74 THE RUBBER TREE BOOK 



closely placed, and thereafter it was found that the young trees 

 escaped all damage. 



The other method, as previously explained, is of a very 

 similar character, the difference consisting in the fact that, 

 instead of using three large sheets of galvanized iron, which 

 takes some labour to remove from place to place, two planks 

 of green unseasoned timber are employed. These planks are 

 usually 12 to 14 feet in length, and from i to ij feet in width. 

 They are placed together in front of the tree at an obtuse 

 angle, in the manner indicated in the illustrations given above. 



It will be obvious that no great area can be burnt off at a 

 time by either of these methods, as the number of galvanized 

 sheets required in the one case, and of planks in the other, will 

 be too great to be conveniently provided. From half an acre 

 to one acre at a time is as much as can be conveniently taken 

 in hand. Still, the work is well worth the trouble. No planter 

 worthy of the name can rest content till his planted areas are 

 clear of timber and roots. An untidy plantation is offensive 

 to the eye of any true planter. Even if a little outlay is in- 

 curred it will be found true economy, in the end, to get rid of 

 such fertile sources of disease as decaying roots and timber. 



The cost of burning off lying timber, when there is a fair 

 amount of it, works out, in actual practice in the Federated 

 Malay States, at $12 to $13 per acre. When roots have to be 

 extracted by jacks and burned, the cost of getting rid of these 

 has varied from $25 to $40 per acre. With a few dynamite 

 cartridges the work of getting rid of the largest roots could be 

 done at more moderate cost and at the same time be much better 

 done. The small roots should be dug out and burned, and not 

 the large ones only, if white ants and disease are to be kept 

 under. 



