AND THE MALAY STATES 39 



outdistanced it. Leaving the collecting and straining of the latex to 

 the coolies, Mr. Carruthers took me to his bungalow for breakfast, which 

 meal occurs at noon, and there we discussed various phases of rubber 

 planting. In referring to the government plantations of Hevea, he said 

 that there were about one hundred and fifty acres now planted, and it had 

 not been decided yet just how they would be administered. According 

 to his figuring, these plantings cost about 1,200 rupees [=$389.32] an 

 acre when matured. If they are to be leased under proper restrictions, 

 the opinion seemed to be that the government should not reap more than 

 five per cent, interest on its venture. But most of the experts think that 

 it would be better for the government to sell the plantations as near cost 

 as possible. For further information he referred me to Mr. F. Lewis, the 

 assistant conservator of forests, Colombo. 



The following morning we crossed the Mahaweli River, a deep, 

 swift, muddy stream flowing by the gardens, to visit the great experi- 

 ment stations that are under the charge of Mr. Herbert Wright, A. R. c. 

 s. There is no bridge, so one is ferried across in a very narrow wooden 

 dugout, with the usual outrigger one side to prevent upsetting. This 

 experiment garden is new, and contains about 1,200 acres, I believe, and 

 takes in the native villages of Gangaruwa and Yatiyalagala. 



Mr. Wright kindly piloted me over the sections devoted to rubber 

 planting. Just to see what the Castilloa and the Ceara rubber will do 

 in that climate under varying conditions ; he has many different plots, 

 both in the shade and in the open. Perhaps the most interesting is the 

 planting of the former where it is shaded by cocoanut trees. All of 

 these rubber plots were small of course, and the trees very young, so 

 that at the present it is impossible to say what results will be attained. 



As we walked about the place, it occurred to me to learn just how 

 hot it was, and I found that it was 127 F. in the sun, and the guess was 

 that it was about 85 in the shade. As we were in the sun most of the 

 time, we had no reason to feel a chill. 



In the afternoon, Director Willis having returned, we had a look 

 at the Ficus elastica trees planted some seventy-five years ago. They 

 are huge growths, and unlike the Straits trees of the same name, do not 

 send down aerial roots, but instead form great root buttresses. They 

 produce little if any latex, as my own tapping experiments abundantly 

 proved. Further than that, they are dying, so that every now and then 

 it becomes necessary to fell one of them, for if it unexpectedly dropped 

 its one hundred and fifty feet of length across the carriage road, a serious 

 accident might result. 



