THE STORY OF PLANTATION RUBBER 49 



CHAPTER XI 



THE STORY OF PLANTATION RUBBER 



The earliest experiment in cultivating rubber was 

 made only as far back as the seventies of last century. 

 And it is only within the present century that culti- 

 vated rubber, or, as it is more generally called, " planta- 

 tion rubber," has become a power in the industrial 

 world. 



The hero of the romantic story of that earliest 

 experiment is Mr. H. A. Wickham. After long and 

 careful study of rubber-trees in the Brazilian forests, 

 Mr. Wickham came to the conclusion that it would be 

 possible to cultivate these valuable plants, and that 

 the Eastern Tropics would prove particularly suitable 

 as a home for their adoption. Experienced agricul- 

 turists and everyone connected with the rubber 

 business looked upon these ideas as the wild dreams 

 of a man who had more imagination than sense. 



Nothing daunted, Mr. Wickham determined that at 

 least he would put to the test his theory that rubber 

 seeds sown by man would grow quite as well as seeds 

 scattered by the trees themselves, provided they were 

 reared in suitable soil and in a similar climate to that 

 of their forest home. He began to plant seeds of the 

 Hevea tree in Brazil, turning into a nursery for them 

 a piece of ground near to where he was living at the time. 



Little did he think then that the day was not far 

 distant when he would be given an opportunity of 

 putting his theory to the test on a very much bigger 

 scale, and in the East, too. 



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