HISTORIC DEVELOPMENTS 57 



in 1881, at the age of five ; those at Peradeniya did not 

 flower until 1884. 



There are differences of opinion as to the career of 

 the seedlings which went to Singapore. It is known 

 that as early as 1880, some Hevea trees were in flower 

 at Perak, a mid-region of the Malay Peninsula, and that 

 in 1881 some of those in the Botanic Gardens at Singa- 

 pore, in the south of the Peninsula, bore fruit. These 

 trees may have been reared from Kew seedlings ; or 

 they may have been grown from cuttings of the young 

 trees at Peradeniya, sent over to Singapore in 1877 ; 

 or, again, they may have been transplanted one-year- 

 olds from Ceylon. In any case, Heveas in the Malay 

 Peninsula were yielding seed as early as their near 

 relatives in Ceylon. And it is the seed supply of these 

 two countries that has brought into existence the 

 numerous and vast rubber plantations that now 

 occupy a very large area of the Eastern Tropics. 



For quite a long time rubber-growing was generally 

 looked upon as a new hobby for botanists, and anyone 

 who prophesied a commercial future for plantation 

 rubber was dubbed a crank. Meanwhile, enthusiasts 

 on the staff of the Botanic Gardens in Ceylon and 

 Malaya continued to ride their hobby-horse, in that 

 they devoted earnest attention to the new specimens 

 that had been placed under their care. As soon as 

 possible they began to take cuttings from the Hevea 

 trees, and in 1878 no less than five hundred rooted 

 plants were sent from Ceylon to British Burma and 

 Madras. Then came the time when the trees began 

 to furnish a good supply of seeds. By 1886, both 

 Ceylon and Malay were in a position to begin dis- 

 tributing seeds among other countries that wanted to 



8 



