60 THE RUBBER TREE BOOK 



nitrifiers. Denitrification implies the reversal of the process 

 of nitrification which brings fertility to the soil and involves 

 the reduction of the nitrates even to nitrogen gas, which escapes 



FIG. 12. View of a Twenty-four-months Tree on Eastern 

 Sumatra Rubber Estates, showing Fine Development of 

 various series of Lateral Roots in a well-aerated Soil. 



into the atmosphere. Hence, a serious loss of. fertility to the 

 soil not readily replaced. Drains are not meant to be receptacles 

 for water, but means of getting rid of it. They can scarcely 

 be too numerous. It is common for a planter to find that 



