286 THE RUBBER TREE BOOK 



ment the figures of which give rise to misleading comparisons, 

 and this is a fact which should not be lost sight of. When it is 

 found that during two successive periods of three months there 

 has been no increase in growth in certain trees, or the increase 

 has been practically nil, it is quite time that such trees should be 

 inspected to find out what is wrong. Such cases regularly occur 

 on good estates where the general growth is excellent. They 

 probably would pass undetected for a long period if observa- 

 tion sheets were not kept and carefully scrutinized and com- 

 pared with those of preceding three-monthly periods. It ought 

 to be considered one of the duties of a secretary to make such 

 careful scrutiny and to draw attention to such cases. 



Census returns should be prepared of all the trees on estates. 

 These should detail the total number of trees of each planting 

 age. On all junior estates the census should be also supple- 

 mented by one equally valuable, giving the total number of all 

 trees 6 inches and under, 3 feet from the ground; the number of 

 all trees over 6 inches, 3 feet from the ground, and under 10 

 inches; the number of all 10 inches and over but under 15 inches ; 

 the number of all trees 15 inches and over but under 20 inches, 

 3 feet from the ground, and so on. The details, of course, vary 

 greatly with the different conditions of affairs as to dates of 

 planting on different estates. 



Such figures serve as a splendid guide to boards of directors 

 as to when the trees should come into the tapping-round and 

 when and what crop returns may reasonably be expected. 



All such data are essential to the good management of a 

 company's affairs, and should never be neglected. It is only 

 a board of amateur directors that would not consider them 

 essential and keep themselves conversant with all the details. 



Methods of taking such a census are many and each manager 

 usually has one of his own. Such work, however, should never 

 be entrusted to natives without the most watchful, constant and 

 careful supervision on the part of the manager and his assistants, 

 and any apparent discrepancy on any area should at once be 

 checked. When taking such a census a rod exactly 3 feet long 

 is nearly always used to indicate exactly, beyond the possibility 

 of mistake, to the coolies the height at which girth measurements 

 should be taken. 



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