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cate the exposure of young plants to the direct rays of the 

 sun ; on the contrary, they require to be carefully shaded through- 

 out the day during the scorching droughts that prevail from 

 March to May ; but the plant should not be deprived of the night 

 dews. 



360. With us at present this branch of forest industry is 

 entirely empirical, and we can only hope for success by careful obser- 

 vation, and the noting of facts ; being careful, however, not to mistake 

 cause for effect, and vice versa. Experience thus far has proved that 

 light is not injurious to the Ficus elastica ; but, on the other hand, I 

 have met with a few trees, which were growing vigorously in a 

 shade, which might almost be called dense. Shade over-head, 

 especially from " high" trees, seems to be injurious, but whether this 

 is on account of the actual want of light, or from drip, or because 

 little dew is condensed on the leaves of the plant beneath, I will 

 not at present hazard an opinion. 



361. Hitherto, as a rule, those trees have been found to succeed 

 best when shaded only on the south and west, by low trees, and 

 exposed to light on the north and east sides. The leaves of such 

 trees are in most cases loaded with dew. I would suggest that 

 over-hanging trees are injurious, perhaps less on account of the 

 shade they give, than because they prevent the formation of dew 

 on the leaves of the plant beneath. This formation of dew seems 

 peculiarly grateful to the Ficus elastica. 



362. The one hundred and seventy-eight plants imported 

 varied in age from seedlings of a season's growth to plants of two 

 years old, the minimum height being four inches and the maxi- 

 mum three feet two inches : of these, up to 1st February 1876, two 

 have died : one of which was browsed down by cattle owing to the 

 Overseer having failed to fence it in substantially according to 

 orders ; but there is no direct evidence to show what caused the 

 death of the other. Exclusive of these trees, I despatched from 

 Bhamo and Katcho to Kangoon two large consignments of cuttings 

 made in the months of January and February ; but these, the Con- 

 servator subsequently informed me, had all died in transit. Besides 

 the above stock, six young Ficus elastica plants from Bhamo (sup- 

 posed to have been seedlings) were introduced into the Magayee 

 plantation in June 1872, when they were nine to eighteen inches high. 

 Ever since, they have continued to grow vigorously, and now average 

 a height of ten feet four and-a-half inches, with a proportionate 

 developement of luxuriant foliage. They have not, however, yet 

 commenced to throw down aerial roots, and I am inclined to think 

 that, unless these trees start as epiphytes, they do not obtain this 

 habit until the lateral branches have reached a certain stage of 



