INDIA-RUBBER OR CAOUTCHOUC. 13 



which, owing to its epiphytal germination and mode of 

 growth, is not well adapted for cultivation for this purpose, 

 while severe inroads have been made upon it in the forests 

 where it occurs." 



Again, in 1875 Sir Joseph Hooker reported that experi- 

 ments at Kew proved that the Hevea brasiliensis was capable 

 of easy propagation by cuttings, and that the seeds very 

 quickly lost their germinating power, hardly one per cent, 

 reaching Kew alive. 



In 1876 Sir Joseph Hooker reports that, " On the 14th 

 of June Mr. H. A. Wickham, a resident on the Amazons, 

 who has been commissioned by the India Office to collect 

 seeds of Hevea brasiliensis, arrived in England with 70,000, 

 obtained on the Eio Tapajos. In consequence of their re- 

 taining vitality for but a very short period, they were all 

 sown the day after arrival, and covered a space when sown 

 of over 300 square feet, closely packed together. About 

 3J per cent, germinated some as early as the fourth day 

 after sowing, and many in a few days reached a height of 

 18 inches. Upwards of 1,900 plants were transmitted on 

 August 12th, in 38 Wardian cases made specially to accom- 

 modate the rapid growth of the seedlings, to Ceylon under 

 the charge of a gardener." Of this consignment 90 percent, 

 of the plants reached Ceylon in excellent condition, where 

 they were nursed and established for subsequent transmission 

 through the Indian Gardens to Assam, Burma, and other 

 provinces. 



Smaller consignments were also made to the "West Coast 

 of Africa, Dominica, Jamaica, Java, Queensland, Singapore, 

 and Trinidad. In this year Mr. Robert Cross, who had been 

 sent to South America to 'collect the living plants, arrived 

 with about 1,000, a very small proportion of which ulti- 

 mately survived. 



In the following year an unsuccessful attempt was made 

 to transmit some 50 of the plants direct to Burma ; all of 



