URTICACEyE. 



to keep out the sun, and provided with small trenches filled with water. By tl 

 means a constant hot moist atmosphere is secured and seedlings do well, but the 

 soil should be good and contain plenty of " humus." 



The following extracts from Mr. Mann's and Dr. Schlich's reports will explain in 

 more detail the systems used in Assam and Bengal. Mr. Mann says : 



" To give the raising of rubber plants from seed a fair trial, about 30 seers of seed, 

 or rather fruit, were collected and sown in three different ways both at the Kulsi plan- 

 tation in the Gauhati subdivision and the Charduar plantation in the Tezpur sub- 

 division. The different modes used were the following : 



" First. On beds covered with broken bricks, half of which was sown with entire 

 fruit of figs, and the other half with the fruit broken up or rubbed into powder 

 between the hands. 



" Secondly. Sown like the above, but on broken charcoal. 



" Thirdly. Sown like the above, but on earth only. 



" The seed was sown in the middle of Januar} r , and germinated in the middle o 

 April. Germination took place best on the broken bricks, next best on the charcoal 

 and least on the earth. The seedlings on the charcoal stood the heavy rains best, those 

 on the broken bricks next, whilst those on the soil nearly all perished. They require 

 no shading, and grow all the stronger by exposure to the light and sun ; but as a 

 matter of course they will require a great deal more care and attention than cuttings, 

 and for several years, whilst cuttings can be transplanted before they are a year old. 



" The artificial shading over these seeds-beds caused drip and excessive moisture, 

 which proved fatal to many of the seedlings before the cause of the mischief was 

 recognised. 



" The number saved amounted, however, to about 1,200, which were on an average 

 of the undermentioned sizes as they grew : 



On the 27th June 1874, ^ths of an inch. 

 12th August 1874, 1-^ths inch. 

 10th September 1874, 6 T Vths inches. 

 21st April 1875, 2 feet 10 inches. 



" It should here be mentioned that the last of these was a seedling which has been 

 left undisturbed in the seed-bed, and was exceptionally vigorous in growth." 



And Dr. Schlich says : " At Bamunpokri nine nursery beds were prepared, three with 

 common garden soil, three with broken bricks, and three with charcoal, and all inter- 

 sected by irrigation trenches, thus keeping the soil thoroughly moist by percolation, 

 The seed was collected in September 1874, and sown in that month and in October 

 partly in whole figs, and partly crumbled up by the hand. The beds were then 

 shaded by thatch, raised 2 feet above the ground on the south, and 3 feet on the 

 north, and the sides were closed in with mats which could be removed at will. 



" From four to six weeks after sowing the seeds germinated profusely, best of all 

 in the garden soil, next best on the broken bricks, and last, though still pretty well, 

 on the charcoal ; they have thriven well, and are now up to 5 inches high, with 

 leaves up to 2 inches long." * 



The propagation by cuttings is still easier, but the cuttings must be from young 

 fleshy shoots, such as are obtained by pollarding several branches of an old tree and 

 allowing them to send out shoots. In Sikkiin and Assam plants grown from seedlings 

 or cuttings have succeeded either planted directly in the ground or in baskets of 

 mould tied to the upper branches of trees. In Assam plantations are formed by cut- 

 ting lines at some distance apart through the forest, and planting: the rooted cuttings 

 or seedlings at intervals. The following extracts from Mr. Mann's memorandum of 

 1875 will best explain the method of plantation : 



" The method of planting adopted in the Kulsi caoutchouc plantation is the following : 



" Lines 20 feet in width and 50 feet apart are opened out in mixed plain and savannah 

 forest, and the trees are planted out on these lines at distances of 25 feet. 



" The plants were examined by me on the 26th of April, and the countings shewed 

 2 per cent, of failures, which were filled up the same day. Nothing could surpass the 

 healthiness and vigour of the young trees, whose only enemies are the deer, which has 

 made fencing necessary ; but the plants will soon have grown beyond the reach of them. 



" The method of planting adopted in the Charduar plantation was the following : 



" Lines of 20 feet in width and 100 feet apart were opened out through lower hill 



* Many of these trees are now (1880) 15 to 20 feet high, have mnny'aorial roots, ami a considerable 

 girth of main stem. The plantation made of them is so dense as to be almost impenetrable and to exeluue 

 all other vegetation. 



2 T 



