CHAPTER XIII. 



YIELD OF PARA RUBBER FROM CULTIVATED 

 TREES. 



THE amount of rubber which Para trees of a given age may be 

 expected to yield is a point about which it is impossible to give 

 any really accurate data at the present time. To obtain this 

 information, careful records will have to be kept for a long period, 

 of trees growing in different countries and under various con- 

 ditions. Such statistics as are available will be of interest. 



I. CEYLON.* 



"The late Dr Trimen commenced in 1888 to tap one of the 

 original trees at Heneratgoda, then nearly twelve years old and 

 5o|- inches in girth a yard from the ground. 



" It was tapped on seven days between 25th January and 

 1 5th February, yielding 17^ oz. of rubber; on six days between 

 2Oth July and 2Qth August, yielding 7 oz. ; and on four days 

 between 6th and 2Oth December, yielding 4^ oz., a total of i Ib. 

 I2| oz. The same method was followed in alternate years, with 



results as shown below : 



Ibs. oz. 



1888 1 I2f 



1890 - 2 IO 



1892 2 13 



1894 3 3 



1896 - 3 oi 



Total 13 7 



" The average yield of this tree from the twelfth to the twenty- 

 first year is thus almost i|- Ib. per annum." 



An illustration of this tree is given (Fig. 2). It is growing on 

 poor, gravelly soil, a by no means ideal spot for its successful 

 cultivation. In fact, I saw trees in Ceylon six or seven years 

 younger better developed than this tree. 



* Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon. Circular No. 4. 

 K 



