84 MOZAMBIQUE 



also from my examination of the trees of the dis- 

 trict, I am of the opinion that landowners in 

 Inhambane might safely plant Ceara rubber on the 

 grey and red soils, though not on the white sandy 

 soils. To any one wishing to plant rubber in the 

 Province of Mozambique I should not say go to 

 Inhambane ; but to a planter in Inhambane with 

 suitable soil available I should have no hesitation 

 in advising a trial plantation of Ceara. 



At a distance of about 70 miles from the coast, 

 at an elevation of perhaps 1,500 feet about sea-level, 

 and right in the heart of the zone which I have 

 described as the rubber zone of Quelimane, there is 

 a plantation of between 400,000 and 500,000 Ceara 

 rubber-trees ; 90,000 of which were, in 1911, 

 between 3|- and 4 years old, 30,000 1 to 2 years old, 

 and 150,000 6 months old. 



The trees were put out in rows 4 metres apart, 

 3 metres separating the trees in the rows, spacing 

 that seemed to suit the country well enough, 

 though 10 by 10 feet is the spacing now most 

 generally adopted in German East Africa. At first 

 the seed was sown in nurseries and the trees 

 planted out afterwards, but there is no necessity for 

 this expense and trouble in the case of Ceara, which 

 can very well be planted at stake, that is, in situ, two 

 or perhaps three seeds being sown at each stake. 

 I detected the same mistake here as in some of the 



