The damaged roots are perhaps more liable to attacks by Fonies. 

 but the danger is not great Ijecause the fi*equent turning and airinwj 

 of the soil is sure to reduce the vii-ulence of any mycelitnn in the 

 gi'ound. 



All roots cut by the ploughs thi*ow out >vhole bunches of new 

 roots which, owing to the loose uatui-e of the ground, have a tendency 

 io go deeper down. This is quite contrary to their habit on unculti- 

 vated soil, whei-e the roots always lie near the surface, and where tlie 

 young rootlets sometimes even go above it. The young rootlets fi-om 

 loibber trees often form one mass, and when the ground is ploughed 

 or changkoUed these are all spoilt. But in a fortnight it will be 

 found that new i-ootlets ai-e taking their place, and this lively action 

 of the roots can only be beneficial to the trees. 



The cutting of the roots has been one of the points against 

 cultivation, and another is, that the uneven surface of the ground 

 causes too great a loss of moistui-e. 



1 do not think that the root-question need cause any alarm, and 

 in a climate like this where rain is so plentiful the loss of moisture 

 by evapoi*ation from the ground cannot have serious consequences, 

 at least not whei-e something is done to keep the water. 



A loose top-soil is of vital importance, and rubber ti^ees i-espond 

 very well to proper ti-eatment in respect of cultivation, but it should 

 not be ovei'looked that retaixied trees cannot suddenly throw out 

 sturdy shoots from weak branches, and the effect of cultivation is not 

 to be expected until after a year's time. To judge the result by 

 measurement of the girth of the trees only is not sufficient. The 

 genei'al appeai^ance of the trees, the colour of the leaves and the 

 thickness of tlje shoots have all to be taken into coiisidenxtion, and 

 if they are there is always a marked diffei'ence Ijetween trees on 

 cultivated and uncultivated land. 



With a view to gaining some knowledge concerning the effect 

 of artificial manure on rubber trees many experiments have been 

 cawied out with rather varying i-esults. It has been said once 

 in a report that the good results of some experiments supposed 

 to be due to the manure, was really the effect of tui-ning over the 

 soil wheij digging down the maniu'e, and that view is pi"obably 

 correct. 



It is in any case difficult to arrive at anything like exact figui'es 

 us to the i-esult of an expex'iment carried out on soil not cultivated 

 before. 



We have had two experiments lainniug for some time, one on 

 young trees and one on old trees, but as far as the latter is concerned 

 the result is not very encoiu'aging. 



Previous experiments liave proved that young ti-ees i-es])ond 

 very well to manure. We started our experiment on the thiee 



