38 RUBBER PLANTING IN CEYLON 



It was while discussing these subjects that we visited the adminis- 

 tration buildings of the gardens. They are neat and business like, and 

 with their tropical setting form a very pretty picture. We visited the 

 museum, where sections of the woods, in which the island is very rich, 

 are displayed ; while seeds, fruits, and everything pertaining to the life 

 of the plant growths are carefully prepared and preserved. He also 

 showed me the offices of Director Willis, his own laboratory where 

 some very interesting experiments in determining the vitality of the 

 Hevea nut were then being carried on introduced me to Mr. E. E. 

 Green, F. E. s., the government entomologist, and then led me to some 

 of the fifteen-year-old Para trees, which we tapped. It was really too 



' HEVEA ' AT EDANGODA. 



[Government Forest Department plantation, 8 years old. Mr. 

 F. Lewis, assistant conservator of forests.] 



near the middle of the day for the latex to do more than ooze out very 

 slowly. The tool used is well known. It only needed a very few cuts 

 with it, however, to convince me of its usefulness ; indeed, for the Hevea 

 it is far superior to any form of machete that I have seen. 

 The incision is really a drawing cut that takes out a strip 

 of bark, laying the cambium bare. The cut is clean, small 

 and may be made by the most unskilled coolie with but 

 little chance of" injuring the tree. I had with me a small two-bladed 

 tapping-axe, invented by a friend in the United States, which I had 

 brought along to test. We all tried it, but the simple little tool far 



