86 THE WHOLE ART OF RUBBER-GROWING 



which we are at present concerned is pre-eminently 

 the rubber tree of Eastern Asia and the Malay States. 

 Lately large areas in Borneo have been planted with 

 it, and the Dutch greatly favour it as against the 

 Hevea, which they find capricious and uncertain in 

 behaviour. The Ficus elastica grows rapidly, and 

 yields a high-class rubber, the percentage of pure 

 caoutchouc in its latex being nearly 87 per cent. It 

 is indifferent alike to drought or humidity, and is 

 readily propagated from seeds, cuttings, or layers 

 by marcottage. The product of the Ficus is popular 

 on the Hamburg market, where it is much sought 

 after by buyers interested in the ebonite and kindred 

 trades. 



Being a very free-branching tree, it cannot with 

 satisfaction be planted closer than 40 to the acre. 

 Formerly it was the custom to allow the Ficus to 

 attain the age of eight years before attempting to tap 

 it ; but during the last few years experiments have 

 proved that a most profitable latex can be secured 

 from trees four and a half to five years old. It has 

 one drawback, however, from a planter's point of 

 view, in that it does not increase its yield in propor- 

 tion to age, which is such an attractive and certain 

 feature of both the Hevea and the Manihot Glaziovii. 

 A close relationship, botanically and commercially, 

 exists between the Ficus Vogleii and the Ficus 

 elastica. 



The Ficus Vogleii derives its name from the 

 German botanist Vogel, who separated it from the 

 other innumerable Ficus of West Africa which do 

 not produce a commercial latex, but which are all 



