36 



exposed to sun and air for years and make the culti- 

 vation of another growth possible. ( ] ) 



These conclusions may be summarised as follows: 



1. Cultivation in rows are preferable to squares or 

 lozenges in view of the possibility of the cultivation 

 of catch-crops and also of thinning out at a later 

 period. 



2. A wide planting distance gives large trees at an 

 earlier date, a more lasting plant, makes the expen- 

 diture on the crop less, but the cost of upkeep is 

 higher, if no catch-crop is planted. 



3. More than 200 trees to the acre should never be 

 planted. 



The plant holes are made as usual in tropical cultivation. 

 The dimensions are generally i 1 /^ 2 f eet square, with 

 a depth of a good 2 feet. For filling two methods can 

 be used ; the holes may be made about three months 

 before planting and the earth which has been dug up 

 left in a heap exposed to the sun and air; or the hole 

 may be made immediately before planting and filled 

 with the surface-soil, which has been scraped together 

 from the edge of the hole and from the walls, thereby 

 enlarging it; as the surface sinks it is again filled up 

 with the heap of earth from the bottom of the hole. 



As the Hevea root develops itself especially in the 



i 1 ) A view of the development of a plantation with a planting distance 

 of i2>< 2 4 is given in fig. 12, which also shows that during the earlier 

 years large strips of ground are kept well open. 



