MANURING 251 



trees are benefited by manuring. The following brief remarks 

 may, therefore, be of interest. 



When tea is well manured the result is directly seen in a 

 good flush of fresh leaves. When cacao is manured the bush 

 is strengthened and bears more pods of beans and is less liable 

 to be attacked by canker. When coffee is manured the bushes 

 become more healthy and vigorous, there is less disease, and 

 there is a better show of berries. The evidence of the benefits 

 of manure may be less directly visible in the case of rubber, 

 as there are no berries or pods to pluck and weigh, and one does 

 not seek to pick the leaves for manufacture. No one, however, 

 should seek to deny that benefits are to be derived, although dis- 

 appointment is often expressed at the want of much immediate 

 response in the way of increased girth in trees manured. 



The more foliage there is on the tree the more nourishment 

 is available for the growth of the tree, and the more quickly 

 will additional cells be built up and the height and the girth 

 of the tree extended. Although, therefore, it may not be easy 

 to prove that manuring Heveas will directly increase the flow 

 of latex, yet the indirect influences are abundantly apparent. 

 The very fact that it is necessary to give the soil some additional 

 cultivation in order to apply lime or some simple form of 

 manure or fertilizers is a gain. 



An ordinary rubber plantation, if it has been established on 

 virgin soil, should not absolutely demand any manuring for 

 very many 3/ears. It is different when tea, coffee or cacao 

 are cultivated as inter-crops, or when the soil is naturally poor 

 or deficient in some one of the necessary chemical elements. 

 At the same time there is no doubt but that most soils can be 

 benefited by manuring, and that the trees will show an improved 

 growth thereafter. What should always be aimed at is the very 

 best possible results. No doubt good results can be obtained 

 in the generality of cases without any liming or manuring, but 

 if still markedly better results can be obtained by liming or 

 manuring, then they are distinctly desirable. In manuring, as 

 in many other things, " the liberal hand maketh rich." 



One writer on rubber expresses the opinion in his book that 

 " excessive applications of nitrogenous manures are not ad- 

 visable for Heveas, as they tend to produce too rapid growth 

 and render the trees more susceptible to being broken by wind." 



