72 RUBBER PLANTING IN CEYLON 



of a red, gravelly character, showing traces of iron, but the moisture 

 and the sunlight make up for what it may lack. 



Next after the Hevea I wanted most to examine the tree that 

 produces the Gutta-jelutong, or Pontianak gum. I found that it was 

 very common all through the Federated Malay States, and that the 

 gum was rarely "taken from it, the tree being regarded as useful only 

 for the cheap clogs that the natives wear. The tree is botanically the 

 Dyera costulata and when mature is a splendid forest creation. One in 

 the gardens, of which I have a photograph, was certainly one hundred 

 and fifty feet high, with a huge three part trunk, and a magnificent crown 

 of leaves. We did not tap this one, but went into the jungle, found a 

 wild one, and tapped it after the most approved method. The latc.v 

 Oozed out like clotted cream and seemed most abundant, but began to 

 coagulate almost at once. It is said that a mature tree produces as 

 much as one hundred pounds, by scraping the bark rather than tapping, 

 and mixing at once with kerosene. 



In the bit of jungle where we found the Pontianak tree, there was 

 killed only a few days before a thirty-foot python, that had not been 

 thought a particularly undesirable neighbor until he swallowed a couple 

 of Mr. Ridley's swans, which ended his career. 



The Castilloa in the gardens did not seem to be in a very flourish- 

 ing condition, nor did the Ceara rubber trees, although both have been 

 carefully experimented with. The former seemed to be stunted, while 

 the latter was apt to develop hollow stems. A further trouble with 

 the Castilloa came about through its habit of shedding its temporary 

 branches, which gives a nice, sheltered, tender spot for the beetles, of 

 which they often avail themselves. There was also a most luxuriant 

 growth of the Willughbeia firma, but it was such a tangle that it would 

 be almost impossible to get any rubber out of it economically. Indeed, 

 I have yet to find anyone that has experimented with the culture of 

 a vine that is a rubber producer who has any faith at all in it. The 

 Willughbeia, however, when wild, produces a good grade of rubber 

 that is known as "Borneo," and is very easily coagulated after tapping. 

 There were also a great variety of Gutta-percha trees, together with 

 the Ficus and the Kick.via, to which we devoted considerable attention. 



Director Ridley is a most charming companion, and as he often 

 takes long journeys into the forests accompanied only by the wild men, 

 his stories of adventure are very interesting. His guides, by the way, 

 never can understand his interest in insects or plants, except upon the 

 hypothesis that he is after ingredients to make "gold water/' a magic 



