 ^ Gardens the Manihot Glaziovii will always take 

 a foremost place, if only for the fact that it was the 

 first rubber tree to show flower and to produce its 

 latex in the Middle East. 



The plant was added to the Kew catalogue on 

 23 November 1876, when Mr. Cross safely deposited 

 at the Gardens his collection obtained on behalf of 

 the Government of India at Maracanahu, thirty miles 

 from the town of Ceara, North-East Brazil. The 

 collection comprised some sixty plants, or rooted 

 stems, and 700 seeds. On 11 June the following 

 year the authorities were able to distribute their 

 original stock, raised both from seed and cuttings. 

 Singapore received the first consignment, of four 

 plants only, but by the end of September several 

 hundreds more were available for distribution, and 

 supplies were accordingly despatched to Calcutta, 

 Ceylon, and Madras. In Ceylon the plant appears 



