68 TJIE WHOLE ART OF RUBBER-GROWING 



at sundown there was apparently a great increase 

 of tension, as the latex always flowed more abund- 

 antly at that time. The general results in this par- 

 ticular case showed that four-year-old trees yielded 

 at the rate of 10 oz. of dry rubber per tree, whilst 

 those of seven years yielded as much as 10 lb. per 

 tree on an average. The thirteen-year-old trees at 

 Koloa gave as much as 15 lb. These trees were in 

 a swampy situation, whilst those at Lihue, yielding 

 quite as satisfactorily, were choked with guava and 

 lantana and overrun with vines. All the tappings 

 were made when the trees were at rest and bare of 

 leaves. At a trunk diameter of 7 inches or 8 inches 

 many of these trees yielded an enormous quantity 

 of rubber. 



It was found that the peculiar habit that the 

 Manihot possesses of shedding its leaves and re- 

 maining bare for two or three months in the year 

 was here a pronounced feature of the tree. At the 

 end of the resting period, however, the renewed 

 vigour thus gained was exhibited in a remarkable 

 fashion. Both leaves and flowers burst forth almost 

 simultaneously, and the tree put on a rapid growth. 



At Lihue itself a small staff devoted their attention 

 solely to the habits of the growing trees. The grove 

 here is surrounded by a forest, a stream running 

 through the land preserving it for the greater part 

 of the year in a moist and swampy state. The trees 

 were found to vary in size from a circumference of 

 trunk of only 6 inches to 30 inches three feet from 

 the ground. No care appears to have been taken of 

 the trees during the entire period of their growth. 



