TREES THAT COUNT MANIHOT GLAZIOVII 5 I 



It is not surprising to find that Cross himself 

 possessed the profoundest faith in its adaptability 

 to any and every circumstance obtaining in the 

 rubber zone. In his report to Kew he suggests 

 " the formation of plantations by cuttings, which 

 will take root as easily as a willow. These 

 should be taken from the points of strong shoots 

 and may be one foot in length. In planting, each 

 cutting may be put down in the soil to a depth 

 of six inches. If scarce, the entire shoot may be 

 cut into pieces, each possessing a bud, all of which 

 will grow if covered with half an inch or so of soil. 

 On loose sandy soils or exhausted coffee land planta- 

 tions may be formed at little expense. Hard, dry, 

 gravelly wastes, if found to support any kind of bush, 

 are also suitable sites. On bare or thinly covered 

 portions of rock the cuttings might be laid down flat 

 and a little heap of stones or any kind of debris about 

 the size of a molehill piled over each, care being 

 taken that the extreme point of each cutting with a 

 bud is left uncovered. With an occasional sprinkling 

 from a monsoon shower the tree is likely to 

 prosper ". 



Compare this with the hazardous methods asso- 

 ciated with the propagation of Hevea plants, which 

 are also extremely difficult to raise from cuttings, 

 and it will be readily conceded that the Manihot 

 Glaziovii is pre-eminently a tree for the enterprising 

 planter who has neither overwhelming riches in the 

 land he owns nor a chronically swollen balance at the 

 bank. 



Manihot Glaziovii produces its seed abundantly, 



d 2 



